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Metamorphosis (2007)
Metamorphosis Fantastic characters and costumes wove their way through Cycropia's ninth appearance at the Orton Park Festival. Several exciting new aerial apparatuses highlighted this magical show at one of Madison's favorite summer festivals.
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The Orchid Ball Fundraising Gala
Moving in the Moon Cycropia brought their astonishing blend of suspended dance and acrobatics to the 40th annual Orton Park Festival for the eighth year. With a lighted canopy of branches overhead and no end to the imagination below, the dancers combined the grace and skill of acrobats with playfulness, passion, and artistry to present eight original aerial works to lift the heart and let it fly! The show featured double trapeze, hoop, custom steel apparatus, fabric sling, a magic ship of dreams and, as always, whimsical and beautiful choreography, dancing, costumes and music!
Ironworks Cycropia presented a site-specific multi-media performance at the Kupfer Center to benefit the Atwood Community Center's planned renovation of the building. The performances celebrated the building’s history as a first-rate steel fabricating facility, and its future as the home of the Atwood Community Center. Aerial rig points included one of the facility’s working gantry cranes, once used in the moving and manufacturing of heavy steel equipment and parts, as well as the large outdoor gantry, an exposed steel framework. Performance work was staged in several locations throughout the site, and audience members traveled through a mesmerizing gallery of movement, sound, light, sculpture, and imagery. Numerous other community groups and artists collaborated with Cycropia on "Ironworks." Architect and historian, John Martins, created a display which showcased the building’s past. Atwood Community Center staff presented drawings of renovation plans. The Red Herrings, a performance group directed by Heather Good which explores dancing in public spaces, performed as well as presentied video work. Visual artists included Jim Wildeman and Chele Isaac.
A Little Night Magic Cycropia Aerial Dance returned to the Orton Park Festival to present A Little Night Magic a show of original works staged beneath the boughs of a majestic oak tree. The troupe performed an astonishing blend of suspended dance and acrobatics. Amidst the hum of cicadas and festival-goers, the huge tree was illuminated against the darkening summer sky and transformed into a magical setting for aerial dance. The show featured whimsical and beautiful choreography, costumes and music, and dancing on an array of apparatus, including the single point trapeze, a ladder trapeze, and a new apparatus, the "Piroetta."
Strange But True
Strange But True saw Cycropia's return to the Wisconsin Union Theater with an astounding spectacle that paid homage to the circus and the sideshow. This theme allowed us to delve further into character development, with explorations ranging from the humorous antics of the Cannonball Sisters to the dark and mysterious carnival sideshow montage of "Alive" (what WAS that giant creature?). We also expanded the boundaries of our technical explorations, creating mesmerizing visuals on steel ladders that filled the vertical and horizontal stage space. Once again, collaborations with other local artists were a prominent part of the production, with sculptures by local artist Chele Isaac gracing our poster and featured onstage in one piece, and original sound design by Rich Path, John Feith and Adam Cain weaving the transitions between pieces. More Strange But True photographs
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Elements
For the sixth time, Orton Park's oldest, most majestic oak tree provided us with rig points and a fabulous canopy for a summer show. From the opening dance by the children of several of our members summoning earth, air, fire and water, to an improvised, spiraling finale, the show was comprised of all new choreographic works. In addition to our signature low-flying trapezes, apparatus included a custom-built steel trapezoid, harnesses, double trapezes, and the steel hoop or lyra. Staging an outdoor show is uncertain at best, what with an uneven, drought-hardened (or, in some years, rain-slick) "stage," the vagaries of the weather, challenging lighting and sound projection conditions, and audience watching from all directions. In spite of all these factors, "Elements" was perhaps the most technically smooth and polished outdoor performance to date. Our hometown crowd let us know in no uncertain terms how much they appreciated the effort.
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Firefly
Amidst the hum of cicadas and festival-goers, our huge oak tree was again illuminated against the darkening summer sky and transformed into a stage for aerial dance. A new stage backdrop including magical moon balloons evoked a fairytale circus. A comical opening sequence of nerdy entymologists, buzzing bees, wafting butterflies, enormous ant puppets, pixies and, of course, fireflies, opened the show to the delight of capacity crowds. The works presented included old and new. Several pieces from Alchemy were recreated in the park setting, providing a wide range of emotion, movement and theme. In addition, nine dancers wowed the audience with high-energy trios and sparkly costumes in a new group improvisation, while Cycropia’s ongoing students made their debut to the music of Miriam Makeba. More Firefly photographs return to top
Alchemy
There's always a little magic where Cycropia is concerned, and the Alchemy show at Madison's Union Theater was certainly a bubbling cauldron of creativity, color, and surprise ingredients. Mysterious bird-like creatures descended from the darkness and hovered over the stage, superheroes battled the forces of evil, shadows danced, flags rippled and soared alongside the flying bodies, dancers dangled and tangled and created precise and changing patterns like human kaleidoscopes. And an odd character named Flamel kept appearing... Alchemy featured eleven original aerial dance works by eleven Cycropian choreographers (more of the troupe choreographed than ever before!). Pieces featured a variety of apparatuses, from our signature low-flying trapeze to rope & harness, hand loops, and Spanish web. All of our diverse ideas, energies, and talents came together to create something richer than any of us could have come up with on our own, and somehow everyone who left the theater seemed a little bit younger.
More Alchemy photographs
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First Night
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The Madison Improvisational Dance Festival
Cycropia hosted Madison's Second Annual Improvisational Dance Festival, Oct. 18-21, 2001. Whereas Madison's first festival, put on by the University of Wisconsin Dance Program in 2000, was primarily student focused, the 2001 schedule of events sought to reach out to the community at large. Thanks to financial support by the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission and in-kind support by the University, Cycropia was able to offer low-cost workshops in Contact Improvisation by Chicago's Kathleen Maltese, in Skinner Release/Improv by Seattle artist Stephanie Skura, and in Aerial Dance by Marcia Miquelon. Free performances were also a prominent feature of the festival, with six different site-specific events on Saturday, Oct. 20, and a closing reception and aerial performance by Cycropia at the South Madison Boys and Girls Club on Sunday, Oct. 21. return to top
Lift
Cycropians descended from branches of the Orton Oak, spun into the darkness on a Spanish web, flipped and twirled on a harness high off the ground and created moving sculptures on a quadruple trapeze. Lift featured space monkeys, peacocks, whirling dervishes, ethereal floaters and lounge-act lovebirds. In May, Cycropians had the honor of studying with Terry Sendgraff, the creator of Aerial Dance, and many of the works in Lift were inspired by Terry's images, ideas and innovations. On the ground, a talented ensemble of musicians performed live for the show. Their contributions to Lift were invaluable and there are high hopes for future collaborations. Cycropians were especially grateful to swing once again from their favorite Oak, as the tree was struck by lightning shortly after Potluck in the Park. "Those dreams of flying come to life! ...There's still plenty to learn though and that challenge is the big reason to keep doing it." ~ Angela Richardson More Lift
photographs
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Potluck in the Park
After a year without a show, it was time to celebrate! Potluck in the Park, a cornucopia of dance, included themes ranging from Jello salad to casting spells, falling in love to fallen angels, and passing dishes to pre-Christian rituals. Talented and ambitious costume designers created beautiful masks, ruffled pants and glittering dresses. Under the artistic direction of Jennifer Ruef, Cycropians danced with brightly-colored plates and bowls, trapezed on stilts and found new and exciting ways to use centrifugal force. "Imagine that you find yourself in the park. Children are called from their play to a blanket spread on the ground. People gather together with stories, smiles and the dish they are most proud of...When we join the potluck we bring the best of ourselves and our pantries. We share that which makes us unique as well as that which bonds us." ~ Jennifer Ruef
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Aerial Chautauqua
From Circus World clowns to lakes and parks, from cooperatives and collectives, to finding a sense of home, from 1920's whisky runners to an ode to the Turners, each dance in Aerial Chautauqua was inspired by Wisconsin's nature or history. The show took its name from the Chautauqua Movement. Members of this organization founded many schools, the first on the shores of New York's Lake Chautauqua. Then, they created traveling summer shows that combined education and entertainment in the form of lectures, concerts and dramatic presentations. Aerial Chautauqua was funded by a grant from Wisconsin's Sesquicentennial Fund and guided by Artistic Director Renee Miller. "Wisconsin is the geographic home to many cultures; native peoples like the Chippewa and Blackhawk and immigrants from Europe and more recently from Tibet, Cambodia, South and Central America. Wisconsin is also home to the otter, moose, loon and chickadee. Many share this land and call it home." ~ Gregory Burdulis More Aerial Chautauqua photographs
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Nocturne
Taking William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as inspiration, Nocturne was filled with faïrae-like characters, magic in the air, moonlight, candlelight, dreams and nightmares. Stilts, pajamas, fog, masks, lanterns, roller blades, a piano and a bed on wheels added to this sometimes quirky, sometimes sensual, always otherworldly production. Cycropia showed its deeper and darker side, touching on themes of fear and ostracism. Nocturne was the first show conceptualized and produced as a season. An ambitious undertaking, it set higher standards for performers and technical staff. "If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended: that you have but slumbered here, while these visions did appear, and this weak and idle theme, no more yielding than a dream..." ~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Trapeze in the Treez
For Trapeez in the Treez, Cycropians chose repertoire from both Dreams of Flying and Caution. Trapezing in trees brought new challenges and new delights. Sloping terrain and branches of different lengths meant changes in choreography and often ruled out dancing in unison. Adaptations and last minute struggles were more than worth the mystique of slipping out of the evening shadows between hills and oak trees to swirl and spin through the moth's natural environment. "...Cycropia dazzled and amazed the entire Orton Park Festival gathering. The timing of the choreography, with the need for intricate timing between dancers on the ground and dancers "swinging from the trees," thoroughly amazed me... it is extremely difficult to adequately describe the beauty and power of this performance." ~ Alder person Bert G. Zipperer
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Caution
Yellow tape, road and warning signs decorated Turner Hall for this bright, eclectic and energy charged production. Dancers were suspended in the air carrying musical instruments, shared each other's weight in lifts and tumbles and soared to the sky holding with blue and green flags. Many pieces had a sense of community ritual, apprehension, anticipation, exploration and discovery. The final piece in the program, Hexagram Stew, was a surprisingly unified collaboration in which each member of the twelve-person cast created a section of the piece. Strength, physicality and pushing boundaries through more risky and high-flying choreography earned Caution it's name. Speaking of names, the name of the troupe became and remains Cycropia Aerial Dance Company. "Caution Entering Madison No Exit Minimum Speed 45 MPH No Standing Low Flying Objects Air Sick Bags Not Provided..." ~ Caution Program
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Dreams of Flying
The cecropia moth emerged from her cocoon this time flying under the name of Cycropia Aerial Dance Collective. The show opened with Cycropia's signature work Moth's Diary choreographed by Gretchen Renner and Robert Summerbell. Dream sequences, daydreams, aspirations and altered realities characterized this more dramatic, daring and sexy show. Hoops and a long metal bar made their debut in Dreams of Flying. It was clear that the second generation of Cycropians had matured into a solid performing ensemble. "Imagine walking into an old downtown gym. Coming through the front door you hear music and laughter. The door opens wide before you. A vision unfolds, filled with strange and beautiful characters. One is a puppet flopping and hanging, tangled in space, another is an angel floating down from heaven. More and more visions unfold as two bodies collide in space and hold one another, gently as children suspended in midair." ~ Robert Summerbell
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Flights-o-Fancy
Cycropia returned to the stage in Bau Haus inspired costumes designed by Conspiracy member, Renee Roeder. None of the founding members remained with the company and, with the exception of Robert Summerbell, the cast was made up of new swingers. Full of motivation and energy, artistic director Gretchen Renner and teachers, Robert Summerbell and Kenneth Loud, stepped into leadership roles as the collective strove to re-invent itself. This new crop of Cycropians produced a whimsical and humorous first show which incorporated new choreography as well as movement developed by the founding members. "In our genetic roots we have swum, we have crawled, we have dug, we have run, we have jumped, but until now we have never flown" ~Kenneth Loud (1993) "But, from a strictly Darwinian standpoint, perhaps we are just still swinging from trees" ~ Kenneth Loud (2001)
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Hanging By a Thread
Hanging By a Thread was the first show produced by Cycropia Aerial Dance Conspiracy. Members opted to create choreography and produce the show collectively, rather than with the guidance of one artistic director. They worked together to give each artist's vision life and personality. "Coaxing my muscles into their native knowing, steeping my bones in renewed innocence, I dance, I fall, I am danced by the all." ~ Pamela Maye
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Every
New Year's Eve the Rockford Arts Council puts on a full evening
of performances around town. In 2001, Cycropia Aerial Dance was
chosen as one of the two headlining performances. The troupe performed
two shows featuring works premiered at the 2001 Orton Park Festival
and older works specially restaged for this exciting show ushering
in the new millenium. A highlight for the troupe was dancing in
the beautifully renovated Coronado Theatre with its ornate interior
and state of the art facilies.
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