Greetings from the Ladies of Girls on Trapeze!
The past two years have been a whirlwind of change, growth and excitement! In 2013 we took our full-length aerial piece, "Herself Rising" to Nashville, TN, and both Athens and Darien, GA. The following year brought our company home to the New England Center for Circus Arts, where we performed and taught as guest artists for their bi-annual Circus Workshop Weekend. In the fall of 2014, Girls on Trapeze was honored to be nominated for --and win!-- the Community Choice Award slot for Circus Now's International Circus Exposure. The ICE performance, which happened this past January, was a great opportunity for us to share a piece of the show with a whole new group of circus performers and fans!
Friends, Family and Fellow Artists, we want to say THANK YOU for your committed support and generosity, and the let you know how you can help with our Summer Tour of 2015!
The Show!
"Herself Rising" was first devised in the summer of 2012 during an artist's residency at Wise Fool's Theater in New Mexico. Since then the show has expanded it's cast and deepened its story; we've streamlined the text and incorporated more singing and vocalization. This piece of theater - this LABOR OF LOVE - explores ancestry, feminine social roles and stereotypes, "sisterhood," and how our hope for the future shapes our present.
The Tour
Due to the success of our social media campaign, and winning the Community Choice Award for Circus Now's ICE, Girls on Trapeze has the amazing opportunity to take "Herself Rising" to SIX cities this summer!!!
This July our journey begins back at the beginning; NECCA. And over the next five weeks we will take "Herself Rising" to Esh Circus Arts in Boston; Knoxville, TN (workshops only); Ashville, NC; The Marsh Studio in Darien, GA; Nashville, TN and Charlotte, SC. In each town and theater we will not only be performing, but hosting workshops as well. The US aerial community has been so incredibly welcoming and generous, and we are over-the-moon excited to visit and share in each place!
How You can help!!!
We are aiming to raise about $5000 to cover the overhead of this tour. To keep costs low, we will be doing a lot of the driving to-and-from each city, and staying in as many friends and family's houses as possible -- but there are still a few major expenses. Below is a list of these, including a few plane flights, gas, housing when we know no one, promotional material, and food (we are bringing 2 technicians with us.) And we have perks!! And EVERY donation over $25 will receive a Girls on Trapeze bumper sticker!
Food: (8 performers, 2 tech) x 5 weeks at $300/week = $1500
Gas for 3 cars; travel for all cities (2,500 highway miles; 300 city miles) x $2.53/gallon = #1,100
Tolls for 2 cars from Boston to the South and back = $140
Air Travel for 4 to the staring point = $750
Lodging in Ashville and Charlotte = $960
Music rights for 14 shows = $209
Posters/Publicity/Ads for 7 cities = $420
TOTAL = $5079
The Challenges Ahead…
Oh dear, where do we begin?! Did we mention that there are EIGHT of us? And that we will have a "Baby on Trapeze" AND another one on the way?! Oh, and that we are all disbursed throughout the country? And that 3 dogs might be making the trip too? (Don't worry, we will make them dance for their supper!)
"Herself Rising" will not make us all millionaires - but it will change people's hearts.
It has certainly changed ours.
Many, MANY thanks to the parents, grandparents, sister and brothers, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends and significant others who have helped and supported our dreams all these years. We COULD NOT do this without you!
Love,
The Ladies of Girls on Trapeze