NEWS
UPDATE: We are sad to announce that BLUNDERLAND March 20-21, 2020 has been CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
NYC Performance March 20-21 7:30pm
Nicki Miller and Benjamin E. Oyzon’s new expressionist anti-fairytale aerial theatre duet will premiere
BLUNDERLAND at House of Yes NYC
We will be performing our 7 minute piece in a lineup of other amazing cabaret and variety artists two nights in a row- this show is guest hosted by burlesque legend Fancy Feast, and takes us into the amazing Eric Schmalenberger's psychedelic queer circus rabbit hole. It is one of my favorite shows in NYC and a real treat to be performing in again. I would love to share with any of you who can make it!
Big thanks to the amazing 5th Wall Studio for generously giving us residency space to prepare for this performance! 5th Wall Studio is in Williamsburg Brooklyn and specializes in flying harness dance classes, hammock dance, kids classes.
Thank you Brooklyn Arts Council!
Big thank you to Brooklyn Arts Council for giving a portion Brooklyn Arts Fund to Only Child Aerial Theatre in 2019! This is our third grant from BAC, and thanks to their support along with our donor base we are thrilled to announce that we will be devising and performing a new multidisciplinary aerial theatre show in May 2019 in Bushwick, Brooklyn! Directed by Nicole Valerie Miller this stellar ensemble includes Cassady Rose Bonjo, Kenneth Stephen Neil, Šara Stranovsky, Gil Verrelli, and Ashley Winkfield. Our team also includes production manager is Ayla Weisz, rigging director Benjamin E. Oyzon, dramaturgy/creative consultants Kendall Rileigh, Laura Sisskin Fernandez, and Danielle Butler. Big thanks to additional support from Crista Marie Westley. Stay tuned for more details soon!
To support this project, donate directly to Only Child Aerial Theatre using the button below:
FEATURED: Only Child IS on NPR!
Only Child Aerial Theatre is featured in a segment about NYU Skirball's Circus Now festival on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition" March 4, 2017! Listen to co-founders Nicole Valerie (Nicki) Miller and Kendall Rileigh discuss aerial theatre what's next for circus: http://www.npr.org/2017/03/04/518372234/not-your-grandpas-circus-the-big-top-makes-room-for-experimental-companies
framework recap:
Learnaerial.com interview with Nicole Valerie (Nicki) Miller about using aerial work as storytelling in "Framework" at INSITU Site Specific Dance Festival: http://learnaerial.com/blog/framework-an-alternative-angle-on-aerial/
Summer 2017:
Nicole Valerie miller with ellie dubois and cirkus cirkör!
This summer Nicole Valerie Miller will be hopping the pond to help other circus theatre artists with their work!
Pictured top: Ellie Dubois' Now Show, which Nicole Valerie will help put up at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at Summerhall!
Pictured bottom: Cirkus Cirkör (Sweden) new creation, Under, directed by Olle Strandberg. Nicole Valerie will be shadowing Olle in rehearsal while also working in a personalized creative residency in Cirkör's facilities.
Summer 2017:
INSITU Site-Specific Dance Festival, July 8 and 9 at socrates sculpture garden (free performances!!)
Only Child Aerial Theatre is creating all new, original site specific work on the metal structure in Socrates Sculpture Garden for this FREE outdoor arts festival. Original music will be composed and performed by Ben Lieberman, performers TBA soon!
"INSITU is a unique two-day site specific dance festival taking place at the LIC waterfront in the summer of 2017. Through free public outdoor dance performances and community workshops, INSITU encourages residents and audiences to discover their neighborhood through dance, to integrate and strengthen the relationship to their community and awaken their own creativity. INSITU is produced by KINEMATIK Dance Theater in partnership with Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement, Hunters Point Parks Conservancy, Chocolate Factory Theater, Socrates Sculpture Park and LaGuardia Performing Arts Center."- http://www.insitudancefestival.com/
April 2017:
KENDALL RILEIGH Brings aerial CHOREOGRAPHy to DELAware theatre company's American premiere of "Hetty Feather"
Jaqueline Wilson's "Hetty Feather"
April 19-May 14 at Delaware Theatre Company
Directed by Bud Martin
Based on the Original Rose Theatre Kingston Production
Adapted by Emma Reeves and
Directed by Sally Cookson
Learn more about Kendall's aerial work in this American premiere at Delaware Theatre Company
March 2017:
CircusTalk asks: What's next for AmericaN circus?
"We’re part of a movement toward the diversification of circus and its integration with other genres such as theatre... we hope that when people see American circus work they know it is American because it is urgent, it is relevant, it is inclusive, truthful, and brave.”
- Nicole Valerie (Nicki) Miller and Kendall Rileigh weigh on CircusTalk's piece "New Circus Doors in the US": https://circustalk.com/news/new-circus-doors-in-the-us/
the time to Donate is now!
End of year giving 2016
Check out this performance from our 2016 fundraiser: Uproar: A Benefit Speakeasy for Only Child Aerial Theatre! As of November 25, 2016, we are still $4,000 away from our end of year fundraising goal. Donate and help us keep going:
ASYLUM performS at nyu skirball center for the performing arts
as part of Circus Now: International Contemporary Circus Exposure
FRIDAY March 3, 2017 8pm
"Circus Now returns to NYU Skirball following two sold-out seasons, with three programs of boundary-pushing contemporary circus featuring the world’s most innovative and inspired companies."- NYU Skirball website, with full lineup and details
TDF Theatre dictionary: Aerial Theatre
Only Child Aerial Theatre collaborated with TDF (Theatre Development Fund) to help spread the word about aerial theatre! Nicole Valerie (Nicki) and Kendall wrote an essay that includes an overview of what aerial theatre is, who is doing it, and where you can learn more. See the full piece: http://dictionary.tdf.org/aerial-theatr/
Only Child artists discuss asylum on npr's "the state of things" at wunc
Frank Stasio of North Carolina Public Radio's "The State of Things" interviewed our artists about the creation of ASYLUM, the state of mental healthcare in the U.S. , and why aerial theatre is how we tackle these issues. Listen to the full interview (19 min) here: http://wunc.org/post/life-inside-asylum#stream/0
Only Child's First Frantic Assembly Chair Duet
Nicole Valerie and Kendall participated in Frantic Assembly's International Chair Duet Challenge.
The piece was featured on Frantic Assembly Chair Duet Website the website and was one the most "liked" entries!
Reviews of our work
”Asylum is most definitely not a circus and there is much more than the physical wow factor ... Like a story that falls flat and you say “you had to be there,” any description of Asylum would be the same. There is a wonderful collection of special effects, lighting, and music that greatly enhances the show, one you must experience.”
The News Observer review of ASYLUM:
“The extremely imaginative staging, using acrobatics, aerial choreography, original music and abstract projections, creates a wordless, dream-like world…"
"its poetic artistry spawning striking images and evoking powerful emotions . the production is uniquely thought-provoking”
Triangle Arts Review for ASYLUM
”To begin with, there is no doubt, upon entering the stage space, that we have entered a special place… ASYLUM is a creation that is to be experienced, not “seen.””
“Asylum is no exposé in the vein of Geraldo Rivera's groundbreaking 1972 documentary, Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace. Instead, Miller has crafted a study of the characters, using movement, music and shadow puppets to humbly communicate their defenselessness, their past and their present.