Our Team

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Dan is thrilled to lead Tightrope’s offerings for the Workplace and for Health & Wellness. His passion is to bring learners into the moment together, where co-creation can happen. A graduate of Queen's University Drama (B.A.H) and Artist in Community Education (B.Ed), Dan has been performing and teaching theatre and improv for over twenty years. Using his background as a high school teacher and corporate trainer, Dan loves to apply the concepts of improv to the way teams work together.  Dan has been training professionals in applied improv for the workplace since 2014. As a facilitator with Improv for Business, he has led successful and impactful training for teams from VanCity, Telus, PCL, ReThink, Microsoft, YVR, BC Children’s Hospital, Amazon, and many more organizations in BC and across North America. Dan trained and went on to perform as a mainstage ensemble player at Vancouver Theatresports for seven years and taught improv on the faculty of the Improv Comedy Institute. In 2015, Dan moved to New York City with his husband Jonathan and studied improv with UCB and Annoyance Theatre. There he founded the Dirty Little Secrets Improv show, which still runs monthly in the East Village of Manhattan. Returning to Vancouver, Dan co-founded Momentous Comedy and continues to produce improv shows across the city. Dan serves as the President of the Queer Improv Society of Vancouver where he builds community through improv, guiding the non profit board, directors, and a troupe of over 40 members.  Dan is also a Leadership Communications Consultant with The Humphrey Group and continues to deliver leadership training and executive coaching across the globe to Fortune 500 companies, governments, professional associations, first nations councils, and with Universities including UBC Sauder Executive Education programs. Dan brings the joy he finds in collaborative performance to every training he facilitates. After resisting for a long time, Dan finally created an instagram account for his dog, Kai. @kaidangerfloof 

Sarah Ferguson is a Vancouver based actor, improvisor, and theatre-maker. She holds a diploma in Theatre Performance from Mount Royal University, a BFA in Theatre from Simon Fraser University, and a lot of student debt. She has been the Volunteer Coordinator and Social Media Manager for the Canmore International Improv Festival 2018/2019, as well as a founding ensemble member of Sour Dog Theatre since 2015. Sarah hopes to be a part of projects that represent her experience as a gay woman in the LGBTQ+ arts community, and use humour & vulnerability as tools for healing. Because she is a settler on the unceded Indigenous territories belonging to the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, she is critical of her own privilege as a witness and creator. She is excited to continue to be a student, performer, and supporter of Tightrope Theatre! 

Jeff is a multi-faceted actor, director and teacher with extensive training in improvisation, theatre & film. Born and raised in Treaty 7 land (Calgary) he holds a BFA in Drama from U of C, and was a member of the Loose Moose Theatre Company where he first met and trained with Keith Johnstone. Now living on the Unceded Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver), Jeff is the artistic director of the International Theatresports Institute, and a company member and lead teaching artist with Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival where he has developed curriculum for children, seniors and professional actors. He recently launched a new international online impro project called The Naked Improvisors that was part of the National Arts Centre Canada Performs series. His recent work with Vancouver Opera, The Kettle Society, Vancouver Parks Board and the Carnegie Centre with artists living with mental illness and homelessness has had a huge impact on his teaching practise, leading with empathy and care, and creating a space that is as inclusive and safe as possible. Performance highlights include the feature film Kingsway (TIFF 2018, Leo nomination for Best Supporting Actor), four seasons at Bard on the Beach including the hit productions As You Like It, and Alls Well That Ends Well, and Blanche (New York Musical Theatre Festival, Huffington Post top shows of 2011)

Taylor Janzen graduated in 2016 from Simon Fraser University with a BFA in Theatre Production and Design, and recently worked at the Cultch as their Assistant Production Manager (2019-2020) and their Rentals Assistant Technical Director (2017-2019). She has been the Technical Director for Upintheair Theatre’s “The Array” (2019), the “e-Volver Festival (2020), and the “rEvolver Festival” (2018-2020), which she was previously the Assistant Technical Director for between 2013-2017. Her recent lighting designs include Rapid Pitch Production’s “Big Sister” (2020), The Happening Dance’s “Accelerate 3.0” (2020), Zee Zee Theatre’s “ Holiday at the Elbow Room Cafe” (2019), and Eric Cheung’s “iye” (2019-KW Studio).

Afro Yannitsos is a Vancouver based improvisor, writer, and government relations specialist. She found her love of improv when she was 16 and began training at The Second City  in Chicago. Afterwards, she spent her undergrad teaching and performing improv with the UBC improv club, while finishing  her degree in Kinesiology and Entrepreneurship. Working in higher education now, she see's how  improv is a pathways to developing strong soft skills. Obsessed with the future of work and future of education, her mission is to help people unlock their professional potential by learning basic improv skills.