Revolva

Broadminded was founded by hula hoop artist and theater-maker Revolva, who launched the project as a way to honor her transition into her 40s — and to prove that women are relevant and powerful forever. Revolva's performance work has been featured in Vice, Huffpost, Jezebel, TMZ, SF Weekly, Detroit News, Portland Mercury and more.

A real theater kid, Revolva first hit the stage at age four in a Detroit-area ballet class. After years of dancing, acting, and word slinging (she is also a writer), she added hoops to her repertoire in 2002. Audiences as far away as Europe and Asia have never been the same. While she can blow crowds away dancing to live music, she really shines with her signature, over-the-top character numbers.

After relocating to the west coast in the mid-2000s, Revolva co-founded Circus Artemis: Portland Women’s Circus, which held several sold-out runs — and got her first taste of what happens when we question traditional ideas of what “belongs” on stage. As she approached 40, feeling the heightened ageism and sexism in the performance world, Revolva decided not to wait for society to change, but instead, to BE the change. She assembled a dream team of women-over-40 performers for her project “Broadminded Women Over 40 Revue” — and sold out San Francisco’s Beatbox club, with a show that received national acclaim. 

In addition to amassing countless wigs, Revolva has collected Burning Man’s “Fire Idol” award and earned The Busking Project’s top pick award in the “How do you contribute to public space?” contest. She’s also taught workshops, performed, and emceed at events such as Hoop Convergence (North Carolina), Hoop Camp (California), Cheeselandia Hoop Affair (Wisconsin) —and at international gatherings including SWhoop (England), and Hoop Die Burg (Germany). 

After many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, Revolva now finds herself back in the Motor City. She is excited to bring Broadminded to Detroit to honor her transition into her 50s — and to pay homage to both the Motor City women who inspired her early career, and the west coast women who first helped her teach audiences that women have no shelf life.