Lauren Rile Smith is a poet and performer, and the founder and producer of Tangle Movement Arts. Lauren has trained trapeze and other circus arts at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, the New England Center for Circus Arts, and LAVA Brooklyn. She has completed trapeze teacher trainings with Elsie and Serenity Smith of NECCA, as well as Natalie Agee of the Ruby Streak Trapeze Studio. As a circus instructor, she’s committed to creating a safe, fun environment that welcomes all people. When not on a trapeze, Lauren lives in West Philadelphia. She works at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Pennsylvania, and edits poetry for Cleaver Magazine.