ACTS
SPACE TEAM, GO!
Cast
GOOD IN RED
Chinese Pole
Nicholas Strange
Music: Good In Red – The Midnight
It’s time to set your gasoline heart on fire…
FROM EDEN
Aerial Rope
Olivia Strobl
Music: From Eden – Hoizer
A lyrical rope act set to Hozier’s From Eden, this piece explores curiosity, persuasion, and the tension between resistance and surrender.
THE BRAID
Sling Loops
Jessa Audet
Music: The Seed – Aurora
Drawing inspiration from the stories in “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Krammer, this piece explores the interconnection between humans and mother earth, navigating a relationship of reciprocity and honor.
DANCE THE NIGHT
Cyr Wheel
Bri Thompson
Music: Dance the Night – Dua Lipa
It’s sassy, it’s pink, it’s a cyr wheel act straight out of an epic Barbie-Land dance party!
SUPERSTITION
Aerial Silks
Ripley Chance
Music: Superstition – Lloren, Jake Warren, Black Hydra
A dark and dramatic silks sequence.
SHE BUGGIN
Dance Trapeze
Dani Bobbi Lee
Music: Bugg’n in the Air TNGHT– Lespecial
This is Dani’s FIRST trapeze act. She’s a vertical apparatus girlie, and more recently has been on the diabolo and juggling grind. She chose dance trapeze because it feels good! Dani is a mover or a groover if you will so what better apparatus to dance than the dance trapeze! It was her dance moves that enamoured her husband when they first met. Dani used him as her muse to try and create a romantic, love letter for her husband. But, given her proclivities, the act turned into a weird, gremlin-like piece. She still dedicates this act to him because who are we kidding- weird and gremlin-like best describes us. Love, you Andy!
HOW VILLAINS ARE MADE
Loop Straps
Caterina Thorne
Music: How Villains are Made – Madeline Duke
CAPRI SUN
Hoop Juggling
Stacey Strange
Music: Agitations Tropicales – L’Impératrice
This act was supposed to be a silks act. It was also supposed to have a different title but Michael Karas stole it, so Stacey plans to fight him about it in the convention center parking lot at the International Jugglers Association Festival on Saturday, July 19th at 10:52 pm in Evansville, Indiana. He doesn’t know about any of this or who she is, so he will never see the first punch coming.
This act was written for the 77th annual International Juggling Association Festival.
TESSELATE
Aerial Sling
Jillian Marchenko
Music: Tesselate – alt-J
Performing has always been an emotional outlet for Jillian. At the time this act was written, it was nothing more than moving on her favorite apparatus to one of her favorite songs, with no specific story line or plot. But, as show time rolled around and life threw her unexpected twists and turns, she found herself ever grateful for this space to channel emotion, and turn it into something beautiful to share with the audience.
CRY ME A RIVER
WhirlPole
LisaBella
Music: Cry Me a River – Tommee Profitt, Nicole Serrano
HAHA
Hand Balancing
Elle Rinaldi
Music: HAHA – Charlotte Adigéry, Bolis Pupul
WAVES
Aerial Hoop
Bri Thompson
Music: Agitations Tropicales – L’Impératrice
This act is about finding comfort in the rhythm of the ocean whether there’s calm skies or stormy seas on the horizon.
CAST BIOS
NICHOLAS STRANGE
Technical and Rigging Director
Nick is not a fake giraffe. He juggles a lot and sometimes does some other things too. Someday he will be good at Chinese pole, but keep in mind that he is notoriously bad at estimating timelines. He got his start as a sideshow performer but was forced to exit that side of the business when Stacey saw someone installing a five dollar bill to his arm with a staple gun. He has spent too much time on the internet and not enough time on Mars. He likes building things and breaking things. He is friends with a nice dog named Tesla. He would like to get better at acrobatics and is learning to balance on a ladder (mostly for construction related reasons, but also maybe for circus). Also, he is a mechanical engineer and all-around good guy. Once he saw a sloth crossing the road in his hometown of East Hartland, Connecticut, US and A, Planet Earth, Sol Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster, Laniakea Supercluster, the Universe. He suspects it was very slowly escaping from a zoo.
OLIVIA STROBL
Olivia has been training as a circus artist for eight years. She specializes in corde lisse (aerial rope), but also performs on aerial silks and dabbles in straps and dance trapeze. She moved to New Haven last year from San Diego, where she received most of her aerial circus training. When she’s not moonlighting as a circus performer, you can find her studying on the Yale University campus, where she’s a full-time graduate student.
JESSA AUDET
Jessa Audet, aka Tangled Phoenix, is a versatile aerialist who infuses humor and heart into all of her performances. Since discovering aerial silks in 2015, she’s dedicated herself to mastering the craft, training at institutions like Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance in CO and Sweet Retreats in Mexico. She enjoys performing routinely in scripted productions, cabaret style shows, and live events. A certified teacher with a 100-hour training from Born to Fly Productions in Castlerock, CO. Jessa instructs at multiple studios in New England. Beyond aerial arts, she adores potatoes, and dreams of owning a pet pig.
BRI THOMPSON
Beginning her circus career in 2018, Bri is a multidisciplinary artist who specializes in Lyra, Cyr Wheel, and Rope in additional to a variety of aerial disciplines. She enjoys creating dynamic act, storytelling through narrative shows, and is delighted to return to performing. Most recently she made her directorial debut with GOLDEN, a fairy tale caper that played to an oversold crowd.
RIPLEY CHANCE
She has been doing circus since she was six when she first met performer Dani Bobbi Lee. She is a fanatic about silks and diabolo. It’s a dream come true for her to perform with her teachers and role models. She wants to thank her parents, friends, and coaches for their constant support and for fostering her (hopefully lifelong) love of circus.
DANI BOBBI LEE
Dani is a multidisciplinary circus artist and performer. She’s been practicing circus arts for 15 years and continuously adds to her arsenal of tricks and skills.
Dani is a co-owner, Youth Program Coordinator and coach at Air Temple Arts. She feels passionately about offering circus to youths and believes that practicing circus is to practice how to accept failure, how to use play as discipline and experiencing accomplishment. All good things…and not just for kids!
Dani is a downright silly goose and believes comedy is one the best ways to connect with others on and off stage. Her art tends to be playful and weird, much like her. Her favorite circus art is clowning and she tries her best to stay as open as a clown and allow experiences, feelings and unexpected events to all feel like gifts.
CATERINA THORNE
Catriana comes to aerial with a foundation in classical ballet and a lifelong love of movement. After stepping away from dance during college, the pandemic reminded her of the importance of living fully in the present—not putting dreams on hold for the sake of professional goals. She began her journey at Air Temple Arts nearly two years ago, where she quickly found a passion for straps. Since then, she has devoted herself to the discipline, and in August, she added loop straps to her repertoire—blending strength and grace in the air with every performance. Outside of the studio Catriana is busy studying in her 4th year of medical school as she prepares to apply for residency in emergency medicine and working part time as a paramedic.
STACEY STRANGE
Director
Stacey Strange sprang fully formed from the bowels of the earth like one of the orcs in Lord of the Rings, only very beautiful instead and not disgusting at all. Yesterday she stopped on her bike to help a turtle cross the road. She is very bad at the clicky-captchas, but recently got two right on the first try, so her programming is getting better.
She is also the director of this show; the founder and creative director of Air Temple Arts; a member of the coaching staff at the New England Center for Circus Arts; and has performed and taught myriad circus disciplines across the US and internationally. Most recently she joined the staff of YANA Magazine. She has never gotten a speeding ticket but harbors great plans for racing rally cars one day.
JILLIAN MARCHENKO
Jillian grew up dancing, beginning at age three. For the majority of the the next two decades she studied everything from classical ballet, to tap, jazz, and modern dance. She continued dancing through college, majoring in Modern Dance, and graduating in 2011 with a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
In 2014, she came across Air Temple, and began training in aerial silks. In 2016 she began performing with Air Temple and has been doing so ever since.
During her time at UArts she discovered her passion for teaching. As full time licensed Massage Therapist of 12 years, she also taught massage therapy for six years. Nothing compares however, to sharing her passion for aerial arts. She began teaching with Air Temple in 2018 after completing teacher training, and currently teaches hand balancing.
LISABELLA
LisaBella began dancing at an early age, placing nationally in gymnastics, jazz, lyrical, and acrobatics. In college, while studying engineering, she competed in International Latin dance at the open level, drawn to the passion that is so inherent to the style. She later discovered pole, the perfect marriage between challenging acrobatic feats and sensuality. She shares her passion for pole and aerial through teaching, which she has enjoyed since 2019. She currently teaches aerial straps classes at ATA, sharing her love for the difficult yet rewarding apparatus. She performs whenever her schedule allows, mainly in New York City, on pole, aerial pole, aerial straps, loops, and chains.
ELLE RINALDI
Elle Rinaldi is a documentary filmmaker based in Connecticut and New York who is trying to find the joy of life in the joy of handstands. This is Elle’s first handstand act; she hopes you can laugh along.
LIZ RICHARDS
Liz Richards is a juggler and trapeze artist who has been with Air Temple Arts since 2019. She has directed two shows there, Heaven or California in 2021 and Super Duper Pool Party in 2023. Most recently, she appeared alongside Sierra Bachman as one of the juggling brothers in Golden.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Director & Choreographer: Stacey Strange
ECA Tech Direction: Seth Harris
ATA Tech and Head Rigger: Nicholas Strange
Stage Manager: Sierra Bachman
Marketing & Graphic Design: Stacey Strange
AIR TEMPLE MANAGEMENT
Executive Director: Dani Bobbi Lee
Creative Director: Stacey Strange
Technical Director: Nicholas Strange
CFO: Stacey Strange
Studio Dogs: Tesla Strange & Piper Lee
THANKS TO
Seth Harris for his amazing work and being so accommodating; Liz Bissell with ECA for being a delight to work with, as always; Ezequiel, Mike, Laurie, and Eva for their generosity and incredible photography; Laurie Kigner for being an excellent mom and Lobby runner 10 shows and running and Eva Skewes for helping out; Mike Elwell for agreeing to emcee this show in the 11th hour; Our Air Temple Community for being the best darn people on the planet.
