Aerial Activism

Local performers deliver a powerful message through their art

Bounce, Eugene’s gymnastics and circus-arts center, presented “Falling” and “Cirque Pollutia” at The Hult Center in front of hundreds on Feb. 15. Their aerial program instructors and students have performed at The Hult for the past seven years. 

Bounce’s in-house aerial company performs a contemporary circus show every year in the spring. Each June they hold a recital that highlights all levels of their aerial arts program. The recitals are often themed after beloved stories and movies. Past performances include “The Jungle Book,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Peter Pan.” 

The night’s performances began with “Falling” by A New Normal. Five performers acted out different types of falling— falling in love, falling out of touch, falling off the wagon, falling to your knees, falling all over yourself ending how it began — with falling in love. 

“My concept for ‘Falling’ was falling in love,” explained one of the performers, Krissy Armstrong who drew inspiration from a past relationship. 

“It was the journey from the first stages of falling in love to the resolution, whatever that may be. In my case, it ended with heartbreak so my piece was telling that story.”

The next performance of the night was “Cirque Pollutia” by Zenith Aerial Arts, a professional youth aerial circus ensemble. The group highlights long-time students of Bounce’s aerial arts programs. The members, ranging from 12-18, train and rehearse together for at least six hours a week. The group often gets to choose the themes of their performances themselves and this year pollution was at the forefront of the discussion.

“Cirque Pollutia” sought to raise awareness of pollution’s effects on the population through the circus arts. 

“We tried to target a bunch of different topics under that umbrella: straight-up pollution, trash in the ocean, recycling, using different sources of energy, targeting political power,” said the director of the circus arts program, Adrienne Wise.

Jaine Powers, an instructor at Bounce who worked on both “Falling” and “Cirque Pollutia” highlighted the importance of listening to young activists. “What we accomplished, if nothing else, was that we gave those kids a voice to amplify the rage and disenfranchisement of the generation that’s going to be screwed most by this mess.”

Quite a few of ZAA’s members are college-bound seniors about to graduate from the youth aerial arts program.

“Five of them are seniors this year and we’re distraught,” Wise explained. “But they are also very academically capable young people and they’re gonna go places.” 

The performers ended with a few more bumps and bruises. Wise motioned to a newly acquired silk burn while laughing with Powers after the performance, “This is the backside of aerial arts. We make it look graceful, but we’re actually covered in bruises.”

Bounce’s next performance will be at The Hult Center for their end of year recital on June 13. It is a production of “Horton Hears a Who” and will feature all of their aerial arts levels from beginners to advanced.