BIOGRAPHY

Iman Lizarazu's first role was playing the mouse in "The Nutcracker" when she was six years old. Now, with four decades arranged inside her capable and provocative physique, she has created an alluring 70-minute solo show entitled "Basquette Quese" an entertaining portrayal of a character who's insomnia initiates a series of mesmerizing gravity-defying vignettes.

Born in the Basque region of France, she later spent part of her youth in Moscow where her father was an artistic director for the Bolshoi Theater, giving Iman a strong foundation in classical ballet and choreography. The theater was near the Moscow Circus training gym where Iman found herself most often, learning circus arts from a bygone era.

In Dresden, Germany, she attended high school. Her father, then artistic director of Great Palucca's dance school. This kept Iman close to the circus school in Dresden where she honed her juggling skills to perfection. Still, she pursued a college education. Finishing her PhD in Astrophysics in 1995, she considers that as being one of her best performances, complete with honors. The faculty at Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Munich mused "the fresh wind had left the institute when Iman completed her PhD."

She spoke Russian as a child, Basque at home, German in high school and college, English in America. But it is French that she loves to speak. Which language triumphs in her shows? As a mime, none. Her show is silent of course. Iman's intelligence and passion to perform has created an amazing, tender clown character, who is influenced by a blend of techniques she learned at the School of mime with Marcel Marcaux and from her studies with master Julie Goell and Avner the Eccentric who helped blend Iman's rich cultural background into a compelling, intoxicating show. There is always a provocative soundtrack, composed by Jon Scoville and Les Yeux Noir, accompanying her creative techniques.

During the summer of 2008 she traveled to France, Germany, Syria and Morrocco performing her unique style of clowning. Then as a personal encore, she ran with the bulls in Pamplona. A clown's dream?! To feed her gypsy soul, the past 5 years, she is learning flamenco dance. When not moving at a break-neck pace, she's creating set designs for her staged shows since she is an accomplished painter and photographer, having exhibited her work for many years in galleries throughout Europe and California.

Euskal Herria!

Iman was born in a small village in the Basque region of France where her family has lived for 800 years. She is widely travelled and speaks English, French, German, Russian and Spanish. Click the map above to learn more about Iman's Basque heritage, of which she is fiercely proud.