Miss Polly Pepper
Curator
Movement Coach
Breath Coach
Habit Coach
Dancer
Acrobatic Stilt Dancer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Event Planner
Polly Bates has been studying, performing, and teaching movement for over a decade. She loves creating experiences that foster joy and help people connect with their bodies, their environments, and each other.
Polly has been a passionate learner and entrepreneur from the start. She began creating dance opportunities for herself in her small town from a very young age, and continued on to study and perform circus and dance around the globe. Her first loves were Cumbia and Salsa, but she has since expanded into Samba, Afro-Cuban, Soca, and House dance. In the mid 2000’s she took her dancing to higher heights by learning to walk on stilts and perform on aerial silks.
She spent 3 years in Portland while touring the country with theMarchFourth band as an acrobat/stiltwalker/dancer/aerialist/artistic director. As a touring entertainer she had to learn the hard way how to take care of her body. When a completely torn ACL in her knee threatened her performance career, she realized she needed support and began working with a trainer. Polly was able to heal her body through consistent, intentional movement and avoid surgery entirely. She was inspired by what she accomplished with this targeted approach and her journey led her into a career in coaching so she could help others as well.
In 2015 she returned to the Bay Area to create her own company, Daring Arts Movement. She has taught circus arts for Circus Mecca, Loco Bloco and the Culture Jam youth camp. In 2016 she began training and taking a group of Stilt Dancers to Trinidad Carnival annually to perform alongside the traditional Moko Jumbie Stilt walkers.
Polly currently resides in Oakland and is focusing on coaching, teaching, coordinating weddings and events at her family’s Philo Apple Farm, and helping build the Spinout Fitness Waterbike Experience brand.
To learn more about her life visit her blog, listen to her on the Soulfully You Podcast, read her interview on The Grown Up Truth website, or her article about her family legacy in the World of Mouth Magazine.
Polly Pepper is a professional dancer and stilt performer with over 15 years in the industry.
"Pretty Polly Pepper" By SEPIATONIC
Featuring Claire Gender: Vocals, Polly Bates: Stilts, Nick Brently: Dance, Renzo Staiano: 8-string guitar, Rachel Machtinger: Cajon
Samba on Stilts!
A tribute to Jon Horvath of Fort Knox Five. Performed at the 2015 Mendocino One World Fest to their song Cinco to the Brinco. A Circus MECCA Production.
Jamie & Polly Pepper dance original choreography to All Names played live by MarchFourth! in Redding, CA
MarchFourth! dancers perform stilt acrobatics at Sierra Nevada Beer Camp in San Diego, CA.
Polly Pepper and Aaron Lyon perform a stilt-pole routine with Marchfourth!
Polly Pepper performs a stilt chair dance with MarchFourth! to Rose City Strut at the Crystal Ballroom.
Polly Pepper and Phill Stasz perform Adagio with MarchFourth! on the Main Stage at the 2014 Oregon Country Fair