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| | Shows That Won't Be Touring the USA
Posted on 6/8/2010 by Isabella
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Todd Various says, "Have you seen the German fire show? It kicks ass." There's no good place in my schedule, so when I see them start up, I walk away in mid-conversation and start pushing to the front I'll sit on the ground, which Macedonians won't do, so I might as well get to the inner circle. It's easy to get through, because the crowd is moving backwards.
Rapidly.
Because Eddie Egal, head German, is backing them up WITH A FLAMETHROWER.
Now, if you're a busker fan, or hang out with hippies, you've probably seen a fire show in Canada or the USA. Usually, the crowd is safely back, fire permits have been issued, fuel is stored separately from the equipment, and the equipment is only lit up once a safe boundary is in place. Then some greasy dreadlocked guys spin poi, girls in leather bikinis wave some fire fans, they all pass the hat and go smoke up backstage.
The Germans have set up a mad scientist's lab with fireball tubes on a 14-foot high scaffolding proscenium, a fire cannon on the stage left side pointed mostly up but a little towards the audience, and Eddie Egal and two sidekicks in lab coats with clipboards moving through the whole steampunk setup. THERE ARE PROPANE TANKS EVERYWHERE. You know, the ones where in the states you can't smoke a cigarette within 15 feet? And while the female "scientist" is checking levels and setting fire to a watering can, and the male "scientist" is inspecting with a large magnifying glass and testing buttons that fire flames 25 feet up, Eddie is striding through tanks and pointing the FLAMETHROWER! IT'S A FLAMETHROWER! With a steam whistle! Mostly up but also sort of at the audience to get them to move back. Which they do. I sit in the front row while Eddie drops flaming pellets on the ground two feet in front of the audience to mark the line. Children poke at the pellets until Eddie waves the FLAMETHROWER! OH MY GOD IT'S A FLAMETHROWER! at them.
The show is a long buildup to one stunt. There's an open shower with water tubes that fire into the center, and flame cannons that blow fireballs through the center. They water down the female scientist, mask and glove her, and set her up in the shower. Fire, water, awesome trance music, she's overcome, strips out of the lab suit, and does a sexy dance in a thong bikini while water and fire rain over, around and through her. The fire cannons shoot. I think there's another flamethrower section. Then they pass the hat.
After the hat pass, Eddie says, "Wednesday night, anyone who wants can try the fire shower."
I say, "I'll bring my bathing suit." |
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| | Chai Make You Cool
Posted on 6/7/2010 by Isabella
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Here, it's Macedonian. It's very Macedonian. Which means, maybe we have a show and maybe we don't. Maybe it's on this pitch, maybe it's over there, maybe a giant stage with folkdancers moves into the plaza. Maybe we should run up hill to make it to a 2PM meeting, since it's 2:10, or maybe Pane will meet us eventually which gives us time to order iced coffee, listen to the band, and learn to say, "I'd like to order_____" in Macedonian.
Tonight, two shows, back to back, at Aerodrom and the plaza. Aerodrom is 20 minutes away. This year, I do not freak out. I don't even bring it to Natasha's attention until mid-afternoon. And sure enough, after meeting with Pane, we are shown to a delightful, shady courtyard in the Old Market, to do what will be our only show tonight. The courtyard is an exact microcosm of Skopje that side is the Macedonian bistro, with hanging pot plants and couples in ironwork chairs eating sopska salat. This side is Albanian, with a men-only crowd playing backgammon and cards over tiny glasses of tea.
We set up the rig, it's an important show tonight, Pane is partnering with an NGO (A charity? A folk group? We can't tell) to bring the festival to more of the local people. Some Albanian men finish their card game and drift over to us. They don't speak a ton of English, but one of them used to live in Germany, and helps us translates our hat line from German (which I have handy from last year) to Albanian. This excites me. I'm already caffeinated. And midway through, Gandhi, Hadji and the Guy Whose Name Starts With an N, tell me in three of the four languages, "[Albanian meaning chill the heck out]! Ne arbeit on Saturday! Chai!".
N is dispatched for boiling hot tea in shot-like glasses with miniature lemon wedges on the saucer. "Chai make you cool, good for hot." And over tea, I learn to thank the audience in Albanian, via German with an Austrian accent and Macedonian with an American accent. The men confer over phrasing and argue semantics among themselves. Unlike Macedonian, in which everyone sounds angry all the time, their eyes crinkle and the sounds of Albanian are softer in the back of their throats. I promise to practice, and we stash our gear bag in the backgammon restaurant, and head out to eat and change. |
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| | Older Than Keeping Time
Posted on 6/5/2010 by Isabella
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Ahhh, Eastern Europe. Where time is fluid, indoor plumbing still in the pre-mastery stages, girls are girls (don't lift that suitcase) and toilet paper a rare and precious resource. Always check before you sit.
The trip, after only two hours crying at the Air France counter (they WEIGH your carryon) was otherwise smooth Toronto, Paris, Sofia, Skopje, we've done this before. Sure, we'll drop our bags in a tent in the main plaza and head to the wine bar for mystery soup! Yeah, we'll swing by the hotel before deal-making back at the wine bar with Albanians! Todd Various is sitting in the fountain! There's popcorn!
It's a great group this year we traveled from Sofia with an Italian jazz/folk band full of hot Italian jazz/folk guys, and our friends Figo the Scottish magician, Andy the angry Montreal acrobat, and Dorothea the klezmer clarinetist have all returned. Most of all, we're less uptight. Sure we have a show at 7pm in one part of the city backed with a show at 8pm across town! Yeah, we only have one show on three midweek days! But you know what? Nobody cared last year, and nobody cares this year. There will be a sign-up sheet for bonus shows, Natasha (NA-ta-sha) supervising a huge penciled-in grid with a harried expression as buskers point and lunge, "Can I have that spot?" Nobody's expecting it all to run perfectly.
There's wifi at the wine bar, and I sit on the edge of the restaurant deck, buskers chatting in seven languages, the band on the upper level belting out uncanny Peter Gabriel, Alanis, Tracy Chapman, Bowie. The purple sky is blotched with clouds, laptop on knees, the stones beneath my feet older than Jesus, older than keeping time. I'm in the old market, and for a thousand years buskers have come here to do shows, with crazy schedules and Muslim-Christian tensions and people who must be bribed or coaxed or shown the benefit to them to have us here.
Us.
Here. |
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Here at the Aerial Angels, we like the finer things in life: librarian salads and nerf gun fights, standing ovations and Home Depot. (See below.) And poetry. We found this one, written by Sir Thomas Malory in 1485, about the month of May:
The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit;
for like as herbs and trees bring forth fruit and flourish in May, in likewise every lusty heart that is in any manner a lover, springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds.
For it giveth unto all lovers courage, that lusty month of May.
We like this poem because it's about living passionately! And that's precisely what we're about here at the Aerial Angels. Providing people with joy and wonder regardless of their ability to pay. Living passionately this summer? Tell us how: Chelsea@angelsintheair.com.
(If you don't like poetry, or to unsubscribe, you can also contact Chelsea@angelsintheair.com.)
May your summer be lusty-
The Aerial Angels
NACA Northern Plains
In April, Isabella, Flame, Spike and Chelsea spent a weekend in St. Paul, Minnesota at the National Association of Campus Activities Conference.
Day One: Eat "Librarian Salad" at local Greek restaurant. Haul rig awkwardly into convention center elevator. Perform for student delegates from over one-hundred schools looking for campus entertainment to compliment Facebook and beer pong!
Day Two: Mall of America! There's shops AND rollercoasters! Hang out at the GP Entertainment Booth with our agent, Rich. Get in a nasty nerf gun fight with the booth across the way. Meet lots of friendly Cheeseheads and Dakota-ers(?). One brings us a backpack. Thanks, Alfonso!
Standing Up at Home
May 13th was an extra special performance for Stand Up Eight. With five cast members hailing from western Michigan, the group jumped at the opportunity to partner with Paw Paw Performing Arts Center and give back to the community. All proceeds from the sold-out house went to benefit Paw Paw High School.
Spike says, "My friends finally believe me when I say, 'I get tied up and suspended and eat some fire'." Eight made believers out of a lot of friends last week. They earned a standing ovation on their home turf.
Don't know about Stand Up Eight, the large-scale indoor touring show launched by the Angels in 2008? Check out standupeightshow.com.
Angels in Europe
In just a few days, Isabella, Mimi and Anthony launch the Aerial Angels tour of Eastern and Central Europe! The team begins by returning to the Skopje Buskerfest in Macedonia. Next, they head to Kosovo and the twisty streets of old Sibenik, Croatia. The official tour concludes in Austria, but we'll be sticking around to do some street performing across Europe. If anyone has a favorite spot, we'd love to hear it! Email Chelsea@angelsintheair.com.
Not spending the summer in Europe? That's okay. Keep up with your favorite Angels at www.angelsintheair.com/blog. We love to hear from our fans when we're on the road!
Training Camp
I call Anthony, newest Aerial Angel. I hear power tools in the background. On his first day off from training camp, Anthony is at Home Depot cutting down his hand-balancing stands to make them more portable for the trip to Europe.
Anthony first met the Angels when Isabella and Spike directed Fallen at the University of Alaska at Anchorage in spring 2009. A little over a year later, he's at the gym nine hours a day preparing for a whirlwind tour!
"Mimi and I got our trapeze routine choreographed in a matter of four or five days. That was an adventure! Yesterday, I spent probably five hours on tramp wall. I was scared to try, but I did it. For me, training camp has been about finding my limits and realizing that I can push through them."
Six Questions with...Niki Dreistadt
1. What do you do?
I am a stage manager for Stand Up 8 which involves everything from creating the daily schedules, to maintaining a relationship with the venue, to carrying extra snacks for hard-working actors. When I'm not working for 8 I attend the University of Colorado as a BFA performance major. In my free time (if I have any) I enjoy hiking and farming on my sister's farm.
2. Who is your favorite hero/heroine in literature?
I've always loved Wendy from Peter Pan because she gets to go on the adventure of a life time but she never forgets about her family or where she came from.
3. What was your favorite toy as a child?
I had a blanket that you could clip a face and hands and feet to and then she would become a huge doll. You could play pretend with her, eat a picnic on top of her, use her as a cape, and then cuddle up in the blanket at the end of the day.
4. Do you have a motto to live by?
Work smarter, not harder.
5. What was your most embarassing performance moment?
When I was really little I did The Grapes of Wrath. My Dad starred and I played a random little steet urchin. In one performance I lost my tooth and my mouth started gushing blood all over the stage. I began to cry because I thought I had ruined the whole play. Luckily, my Dad came onstage moments later, in character, with a tissue in his pocket. He told me as soon as I got offstage someone would be there with a warm washcloth and take care of me. After the show he even bought me ice cream.
6. Do you have a hidden talent?
I make phenomenal cheesecake. |
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The poet William Wordsworth once said, "Up from the sea, the wild north wind is blowing. Under the sky's gray arch; Smiling I watch the shaken elm boughs, knowing it is the wind of March."
The Aerial Angels can feel the wind blowing, too, Mr. Wordsworth. After a week with the Icelandic circus community, we're revolutionizing circus from Alberta to Florida with Stand Up Eight. And we're planning for an exciting summer by inviting interested artists to apply for Angel internship positions.
May the winds of March shake the boughs of your elms-
The Aerial Angels
Standing Up...From Canada to Florida
Stand Up 8 is revolutionizing circus. And we're starting with an epic trip across North America. On February 26th, Stand Up 8 premiered in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. We ll take the whole operation to the Polk Theatre in sunny Lakeland, Florida for performances on April 9th and 10th. Are you an artist, entrepreneur, or curious individual living in Central Florida? Want to know how a touring show is created? Want to be inspired? Allison 'Isabella' Williams, Artistic Director of Aerial Angels and Director of Stand Up Eight will be offering speaking engagements free of charge to interested clubs and groups about Women in Business, Blending Old and New Marketing, and Attracting Investors. If you are interested in bringing Allison to your group, contact Chelsea@angelsintheair.com.
Goodbye Mac 'n' Cheese
Isabella spent early February teaching aerial workshops at Sirkus Island (Circus Iceland) in Reykjavik. She says, "The circus community in Iceland is small but very dedicated - my students were so encouraging to each other and very motivated to make the most of our week together. As the only American in a shared gym full of serious, mute Slavic coaches working with little vaulters and beamers, my nationality got the best of me! I was the loudest coach in the gym: 'Higher, hold it, strong feet, you got it, you GOT it, YOU GOT IT GO GO GO YES!' At the end of the week, the class went out for traditional Icelandic food, and let me say that Seabiscuit and Shamu were delicious. For the record, Icelanders are totally grossed out by macaroni and cheese."
Silks Instructional Video Now Available
Our latest DVD is a beginner's guide to the art of aerial silks. It will be for sale on the Angels site within the next week and makes an excellent St. Patrick's Day gift. (Warning: One should not attempt to train while intoxicated...)
Six Questions With...Misti Bernard
Misti Bernard, Stand Up 8 cast member, has toured professionally since 1992 and sings in six languages from Spanish to Urdu, with regular forays into scat and improvisation. A founding member of world music ensemble Blue Muse Trio and the Irish groups Brollywacker and Old Soles. Misti studied with Ali Akbar Khan and has performed and recorded with Irish flute player Grey Larsen, vocalist Stephanie Heidemann and free jazz drone ensemble PoOg, amongst others, and has opened for acclaimed Celtic rock band The Young Dubliners.
1. What do you do?
I sing, play the hammered dulcimer, guitar, Irish flute, pennywhistle... music is my silly wonderful amazing life.
2. Who is your favorite hero/heroine in literature?
I tend to love the ballsy heroines and heroes who must overcome adversity in order to step into their larger, grander purpose. I love the Jungian 'heroes journey' type of characters, and I also have a secret adoration of science fiction, so everyone from Robin McKinnley and Patricia McKillip's strong women to Paul Atreides and Luke Skywalker. Yeah yeah, geek flag already. :)
3. What was your favorite toy as a child?
I still have my chocolate-brown, velvet teddy bear, named, appropriately, 'bear'. He has a red t-shirt and looks like pooh, and is thread-bare and beautiful. This is the first year I've felt he was too fragile to be on the road with me, and I miss him.
4. Do you have a motto to live by?
"To live life, take large bites. Moderation is for monks." Heinlein
"Fortune never did favor the meek, Misti Lynn. Are you an adventurer or an Ohio farm-girl?" Me
5. Do you have a hidden talent?
I swing dance, shoot bow and arrow and study Japanese Tea Ceremony.
6. What three words would your friends use to describe you?
This one honestly stumped me, so I texted a half-dozen friends. The results came up "whimsical, bold, spirited, intelligent, driven, fiery, goofy, fierce, dorky," and a few others I'm not at liberty to share...
Last Call on Internships!
The Aerial Angels are accepting applicants for summer internships through March 10th. We will be selecting this summer's interns at the end of March. It's a competitive year, with some amazing applicants so far - we've received 16 applicants for two positions. If
you'd like to apply, read more about the program.
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| | January is the Month That Cares - From the beaches of Belize to the stages of Fort McMurray, Canada, the Aerial Angels are embracing our mission: We are personally involved with our audience, and we entertain them regardless of their ability to pay. We can't wait to see you in 2010!
| 1/18/2010 | | | Happy New Year! - In 2009, Aerial Angels performed across the globe. But with the luxury of travel comes the difficulty of throwing a company holiday party! With Angels wintering in Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Winnipeg, Connecticut and onboard a Caribbean cruis
| 1/4/2010 | | | We're Blogging - We facebooked. We myspaced. We twittered.
We even sent a letter or two.
We wanted a way to stay connected with YOU, and we found it. Welcome to the Aerial Angels' blog.
We've gathered our posts from years back, and what a ride it's been. So read
| 12/23/2009 | | | Sweet November - Dear Friends of Aerial Angels,
As the fall Renaissance Festival season draws to a close, we are celebrating an incredible 2009! We developed Fallen at the University of Alaska, had our first audience for the indoor touring show Stand Up
| 11/13/2009 | | | September Mornings Still Can Make Me Feel That Way - Dear Friends of Aerial Angels,
After finishing up a whirlwind Canadian summer tour (read on to find out the naughty way we made $3000), the Angels will spend the fall in New England performing at King Richard's, Maryland, and the Pennsylvania Renais
| 09/14/2009 | | | August Rush - Dear Friends of Aerial Angels and Starfish Circus,
We have had an exhilarating summer! Our tour of central Europe was a success: learning to sputter out our hat line in the tongue of Alexander the Great, enjoying unique theatre (a castle was actuall
| 08/15/2009 | | | Summer Loving - We hope you are eating lots of watermelon and wearing lots of sunscreen! Summer is a busy season, as always, for the Aerial Angels. If you are joining our newsletter, welcome! If you've been with us this year, you'll notice this one looks a lot coole
| 06/20/2009 | | | Macedonia: The Language Bridge - Macedonian is more difficult than any language I have ever encountered, and I m including Czech and Japanese. For starters, it s written with the Cyrillic alphabet, like Russian, and there s just enough letters that look like the Roman alphabet to ma
| 06/02/2009 | | | Macedonia: The Language Bridge - Macedonian is more difficult than any language I have ever encountered, and I'm including Czech and Japanese. For starters, it's written with the Cyrillic alphabet, like Russian, and there's just enough letters that look like the Roman alphabet to ma
| 06/02/2009 | | | Night. Eastern Europe. Yes, the Toilet Paper is Still Communist. - We landed in Amsterdam this morning and Sofia this afternoon, where we meet Charlie, who is to drive us the four hours through Bulgaria to Macedonia. After claiming our two bundles of eight foot pipes, bundle of four foot pipes, hoop, and gear bags,
| 06/02/2009 | | | For the Busy Stand Up Eight Fan - Our 90-second promotional video by the talented Rachel Peters. For more, see rachelcpeters' channel on Youtube.
| 05/28/2009 | | | Stand Up Video - Our incredibly talented friend and colleague, Rachel Peters, visited our Dekalb premiere. She made us some promo videos! Check them out.
And read about her visit.
| 05/28/2009 | | | And Now There's An Audience... - How did the past month go so fast? Where did the time go? Here we are. Tonight there will be an audience. Tonight there will be reaction (hopefully) gasps (hopefully) and applause (would be nice). It was almost a year ago that Allison and Zay went on
| 05/21/2009 | | | Everybody Eats Fire Now! - In a moment of insanity, Lindsay the dramaturg bet the cast that when they got the tongue to tongue to tongue fire transfer for the Fire Party Act, SHE would learn how to eat fire.
So they did, and she did.
(Pssssst, she always knew they'd get it)
| 05/20/2009 | | | Not Every Day Goes According to Plan - Today was supposed to be a flying day. It wasn't.
Flying is the finale. The big deal. The big picture. The thing that's never been done. Never been staged. Never been worked on. The thing we should have started working with way back on Thursday. Did
| 05/18/2009 | | | We Are in the Building - Stand Up Eight has traveled to Dekalb where the show will be performed next week. We are in the theatre.
The next step in the adventure begins. The lights are being hung and focused. The magnitude of the trampoline and tramp wall is being dis
| 05/15/2009 | | | Stand Up Eight Is Ready For An Audience! - After years of dreaming, developing, begging, and rehearsing, Stand Up Eight is ready for an audience. We would love to see you, our loyal friends, in the house. If you know others in the Chicago area who'd enjoy the show, pass this email along to th
| 05/14/2009 | | | Warming Up - Everyone warms up in their own way before a run. Except the stage manager who looks askance at being on camera....
| 05/13/2009 | | | Whip Boy and Whip Girl - Allison and Brett work on their whip routine.
| 05/12/2009 | | | All Hail Brett - So today's post was going to be about silks. But someone (Brett) thinks there are too many pictures of silks and someone (Brett) thinks there's not enough pictures of others (Brett).
So today, we offer you a tribute of other people in Stand Up Eight
| 05/11/2009 | | | Something Worth Watching - And another week begins at Stand Up Eight rehearsals. We have four days left in Grand Rapids and then the whole troupe moves to Dekalb. We work for a full week in the theatre the show will be in, which is awesome.
There are many pieces to this puzzl
| 05/10/2009 | | | More Tramp Wall - A unique view of Brett on the Tramp Wall.
| 05/08/2009 | | | And then the piano rolls in - Kim and Richard worked all day long on their acro routine for Act Two in Stand Up Eight.
It's going to take place around and ON a grand piano.
Very cool. Even without the piano and in the middle of the gym, the moves the two were practising looked
| 05/07/2009 | | | The Stuntman and The Comedian - So the comedian makes it look funny.....
And the stuntman makes it look painful....
Or is it always funny?
| 05/06/2009 | | | Richard and the Splinter -
| 05/06/2009 | | | Que Pasa? - What does this picture mean? What is happening? Why is everyone gathered around? Hmmm, if only there were a video to explain the situation! Stay tuned....
| 05/05/2009 | | | Fire! - Not everyone in Stand Up Eight has worked with fire before. There are some fire newbies.
In the show, everyone will have to extinguish a torch in their mouth.
And the finale of the act is a tongue, to tongue, to tongue transfer.
That's righ
| 05/05/2009 | | | Lyra..... AND skates? -
| 05/04/2009 | | | Brett and Richard Play with the Trampoline Wall -
| 05/03/2009 | | | Rehearsal Strap Video for Stand Up Eight Finale -
| 05/02/2009 | | | What do you mean it's only been THREE days??? - Three days can feel like ninety when you're working your butt off. But, ha, it's all paying off.
There would have been pictures of newbie fire eaters Brett, Misti and Sam swallowing fire for the first time (YAY) ..... if we hadn't spent so much tim
| 05/01/2009 | | | Tramp Wall, Tramp Wall, Tramp Wall! - Day Two.
It's amazing to see how in just one day those working on the tramp wall have improved.
After their time on the wall, Richard talked about the tramp wall becoming less of a work out and more fun.
We can't wait to see where they are in a we
| 04/30/2009 | | | And Stand Up Eight begins! - There's nothing like diving into the deep end of the pool! Today marks the first day of rehearsal for Stand Up Eight - and the first act we worked on was the Aerial Silks Party.
The aerial silks section of the show is going to be fun, fun, fun.
| 04/29/2009 | | | April Showers - NEWS:
Cirque du K, Kalamazoo College's circus club, debuted their second main stage performance on March 15th in the Dalton Theatre. MAERD (dream spelled backwards!) incorporated a cast of ten student performers and was a great success. Skill
| 04/23/2009 | | | Summer 2009, Here We Come! - Last week, Kitty and Mimi were joined by special guests Brett and Dan for some serious training to whip ourselves into shape and learn new skills for the upcoming shows and season. Oh boy, just you wait until you see what we came up with. Of course
| 04/15/2009 | | | Young Hearts Be Free Tonight - Happy Valentine's Day! We hope this finds you wading into 2009 with fun and excitement!
2008 saw the Angels travel farther than ever, with exceptionally notable events and festivals at home and abroad and incredible people along the way. We were tou
| 02/14/2009 | | | Midsummer in Florida! - To kick off 2009, Isabella and Todd Espeland of Commedia Zuppa are in Winter Park, Florida avoiding truly cold weather and directing twenty-four Rollins College theatre students in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. And, as can b
| 02/12/2009 | | | The off-season? - So the winter is what we at the Aerial Angels like to call the "off-season" because it's the time of year when we stop driving or flying upwards of 2 hours at least twice a week to perform all over the country and the world. This is our time to rela
| 02/03/2009 | | | Aerial Angels on Dragon's Den Online Now! - Hey there all - our episode of Dragons' Den airs Monday night on CBC. However, we have access to a "sneak peek" and you can watch the episode online now! We are at the very end of the episode, and I recommend watching the opening credits so that you
| 10/06/2008 | | | Splish Splash in Maryland - This Sunday at the Maryland Renaissance Festival the Aerial Angels found themselves in awe of some other worthy performers. They gave an adorable, unexpected performance of splash-tacular proportions.
This performance was made possible because, at
| 09/30/2008 | | | Merry in Maryland - ~also from Flip
Greetings all!
It has been three weeks since Flip, Peanut, Sparkle and Mimi began our performances at the Maryland Renaissance festival. So far it has been a pretty exciting run. The show is different, it's more of an artistic nat
| 09/24/2008 | | | How to Survive the Eastside of NYC in a traffic jam in the driving rain - So imagine this: You've just had your FIRST DAY OFF in 43 days. In fact, you've just had 5 consecutive days off, and you've spent your treasured time with your blooming romance in NC. 5 blissful days of vaca and now you're en route to KRF where a bea
| 09/16/2008 | | | Halifax Champs! - We were so pleased to be runners-up for the Audience Choice Award at the Halifax Busker Festival! The largest (and one of the most prestigious) busker festival in North America, Halifax had a terrific line-up this year - we were honored to come secon
| 09/05/2008 | | | A Blue Team Summer - Hello Aerial Angels' fans! Flame here. You may remember me from such events as King Richard's Faire 2007, the Alaska 2008 extravanganza and the Spring 2008 Southeastern Tour de Force. Up until now, you have known me as the number 3 - the shadow, t
| 08/27/2008 | | | London - Every gig has a schedule. In Dublin, we headed down to the pitch around noon to warm up for a 1PM show, got some yogurt along the way, said hello to fellow performers at the festival, threw down three shows hour-on-hour-off, then took the minibus to
| 07/19/2008 | | | Singapore: Signs and Portents - Here's what makes Spike nervous:
Chopsticks
Food poisoning
Hepatitis
Here's what makes Isabella nervous:
Meals without napkins
The death penalty
Squat toilets
...let's go to Singapore!
Spike and I roamed London Heathrow preflight, changing the 2kg
| 07/09/2008 | | | Mimi the Brilliant! - Aerial Angels congratulates Company Member MA Harrison (Mimi) on graduating with high honors from Kalamazoo College. MA has been working really, really hard on her Senior Individual Project (big deal at K-College) and has a 90 page thesis paper writt
| 06/30/2008 | | | Postcard from Ireland - After the Street Performer World Championships in Dublin, Spike and I have fetched up in Camden, London, at the flat of Sparky Mark (Senor Chainsaw I realize these stage names mean nothing to most of you, but if you keep a picture in your head of a
| 06/21/2008 | | | No-One Can Smell You On TV - Dragon's Den Day. The Triple D. Aerial Angels Spike and Isabella are headed into Toronto to pitch our Big Show idea in front of a panel of Canadian multi-millionaire investors who will decide then and there whether to shower us with buckets of cash,
| 06/10/2008 | | | Overheard/Overseen at the Dundas Busker Festival - ...Star, Isabella, Spike and Rachel Peters (pavement artist and the graphic designer of our lovely new website) learning to say "Spike is a small grapefruit!" and "Star wants to know where is the library of my aunt!" in French, for the sake of having
| 06/08/2008 | | | How to Have a Good, no, Great, no, FANTASTIC Show! - As the head Aerial Angel, newer performers often ask me for advice on how to turn their shows from "ok" to "FANTASTIC!" I'd like to share some of those little tricks that work for myself and the other Senior Company Members, in hopes that they will h
| 06/07/2008 | | | New Site, New Show, New Summer - Exciting News from Aerial Angels!
The new website is up - check it out at www.angelsintheair.com!
* * *
Aerial Angels will be on the Canadian reality TV show Dragon's Den! The show features entrepreneurs
| 05/31/2008 | | | Chains don't love you back - Aerial fabric is hurty. Rope burns, wrapping up so tight you can't breath, sliding down too fast for your hands.
But hey, nothing says fun like a challenge. So I get a set of aerial chains. I've seen them around, tried Silea's in Germany, watched so
| 05/15/2008 | | | On the Road, On the Road, and On the Road Some More... - ~Also from Isabella and Spike
Six states, two countries, several flights and 24 hours of driving in four days - a snapshot of the Aerial Angels Southeastern Tour 2008.
Friday and Saturday found Spike, Isabella, Star, Flame and guest hamster Rikki t
| 05/07/2008 | | | Alaska Take Three! - So the first day of our Alaksa Adventure, take 3, was greatly influenced by the wind. 12 hours of travel and 4 time zones post birthday celebrations, we arrive in Anchorage, which is a lot like Michigan's weather, but with less sun. Exhausted, giddy,
| 02/28/2008 | | | Short Video of Starfish Circus - Click here!
Made by a local newspaper - this shows a bit of what we are doing!
"(Not so) high wire" my behind :)
| 01/16/2008 | | | New Entry - All my conditioning has to get done in the hotel room, at this point in the process the kids are good enough to lead each other in abs and arms while I sort out the costume dispute, send the stage manager to call the welding guy and find out why we d
| 01/15/2008 | | | What I Did On My Day Off - Performing in St. Augustine
| 01/14/2008 | | | In Praise of Dance Belts...Day Four. - The boys have mostly all had to buy dance belts. It's like thong underwear crossed with an athletic supporter. They are always surprising to the first-time wearer ("Wait a minute, that thing goes where?").
They run down the hall, first upright, the
| 01/09/2008 | | | Day One - We work in two rehearsal periods, each two hours long, each with about 35 kids. They're in groups - first we see acrobats, poi spinners and clowns, the clowns departing to another space with Todd to learn rolling globe and rolla bolla and balancing o
| 01/05/2008 | | | Seventy Six Children - No, really. SEVENTY SIX children in the latest incarnation of Starfish Circus, down here at Douglas Anderson School for the Arts in Jacksonville. And we still turned away fifty more - sorry, guys.
We're down here in sunny-yet-freezing Florida, havin
| 01/03/2008 | | | First Show - We conditioned during the carols at the end of the show, and then joined everyone on stage for Silent Night. Quite moving when the piano dropped out and the soloists went off mic and everyone just sang, the audience to us and we to them, casual cloth
| 12/23/2007 | | | Easy/Hard - The scary part is not performing at 35 feet. Or flying around the room on the silks while the winch takes me to 45 feet and back down again, which is in fact incredible and easy and fun.
The scary part is climbing through and over the catwalk raili
| 12/16/2007 | | | Getting It - Bela Karolyi was famous for his little nicknames. Betty Okino was a "fat spider". Mary Lou Retton was a "fat dwarf". He carried Kerri Strug in his arms off the floor, he urged her to make the second vault that (we sort of overlook) didn't actually ma
| 12/10/2007 | | | Honoring Michael Carl O'Neil - We were saddened to hear that Canadian busker Michael Carl O'Neil passed away in October.
Luna, Spike and I met Michael at the St John's Busker Festival in New Brunswick this summer. He was a fantastic performer - an amazing human statue and a hilar
| 12/09/2007 | | | Better than alone at the drive-in - I go to the gym. It's the day after Thanksgiving, haven't gained anything yet, but it's never to early to anticipate...I'm meeting Miss Pussycat and there's an insane open gym filled with the children of Black Friday shoppers.
Instead, all is dark a
| 11/23/2007 | | | Cue James Bond Theme... - So after dropping in on a rope class, I go home to shower before flying out while Spike and Luna take a straps class. Rope class was great - I got a bunch of new moves and worked on fine-tuning bascule climb, dive, and a big rotating drop that's lik
| 11/14/2007 | | | Run for the Border... - So in contrast with last week's adventure...
I was xing into Canada. Had the ole passport open and ready. The guard didn't even look up at me.
"And where do you live?"
Spike: Michigan
"And what's your business in Cananda?"
Spike: Passing through
| 09/06/2007 | | | Fruit vs. Customs - SO... (Insert apology for lack of blogging here) ... I'm crossing the border into the US, having dropped off Luna at the airport, the rig at Rachel Peters, and my garbage into the proper duty-free provided receptacle.
Rewind to Orangeville: the gig
| 09/04/2007 | | | We love the Canadian Border! - Ahhh.clearly Max and Lady used up all the Angels' border-crossing karma. Luna, Spike and I made our way towards New Brunswick, crossing into Canada once at Detroit/Windsor, where we were stopped briefly for the usual "Hi, this is who we are, this is
| 07/27/2007 | | | Canada- A brief in notation form. - "It's like French Toast, foreign French Toast." -Max on his first encounter with tofu
Crossed the border seven times in five days and were not sent to customs once.
Total time crossing border, less than 30min.
Cannot avoid belligerent drunken Amer
| 07/09/2007 | | | CANADA, CASTLES, and ALLERGIES - Co-written by Flip~
Things we've learned so far:
-You must change your voice mail BEFORE you hit the border to Canada... it only took luna four or five tries.
-One must bring a cargo net and duct tape to get a rolling globe on top of a car
-Every
| 03/12/2007 | | | Oh, Toronto Nothing Punny. - So Isabella and I have journeyed to our neighbor to the North to "audition" before Ag Fairs of Ontario. Once again we got stopped at the border, but it was a relatively painless visit. We're getting to know the border office officers, and they are st
| 02/17/2007 | | | Strange Dream - The adventures of Super Spike-
I had a very peculiar dream last night involving a New Years Eve gig in a big city and some has-been actress going to maybe or maybe not blow up a part of the city. I happened to be in the room where she was recording
| 02/13/2007 | | | Boot camp kicks my BOOTY - AHHHHHH is all I can really say about boot camp. It was hard, hurty, sweet, fun, and absolutely amazing. It was fun to have new people join us Angels at camp this time. I enjoyed watching them learn and try new things as we did the same. It was also
| 01/06/2007 | | | Oh God It's Day Four - Friday. Or as I like to think of it, the LONG day. We went until 6:30 today instead of 4:30 because we had the gym and tomorrow is a short day. So it was great, and by great I mean exhausting and painful. But still great!
We spent the morning stret
| 01/05/2007 | | | Training Camp Day Three - Today was a bit of a take-it-easy day - it's the middle day, we're all tired and full of stiff muscles! Focused on hoop/lyra this morning, with some free aerial time, then after lunch we tumbled and had more aerial and ground skills time, then ate fi
| 01/04/2007 | | | Training Camp Day Two - Well, they're all in bed tonight...9PM and the house was dark and silent except for little old me - so tired I was weeping in the shower. Fortunately, my dear one will be slathering me with Tiger Balm before bed.
Great aerial time this morning - eve
| 01/03/2007 | | | Training Camp Day One - So we gathered in the gym this morning for training camp. Well - everyone else gathered, I was still up a 32-foot extension ladder, finishing rigging. You'd be amazed how many aerialists are afraid of heights!
Spent the morning on silk in a begin
| 01/02/2007 | | | Ahh, the holiday - I love Christmas. Specifically, I love cooking. I hit the grocery store at midnight on the way back from Cleveland last night and picked up a few necessaries...and thought, OK, I'm going to make a mincemeat pie - have to make, very hard to find in
| 12/24/2006 | | | Autumn time - Know what I like about Thanksgiving weekend? It's my big stay-home holiday. After working every weekend since the beginning of February and spending the last 4 1/2 months more or less continuously on the road, I have spent seven straight days letti
| 11/30/2006 | | | Chiggers! - I have chiggers.
Many of you may be wondering, "what the heck is that?" and so, I, the wikipedia informed Spike, a victim of supreme discomfort and master of all matters relating to the current plague, shall educate you.
Chiggers are little red bug
| 11/17/2006 | | | Flip goes to London - Thursday, November 09, 2006
Over the past weekend I have had the wonderful opportunity to compete in London at the David Ward Cup competition. There were teams from all over the world that attended. London of course was everything I expected; beau
| 11/9/2006 | | | Arrested Development, anyone? (or, the curse continues...) - So we are staying in the Model Home of the new CENTRAL PARK Condominiums. In two of the model homes, actually. I feel like we're on arrested development. We have this great flat screen TV. It only gets the nature channel and never turns off. Also, no
| 11/04/2006 |
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