Collective Creativity: The 7 Fingers, Sum of Its Participants

Gypsy Snider’s extensive and remarkably varied career as an artist, choreographer, stage director, and Co-Founder of the award-winning contemporary circus collective The 7 Fingers is truly an exceptional story of vision, resilience, and found success.

For over two decades, The 7 Fingers has done so much more than survive with their provoking, highly entertaining productions at festivals, touring shows, and residencies. Even more telling is how the inherent solidarity of their collective core has become a thriving example of how an alternative, pioneering approach to the creative process has led them to become one of the most successful contemporary circus companies in recent history. In this compelling, honest session, we are honored to have Gypsy speak about her vision, The 7 Fingers and its ongoing story.

Watch this Session below.

The Entertainment & Performing Arts Industry Conference took place on January 10, 2022. It was for anyone working in, studying, or interested in the entertainment or performing arts industries. The event featured 50 sessions with 120+ industry leaders from numerous disciplines. EPIC was built around the discussion pillars of CREATE, PERFORM, DESIGN, & PRODUCE. Each Pillar featured a collection of industry leading directors, choreographers, performers, technicians, producers, designers, and more.

To see all other sessions of the EPIC Conferences, explore HERE

The 7 Fingers Website

Gypsy Snider

Gypsy Snider wrote and directed Dear San Francisco, SisterS, Réversible, Intersection, Amuse, Un Dia, Traces, and Loft. Constantly branching out into new mediums, Gypsy has choreographed televised feature performances for America’s Got Talent, Her Majesty’s Royal Variety Performance, the illusionist Darcy Oake’s Edge of Reality, and large scale fashion shows for Bench/. In 2013, working with director Diane Paulus on a new vision of Pippin, she choreographed and wove circus into the revival of the Broadway musical. Gypsy’s work on Pippin earned her a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award. Gypsy began her circus career at the age of 4 when her parents founded The Pickle Family Circus. She grew up touring the West Coast with the company, went on to graduate the Dimitri school of physical theater in Switzerland and performed with the Cirque du Soleil for several years before creating “Les 7 doigts de la main” in Montreal, Quebec. Gypsy has now come full circle back to her home town of San Francisco : The 7 Fingers have moved in to the iconic North Beach theater, Club Fugazi where Gypsy is co-writer/director of Dear San Francisco. Adding to her diverse range of projects, Gypsy wrote and directed Ships in the Night, contemporary musical dance revue for Virgin Voyages’ new cruise line. In 2020, she created and choreographed the televised EUFA Draft opening. During the darkest time of the pandemic lockdown, she wrote and co-directed her first film Out of Order. Gypsy is also a guest teacher and guest director at the National Circus School of Montreal, she received the Evolving Circus Award in New York City and was invited to speak at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington DC.