About Me
Brianna MacDonald grew up in Vancouver, BC and spent her childhood, as well as most of her teenage years dancing. The dance world helped her discover acrobatics, aerial silks and hand balancing which led her to École nationale de Cirque at the age of seventeen. Brianna's journey at ÉNC brought her from specializing in hand balancing to developing a new duo apparatus to doing Cyr wheel. In June of 2022 Brianna graduated as a Cyr wheel artist and aerial silks (solo & duo) artist.
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The music played and so she moved. Starting dance at the age of four, movement became as integral to Brianna’s life as are the BC mountains and forests she grew up surrounded by. Dance gifted her with a multitude of irreplaceable experiences such as performing on a cruise ship, competing internationally and performing in the 2010 Paralympics. It also exposed her to a myriad of styles of dance varying from jazz, pointe, and lyrical, to contemporary, production, and everything in between.
Growing up Brianna felt torn in two directions. Dance called to her soul and science to her mind. There was nothing logical about pursuing the arts, and yet there was a part of her that couldn’t say no. That part of her had a dream. A dream of a life with lights, music and movement. A life spent sharing a stage and telling stories with other people.
This dream led Brianna to École nationale de cirque. Arriving with a background in dance, acrobatics, handstands and silks, she didn’t fully know what path she was on, but she did know where she wanted to end up. At ENC, Brianna became comfortable working on aerial apparatuses, along with partaking in both solo and partner acrobatic/movement research.
During these years she also embraced both new and old hobbies. Therefore, if Brianna is not training you will most likely find her either curled up with a book, in the kitchen baking sweet treats (yes she will bring cookies to rehearsal), or in a veterinary clinic helping tend to some furry friends.
In 2022, Brianna graduated from École nationale de cirque as a duo tissu, cyr wheel and aerial silks artist. To this day, Brianna finds that there is magic in performing, in sharing the stage with other artists and connecting with audiences around the world. It is a magic that she will cherish forever.