Biography

Miranda Janeschild is a storyteller, choreographer, director, performing artist, and dancer. As a director, her performance art focuses on portraying the human condition while braiding multidisciplinary performance art forms. She has extensive experience teaching acrobatics, aerial dance, contact improvisation, Feldenkrais®, and the Axis Syllabus®. Miranda is a senior teacher of the Axis Syllabus® and a certified Feldenkrais® practitioner since 2004. She also holds a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy and has specialized certifications in pediatrics, including work with at-risk infants, children with rare diseases, autism, and neuromuscular challenges.

Mir & A Company founded by Janeschild in 2001, is a performance arts company that aims to portray complex human experiences while engaging the Santa Cruz community. The troupe is comprised of risk-taking spiritual seekers who investigate themes that reflect current events and personal struggles and daily challenges—all of which are woven into an artistic work. The multidisciplinary performers include actors, aerial and ground-based dancers, musicians, singers, visual artists, and circus arts. Historically, Mir & A Co has explored themes such as gang violence and incarceration, land management and green spaces, and violence against women/girls including those connected to women's shelters—all while working in collaboration with community members directly impacted by these issues.

The Mission of Mir & A Company

Mir & A Company is a Santa Cruz-based multidisciplinary performance arts group dedicated to exploring personal and societal struggles through collaborative and community-engaged storytelling. The voices from diverse artists and marginalized communities inform the troupe’s risk-taking creative work that aim to empower and uplift the community.

The Axis Syllabus is a resource manual that maps complex human movement.  Miranda uses the Axis Syllabus in dance while applying anatomy and biomechanics to harness kinetic energy for dancing with ease and exhilaration. She aims to bring embodied sensory experiences while safely moving through the day and can lead to high-performance physicality.  For more information on The Axis Syllabus click here: The Axis Syllabus Network

Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement (ATM)’s employ a collection of small movements through sensory tactics to discover a larger movement whole. The aim is to gain body control by utilizing the sensory system and eliminating excessive will or effort. Priority is given to noticing ease and comfort while learning simple to complex movement.