Kate Ryan

Kate Ryan grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — and by her own account, she didn't fit. A chameleon in her youth, she moved through spaces without ever quite landing, her childhood difficult, her teens turbulent. Then, in the summer of 2013, at 18 years old, she walked into a transformational festival and picked up a hula hoop.

"I know it is cliché to say this, but hula hooping saved my life. I was living the wrong life, with the wrong crowd, in the wrong place and time. I saw no potential for myself — and then I started hula hooping."

By 21, Kate had traveled four continents, five countries, and personally taught over 3,000 people to hoop. She had found something she describes simply as a friend within herself. What followed was a decade of relentless forward motion — performing, teaching, building a circus, and giving back — that took her from Saskatoon to Antarctica and everywhere in between.

Kate Ryan is now one of Canada's most decorated circus performers — a world-renowned hula hooping clown and entertainer whose client resume spans some of the most prestigious names in live performance and entertainment. Her signature style blends stand-up comedy with high-level circus: Cirque du Soleil meets Just for Laughs, delivered through world-class hula hoops, juggling, face balancing, and physical comedy.

Kate is also part of the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils' Stars for Saskatchewan series, which brings live performances to hundreds of communities across Canada — a recognition that her work matters locally as much as it does internationally. Her career has been featured in L'Oréal Vietnam and on Hooping.org, one of the world's leading flow arts publications. She was nominated for Hula Hooper of the Year Canada 2015.

Kate creates and performs one-woman circus shows that have toured the globe — rooted always in her belief that play is both an art form and a philosophy. Each show is a different lens on the same mission: to make audiences feel something true through laughter, spectacle, and presence.

Kate's commitment to circus has never been purely about performance. From her first workshops in Nepalese orphanages to managing a community circus in Melbourne, she has always understood that the hoop is a tool for belonging — and that belonging is most needed where it is least available.

Before Spark, Kate began her humanitarian work by teaching in Nepalese orphanages, raising funds for local charities through performance. She later co-managed the Viral Happiness community circus in Melbourne, Australia — and has worked with charities across Asia, Australia, North America, and Germany.

Kate is a multi-disciplinary circus artist who builds her shows from a wide technical palette. The hula hoop is her weapon of choice — but the skills surrounding it are what make her performances extraordinary.

Kate's teaching and performance rest on a single conviction: that play is not a childhood phase — it is a human need. She discovered this truth at 18, when a hoop and a stranger's kindness cracked her world open. She has spent every year since trying to pass that moment on.

"Your quirks are to be enjoyed. The things that often make you feel alone are the contributing factors that make YOUR dance YOUR own. Embody your body."

Her mission as a performer and educator: to empower audiences, promote healthy lifestyle choices, and create confident communities. She is a self-taught teacher who makes everyone feel included regardless of their ability. She loves to make children laugh. She is inspired mostly by her students and her audiences.

• Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
• First Canadian Hoopologie Ambassador
• 30+ countries · 6 continents · Antarctica
• 3,000+ people personally taught to hoop
• Cirque du Soleil · Cirque Dreams
• Cartoon Network — Resident Artist
• MSC Cruises · Princess Cruises
• Adelaide Fringe Inc.
• Nominated — Hula Hooper of Year Canada 2015
• TEN — Montreal & Circus Intl Film Fest winner
• Canadian Director — Spark Circus NGO
• 4,000+ children reached via Spark annually
• 2017 Spark! Circus Thailand Tour
• Featured — L'Oréal Vietnam · Hooping.org
• OSAC Stars for Saskatchewan series
• Taught in Nepal, Asia, Australia, Germany
• Viral Happiness circus — Melbourne, Australia
• DomestiKATE one-woman show — touring 2025