By popular demand, Jared Khalifa's episode is back. We're taking you back to where it all began, capoeira, gymnastics, theatre, the wild ride that eventually landed him the lead role of Red Bird in Cirque du Soleil's Mystère. But here's the real hook: Jared's story didn't stop there. Three years later, he's back in academia, coaching Varsity Strength and Conditioning, and about to present at the 2026 National Physical Health and Education Forum on inclusive sport for trans athletes in Canada. From the stage to the classroom, this is a transformation you don't want to miss. Hit play and see how far one story can go.

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About Jared

Jared Khalifa is a performer, athlete, and educator from Vancouver, Canada. With a multidisciplinary background, his career spans dance, tumbling, circus, stunts, and acting across the entertainment and athletics industries. Jared began in theatre before transitioning into film and television, with credits includingSchmigadoon (Apple TV), Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount), Monster High (Nickelodeon), Descendants (Disney), Bring It On: Cheer or Die (Syfy), Yellowjackets (Showtime), The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix), Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (NBC), Riverdale (Netflix), and EA Games among others. Additionally, Jared is a voguer and a proud member of the Kiki Ballroom House of Siriano.

Prior to his on-screen career, Jared was an elite tumbler who represented Canada at three World Age Group Championships, earned two World Cup silver medals, three Canadian titles, and was
a two-time VIP athlete at the All Star Games. Eventually, his athletic and artistic paths converged through his work with Cirque Du Soleil, where he toured North America on OVO and, notably, performed the lead character, Red Bird, in the Las Vegas residency Mystère.

Jared is a passionate educator who has taught internationally, led teacher trainings, and serves on the UBCP/ACTRA Dance and Choreography Committee. Simultaneously, he remains committed to his own learning and is currently completing an Interdisciplinary Studies degree in Health Accessibility at the University of British Columbia. He is a student coach with UBCVarsity Strength and Conditioning and leads a project under the Faculty of Kinesiology oncreating inclusive sport for trans athletes in Canada.

His academic and advocacy work bridges topics in sport science, medicine, sociology, and public policy.

@jared_khalifa

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Loren  0:01  
Hey everyone! Welcome to the Acrobatic Arts Podcast. I'm Loren, and I will be interviewing some of the top leaders and innovators from the dance and acrobatic industry.

Loren  0:12  
If you are a teacher, performer, student, or a lifelong learner like myself, you are sure to find these episodes intriguing and full of inspiration. Acrobatic Arts is passionate about providing current and relevant information for everyone. So please sit back and enjoy as we share our passion with you and the world.

Loren  0:36  
Today's episode is part of our Spotlight series, where we revisit conversations that continue to resonate across the dance community. We're replaying episode 47 with Jared Khalifa. It's hard to believe that this conversation was recorded three years ago, and while a lot has changed, the ideas he shared about sport, coaching, and creating more inclusive environments remain incredibly relevant. Jared is a performer, athlete, and educator from Vancouver, Canada, with a multidisciplinary background. His career spans dance, tumbling, circus, stunts, and acting across the entertainment and athletics industries.

Loren  1:16  
Since we recorded this episode, Jared has returned to academia, is coaching varsity strength and conditioning, and has continued his research into creating more inclusive sport experiences for trans and gender diverse athletes in Canada. Most recently, he presented this research at the 2026 National Physical Health and Education Forum. It's exciting to look back at Jared's journey and see how his work and passion have continued to grow and evolve. Now it's time to shine the spotlight on today's guest.

Loren  1:51  
Jared Khalifa. Hello, and welcome to the Acrobatic Arts Podcast.

Jared  1:56  
Thank you for having me. It's so nice to be here and talk to you.

Loren  2:01  
Now you define yourself as a multidisciplinary artist and athlete, and after reading your bio, it's clear that you have many talents. You are definitely one of those people that makes me reevaluate my own busy life and ask, "Am I really doing enough?" But Jared, tell us about what started you on such a diverse path and how that's continued to evolve into a very dynamic career.

Jared  2:31  
Wow! Thank you for describing me in such a cool way. I think you make me sound a lot cooler than I actually am. I started off in a discipline called capoeira, which is an African Brazilian form of martial arts that combines dance with acrobatics, different martial arts disciplines, and it's all done to music. So you learn how to play different traditional African Brazilian instruments while in tandem with performing or dueling in this discipline, and that's really what got me started in everything that I do, because I think that was the first time I was exposed to all the different things that today I still love, whether that be the artistic elements or the athletic and physical components of my career.

Jared  3:17  
And then from there, my goals slightly shifted, where I fell in love with the acrobatic component as well as the music and entertainment component of the discipline. So I began training in gymnastics in order to supplement the acrobatic parts of capoeira, and then began taking voice lessons and music classes and forming in theater in order to help the performance art part of the discipline, that's when I began to realize how passionate I was about gymnastics and competition. And I changed paths again and went into tumbling and trampoline gymnastics, where I could really use my skill set as a ground acrobat. I very quickly began to realize that the other events in artistic gymnastics were not for me. The pommel horse parallel bar is not my forte. I think a lot of gymnasts can relate to that. They just love to flip and tumble, and the other events, if they're not clicking right away, can be quite tedious. So I jumped ship to what my coaches at the time called the dark side of gymnastics, which was tumbling trampoline, and fell in love with that, and then continued to explore my career as a theater performer, particularly within musical theatre and voice, and then once I graduated high school, I had the opportunity to start exploring circus and dance, which has ultimately led me to where I am now.

Loren  4:44  
Right, as you mentioned, your background is interesting and diverse. Is there any one thing that you are most passionate about?

Jared  4:53  
The golden question. If you had to pick one thing, what would it be? And you know, I have been asked this so. Many times, whether it's with friends or family or on other podcasts, and I still don't have an exact answer to what that would be. But the closest thing I can say would be the common theme between everything that I love to do is storytelling, and I think that's what has always drawn me to the performing arts to begin with. I think that's where I'm most happy.

Loren  5:27  
That's fantastic that you know that about yourself and are following that passion that you have for storytelling. And then ultimately, the combined experiences that you had led you to your, as you said, where you are now, which is performing with Cirque du Soleil, how did that come about, and what has that been like?

Jared  5:46  
It has been such a wild journey. Particularly, the character that I play has been one that I remember as a kid. I would go on YouTube and search and try and find videos of and inspiration from to hopefully one day either reach that goal or even take inspiration of it to apply to whatever I was doing at that time in my life. So to be in this position right now and play this really symbolic character for the company is such an honor, and I have to continue to pinch myself just to remind myself that this is real.

Jared  6:22  
The process itself was a pretty lengthy process. We went through a few months of virtual auditions, starting off with an initial audition video, initial self tape, and then we went through a round of virtual callbacks, sending in skill specific videos, then sending in choreography that was taught via video that we had to learn from the show, and then the final step was a live audition here in Vegas at the Mister Theater. We did a variety of different things. They had me on the power track tumbling. They had me doing a little bit of ground acrobatics. We did character work, choreography, teeter board, which was interesting because I had only been on a teeter board about three or four times at most, doing just playing around with jumps prior to coming here, and then I was thrown right on it and really tested my adaptability skills. Yeah, it was quite a wild process, and I'm so grateful for it because I think, if anything, it just reminded me how much I love to do everything that I do, and how rare it is to find a job or a position where you can fuse all those things in one.

Loren  7:43  
Yeah, it sounds like you are a perfect match for this role. When you were going through the audition process, did they already have the role selected for you?

Jared  7:53  
So they had posted the audition notice for the character specifically. Okay. Yes. So then, they had a lot of people that had submitted specifically for this character. The last person who'd played it prior had done it for about 16 or 17 years. So it was very sudden and surprising when this opportunity opened up because this is considered almost like the golden role that every circus performer or dancer acrobatic wants in Cirque. So yeah, we all knew what we were signing up for, and we're training our hardest to specifically play that character.

Loren  8:38  
I know in Cirque all the roles are big and and iconic, but to have someone who's done it for 16, 17 years, those are some big shoes to fill. I would imagine...

Jared  8:48  
Absolutely. And he did the character so beautifully, and not only played the character in such an incredible way, but I think really paved the path for artists within Cirque and outside of Cirque to challenge themselves by being multidisciplinary and pushing themselves to be the best that they can be in a variety of different avenues in the industry.

Loren  9:14  
Well, Jared, I for one can't wait to come to Vegas and see you. So

Jared  9:18  
Thank you.

Loren  9:19  
That's on my list.

Jared  9:20  
to see you out here.

Loren  9:21  
Yeah, Vegas is one of my favorite places, so I will definitely plan a trip there. Now it sounds like there is obviously a lot of success in your life, but can you tell us about maybe some setbacks and if you're willing to share how you've dealt with those?

Jared  9:39  
I would love to share two stories here that are brief. The first one being for our audience that are maybe younger dancers that are still in their competition career and trying to do everything all at once. And if you're anything like how I was as a kid, that. Love doing it all and push themselves to the max and everything. You know that it is incredibly challenging to make time for everything, and there did become a point at one time where I felt that I just had taken on too much at once. I was competing and training and working in theater, and I was still doing full days in school. This is prior to my time when I started doing half days on an academic schedule in an accelerated program, so I was still having to do regular school days, and I was only able to do each one of my activities about one to two days a week, so it really limited my progress and limited how much I was able to achieve within a certain amount of time. And my coaches and teachers had taken note of that. I think began to be a little bit concerned about where I was heading and what direction I was heading in tandem with my peers that I was training with.

Jared  11:05  
So I remember after working on a particular musical theater production for a few months, I came back to training and then I had about four weeks to train for our national championships at the time. On our first day of training, I remember being so excited to get back into the gym and really, really wanting to compete and do well that year. We already had our provincial gymnastics team suits that had come in and arrived, so my friends and I were trying them on and getting super excited about competing in our new gym wear. And then I had found out that my coaches decided to pull me from the competition because they didn't think I would be ready in time, and I remember that being the first time where I realized, wow, there's some things that are out of my control and some things that I can control, and the things that I can control are how I use my time, where I give and take, and where I find the balance in my life in order to be able to continue doing everything. So that moment as a kid really made me reevaluate all of this. And the following year, I had to make a lot of lifestyle changes, a lot of changes with my schedule, whether that be with school or with training, and I came back even stronger the following year and won my first nationals and won my first international medal that year. So maybe that year prior just wasn't my time, and I needed that wake up call. And I think that it was a great lesson to learn how to distribute my time and make the best of it, really.

Jared  12:44  
And then a more recent lesson that I think I've learned as an adult in the industry is that you need to be able to separate your identity from your career. I recently came back into shows after a three and a half month break from an injury, which was the longest break I've ever had from an injury in my career so far, and over that time, I had more free time than I've ever had in my entire life. After just having moved to a different country, taken on a new job position, not being in school for the first time in years at the same time as working, I had so much free time.

Jared  13:28  
So being able to be content with myself and have other passions and other things that I enjoyed about myself and in life too was so vital during that time for both my physical and my emotional and mental well-being, and I think led me to come back even stronger from this injury because I knew that what I do on stage and what I do in my career doesn't define who I am and who Jared is as a person. And if there's anything I can pass on to others who might be facing an injury or a break of any sorts from what they love to do, is just to find things that they love outside of their work and are able to feel the same level of passion for in whatever area that might be.

Loren  14:20  
Those are both great stories, as you said, for students who are just coming up, as well as for adults who are in the industry. Jared, just tell everyone how old you are.

Jared  14:31  
I'm 25.

Loren  14:33  
When someone told me that that you were 25, I said, "There's no way!"  And now talking to you, it's so nice to hear that you understand some big life philosophies because I mean that is the secret and that will keep you going the rest of your years. So congratulations on figuring all that out while you're still young.

Jared  14:57  
Thank you. I really appreciate that.

Loren  15:00  
When you look back on all the experiences and accomplishments, did you ever, in your wildest imagination, dream that this would be your path?

Jared  15:10  
Definitely not. I assumed that right after I graduated high school and took a semester off in order to pursue competing at Worlds that year, that I would go right back into school and then begin competing as a senior and continue exploring that for as long as I could, or as long as my body would be able to. I definitely did not expect Cirque to come into play this early on. I think it was always something that I knew I wanted to audition for, maybe once I was done my degree, but I definitely didn't see it happening this early in my career. In 2015, at my last World Championships, which did not quite go as planned, I was really contemplating where I was heading towards in my competition career, in my academic career was making some big decisions in my life at that time, and then an opportunity came up to move to Montreal to be a part of a training program out there at Cirque headquarters. I had no idea where it was going to lead, but I thought, sure, why not? It's six weeks; it can't do any harm right now, and about a week into the training program, I ended up being offered a contract for the arena touring show Ovo that was doing a revamp at the time, and I quickly jumped ship from the training program over onto Ovo, and what was a month and a half long contract turned into a two-month contract, turned into a five-month contract, and then I came home for a little while, which turned into two more contracts after that. I was not expecting any of this to happen, and then once I finished my time on Ovo, I definitely didn't expect my career in film and TV to take off as quickly as it did, and I think I just was really fortunate to meet some amazing mentors and teachers in Vancouver at the time who guided me throughout the industry really, really well from the start. So, yeah, I had no idea what was to come. If you asked 17, 18-year-old, Jared, I would have been done my degree by now, and maybe auditioning for Cirque at this point. But I couldn't be happier with the way things turned out. I think there's as corny as it is. Everything happens for a reason, and I think I am where I am right now for a good reason.

Loren  17:41  
I love hearing that that you are happy where you're at. Is there anything that ever happened that you never expected?

Jared  17:50  
Something I did not expect. Yeah, was moving to Vegas right now to pursue this role. Everything happened so quickly when it did. Yes, the audition process was a few months long, but then once the role was offered, there was about a 10-day window from the time that I received the contract till the time that I ended up moving. So, really, adaptability is key in this industry, and being flexible, as you said, and kind of going with the flow, but also still being strategic and knowing what you need in order to succeed and what your boundaries are as well, I think, are so important too. Because I did not expect this to happen as quickly as it did, but without some of those tools, I think that I have developed over the years, and especially with some of the people that have guided me and helped me throughout this process, I wouldn't be able to do it. My parents were huge, huge supporters throughout this entire process, as well as my younger sister, who's my best friend and biggest fan, as well as all the coaches and teachers and mentors that gave me their pieces of advice throughout this entire experience as well.

Loren  19:04  
It's nice to hear that you have a big support group, which is you know helps everyone. So that is wonderful. What's the biggest lesson you've learned so far?

Jared  19:16  
Biggest lesson I've learned so far is probably that as much time as one invests in their skill set and their talent in this industry, they have to invest in learning the business of it. And at the end of the day, the entertainment industry is like any other industry or corporate job, where you need to know the people that you're working with, the different departments, communication skills. There's so many different things that you have to pay attention to besides your drive and dedication to your specific craft. Yeah, I think you really have to be able to pay attention to the business of the industry and the networking components of it, and the especially like I always say, communication is key within this industry too, and really understanding like how to communicate with people, whether that is on a job or socially, versus in a work manner, a work fashion, and via email and Zoom, which is now part of our daily lives. All these skills are so important, and you can be an incredibly talented artist. But if you are not aware of all these different aspects of your job as well, it makes it very hard to be the best you can be at it. So just encouraging people to continue learning the what a lot of artists might think are the boring stuff in the industry, because it really, really does make a difference.

Loren  20:56  
Fantastic advice, Jared. What's next, or what's something that you have yet to achieve that you want to accomplish?

Jared  21:07  
I feel incredibly fortunate to say that a lot of the things I've wanted to check off my bucket list, I've been able to do so far. But over recent years, one thing that has become apparent to me is that it's not necessarily the job or the position or the show that I'm after, but more so the impact that what I do has. Something I am incredibly like proud of and passionate of is my background and my roots and my family history. My roots are South African, Israeli, and Jewish, and I identify as a queer gay individual. And I think there's something really authentic about artists playing roles that they have direct connections with, and that they have lived life experiences with, and as much as I love the challenge of playing characters that are completely opposite to who I am, because majority of the time I end up getting to play these really cool, like mystical, magical creatures and animals and such, and that's what makes my job exciting. But I would love the opportunity to play a character that I have a direct lived experience or connection with too. And as an audience member, even though they may not be able to tell exactly what it is, you can feel the difference when you watch a performer who has that connection to a character or role because they have that deeper understanding for them, and ultimately that's what leads an audience member to feel seen, and it gives them too a sense of hope in a way. So, what's next? I hope the opportunity to play those characters that resonate with me in that type of personal way, so that I can elicit that feeling onto others too.

Loren  23:11  
I have a feeling that you putting that out into the universe will come back to you. It sounds like that's what's been happening on your journey, so I think it's going to keep happening, and I personally cannot wait to see what happens next in your life, Jared. Just before we finish, I have heard from a reliable source that you also have an added interest in skincare.

Jared  23:37  
Yes, I do.

Loren  23:39  
Could you give us your top tips for healthy and vibrant complexion.

Jared  23:46  
Oh, I love it! I love it! You know, best piece of advice I can give for healthy skin is retinoids and sunscreen. The golden duo. If you are consistent with those two, you will be very happy in the long run.

Loren  24:05  
Okay, I will note that. Thank you very much, Jared. It has been an absolute pleasure meeting you and talking with you today. Thank you so much.

Jared  24:16  
Thank you for having me. It was so nice to meet you. Please let me know anytime you're in Vegas.

Loren  24:29  
If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe and follow so you never miss an episode. And if you know a dance teacher, student, or parent who would love to hear this discussion, send it their way.

Loren  24:42  
Sharing the show is one of the best ways to support the podcast. Until next time, find power in your strength, freedom in your flexibility, and know that we are here to support you on your acro journey.

Loren  24:59  
Thanks for listening, everyone. And have a great day!