Deciding to fulfill childhood fascination with the aerialists in Cirque du Soleil, Sarah began training with Wise Fool New Mexico in 2014. A relocation to Asheville, NC introduced her to Empyrean Arts and it’s been a heavenly match since. Sarah loves performing on a variety of apparatuses including aerial silks, rope and sling as well as static and dance trapeze. For her, there is something particularly special about bringing vertical skills to a trapeze. A lifelong love of science and its importance in human movement has created a deep adoration for bio mechanically-informed aesthetic performance. This has also encouraged Sarah to begin a doctoral program in physical therapy where she gets to geek out about arthrokinematics and aerialists simultaneously!
An aerialist born and raised in Athens, Georgia, Kat Saxon has been a dance trapeze artist for 10 years, and has been an instructor for 3 years with teacher training under Nimble Arts. Thanks to her start at Canopy Studio, Kat’s choreography and instruction is very much built upon modern dance and “story telling”. Circus performance, to her, is all about not being afraid to use your voice, and showing audiences complex trick progressions while also expressing yourself through organic movement. She is currently teaching weekly at Challenge Aerial in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has lived for five years.
Harmony has been training aerial arts since 2017. She first fell in love with aerial silks and added Lyra into her training in 2018. She has performed a handful of times in student showcases and in Bloom Movement Artistry’s Critters and Tea production. When not in the air Harmony is spending time with her husband and children and works as an RN.
The niad dance company student troupe is a dedicated group of advanced student dancers under the direction of Jaidra DuRant. Niad strives to honor the roots of MENAHT dance while seeking artistic wings through transnational and theatrical fusion.
Troupe dances are choreographed by Jaidra and developed for the stage with a focus on artistic, creative, and fun performance pieces. The troupe performs a variety of numbers in a wide range of styles, from folkloric fusion to sword dance, character based 20’s homage dances to veil and skirt group pieces, throw in a drum solo, and it’s a dance show anyone will love to watch. Niad dancers balance baskets and trays, swing swords and canes, spin skirts and silk veils, and are always excited to dance for a crowd. The student troupe performs locally, throughout the upstate, for community events, haflas, and festivals.
Joshira has been an aerialist for 7 years and trapeze is her main apparatus. She has performed in Bloom twice before and absolutely loved the experience! She uses the name Kurason Creations to honor her Caribbean heritage; Kurason means “heart” in Papiamentu, the language spoken by Curaçao natives. She looks to put her full heart into every performance.
Mystic Tribal was formed in 2018, by instructor/director Kelly Burrell. Kelly has study Belly dance for 11yrs under nurmous teachers Mahsati Janan, Logan Novgrod (Body Lyrics Belly dance), and graduated from Meaghann Lynne’s HSSBD curriculum. Mystic Tribals goal is to find music that touches or makes us feel something and through choreography bring those feelings to life.
Maria has been practicing aerial arts for about 3 years, she had been searching for a creative outlet and when she found aerial she knew this was it. She began her journey on silks but quickly turned her attention to the magical trapeze. She also practices hammock and Lyra regularly. Over the years she has performed at multiple showcases but performing at Bloom has been a goal of hers and she is so excited to take the stage! When she is not practicing aerial, Maria enjoys traveling and cooking especially when it comes to experimenting with new vegan recipes.
I started my aerial journey in 2017. I began with silks and about six months into my practice I tried Lyra and absolutely fell in love. I have been collecting bruises in weird places ever since! This is my first Bloom and I am so excited to share this experience with everyone!
Amani Lotus is a belly dance troupe from Charlotte, consisting of Intermediate and Advanced students of Lotus Belly Dance. Tonight’s performance is a Datura Style inspired fusion belly dance piece choreographed by director, Iona. We’re grateful to the Bloom team for putting this together and the honor to dance!
Bloom 