Molly Shannon

Molly was born and raised in San Francisco, where she graduated from San Francisco School of the Arts with a focus in theater and dance. She fell in love with Silvana Sousa's samba class in 2003 while she was a student at UC Santa Cruz. Molly continued to samba dance as she studied at the San Francisco Circus Center's Clown Conservatory Program, from which she graduated in 2006. In 2008 she was invited to join Aquarela for the Brazilian Carnaval Ball and has been with them ever since. In addition to dancing with Aquarela, Molly is one of the founding members of Circus Finelli, San Francisco's own all women clown troupe. With Circus Finelli, Molly has performed on the East Coast, in Montana, toured the Czech Republic, and performed extensively throughout California. Molly enjoys being the only clown she knows to specialize in samba dancing.