TashKouri

Tash Kouri is an American body painter and performance artist born in Worcester, Massachusetts. The homeschooled daughter of an Orthodox Christian priest and a dental hygienist, Tash was forbidden from experiencing the popular music, cinema, sitcoms, fashion, and culture of her peers. One day, while listening to an approved musical theater compilation CD, Tash discovered the soundtrack to Cabaret and decided to shed her sheltered nerd-skin and devote her life into becoming a fearlessly fabulous backstage and front-and-center performance diva.

In 2005, she relocated to New York City for college and supported herself with a feverish combination of waitressing and busking as a living statue. By 2006, she had formed The Gyronauts, a circus dance performance company specializing in flaming hula hoops, techy glow poi, saucy camp, and psychedelic space age antics. Since the beginning, Tash has held the role of chief business liaison, hula hoop ingénue, spandex costume designer, and head body paint/makeup artist. After graduating from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Studies with a BA in Creative Expression, Healing, and Social Change, Tash moved to Austin and later Dallas to pursue her career as a professional performance artist and passionately productive businesswoman.

Airbrush body painting originally started as a tool for Tash to emphasize the superhuman look that Gyronaut performers enact on stage. Further exploration made it evident that pre-gig preparation was just as satisfying (if not more satisfying) than actually performing on stage. Her impressive portfolio and backstage experience helped her quickly connect with some of Dallas' photography greats, and solidified her signature look. Tash's unique aesthetic has been known to celebrate Psychedelic Glamour, Drag Du Soleil, Williamsburg Glitterati, and Gaga-esque Graffiti.

Tash continues to paint herself and fellow performers for Gyronaut gigs, finds herself airbrushing naked models in photographers studios most weekends, and religiously makes a pilgrimage to Burning Man each summer. Tash and The Gyronauts will be permanently returning to NYC for a Grand Comeback in the Fall of 2011.

www.tashkouri.com -- Body Art and Makeup Artistry
www.thegyronauts.com -- Fire Hoop Circus Performance Troupe
www.facebook.com/BodyArtbyTash -- Body Art Fanpage

Current Residence: Dallas, TX
Favourite genre of music: gay electro glam