Aerial dancer7/13/2023 ![]() A 2006 performance at the iconic Intel Shell-an unfinished building in downtown Austin-drew over 14,000 people. Pickle and Homer Thornberry Federal Buildings and the Long Center for the Performing Arts portico. She’s transformed sites like the historic Seaholm Power Plant, J.J. Though not a flyer herself, Jacques’ exploration of aerial apparatus and vocabulary evolves from her commitment to and curiosity for extending the boundaries of her art in unique and often large public spaces. Founded in 2005 by artistic director Sally Jacques, site-specific aerial dance company Blue Lapis Light (BLL) explores social, political and spiritual themes while dancing off the ground. Like Houston, Austin is home to several aerial training studios as well as aerial dance companies. Valle now trains and teaches as a Level 1 aerial and Gyrotonic instructor at Pilates and aerial studio Core Root Projects, owned by Shannon Hunt. ![]() ![]() The collaborative relationship extended to the use of Ell’s studio for performances by Valle’s University of Houston dance production students, who were provided with opportunities to develop backstage skills like stage management, sound technique and more. She and Ell launched their respective companies 6 Degrees and VauLt on a shared concert in 2010. Best known for her “grounded” dance theater work exploring political and social issues, Valle has occasionally taken her choreographic vision to the air. Houston choreographer Toni Valle’s aerial practice is just one of many ignited by Ell’s expertise and influence. have embraced the gravity-defying medium over the last decade, Texas has established a robust and active community of flyers, as well as audiences hungry for the work. “I am lucky to witness the incredible growth in aerial dance taking place around the globe,” says Ell. Theaker von Ziarno (Australia), Rochelle Brophy (New Zealand) and Amy Ell (USA), primary choreographer and conceptual designer, in Queensland Flight, organized by Abigail Rose (New Zealand), Queenstown, New Zealand. She closed the studio more than a year ago to rediscover creative play in a professional life that had become overwhelmed by managerial duties, and to roam internationally. She has spent 30 years consumed by the challenge of “flying,” organizing one of the first aerial training programs in Texas and forming her professional aerial dance company VauLt at a Houston studio in the Montrose district. Ell, a specialist in fabric, dance trapeze and vertical dance, would know. “I guess I could say it’s like partnering…partnering with a very tall, not-so-helpful dancer.”Īmy Ell’s description of aerial dance may not be the most romantic, but it is likely one of the most accurate characterizations.
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