Topsy-Turvy: MAJESTY ABLAZE, 2015
June 5 & 6, 2015
Topsy-Turvy Queer Circus, Brava Theater & QCC present
MAJESTY ABLAZE
BRAVA Theater Center
2789 24th Street @ York
San Francisco
Adult Shows, 8pm | Family matinee Sat, 2pm
$15 – $25; Youth Under 18- $8
Multidisciplinary – Circus/Dance/Theater
Friday, June 5th 8pm: Click here for Brown Paper Tickets
Saturday, June 6th 2pm: Click here for Brown Paper Tickets
Saturday, June 6th 8pm: Click here for Brown Paper Tickets
Multidisciplinary – Circus/Dance/Theater
MAJESTY ABLAZE invites you into a world of gravity-defying visual splendor that melds stories of vulnerability and strength. This adrenaline-inducing experience is the third installment of provocative physical theater from Topsy-Turvy, San Francisco’s first queer circus. Building upon the Bay Area’s rich history of infusing circus, burlesque, drag, and performing arts with radical politics, Topsy-Turvy continues to defy performance genres and excite imaginations with its diverse cast of queer, trans*, and gender-variant performers from across the country.
In MAJESTY ABLAZE queen chanteuse Honey Mahogany along with former Cirque du Soleil performer Marshall Jarreau and Essence magazine featured aerialist Kiebpoli Calnek lead a local cast of circus and movement artists who will lure you into a landscape that is simultaneously resplendent and provocative.
Topsy-Turvy Queer Circus is generously supported by Brava Theater, the Queer Cultural Center, the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.
Event/Project URL: www.facebook.com/events/1417720325199588/
Project Facebook Page URL: www.facebook.com/topsyturvycircus
Project Instagram: www.instagram.com/topsyturvycircus
Project Twitter URL: twitter.com/CircusQueer
Project YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/jaupD_-ljF8
BIOGRAPHIES
| Topsy-Turvy Queer Circus Co-Directors | |
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India Davis, Topsy-Turvy’s Artistic Director, Producer and Performer, is guided by themes of multi-dimensionality, spirit, and the link between legacy, timelessness and future manifestation through the body. A trained acrobat and aerialist, India combines physical feats with dance to illustrate the breadth of her inspirations. Also skilled in moving image and theater practices, Davis has been a solo and collaborative creator of many productions including a one-woman show, a full-length queer musical, and an Afro-futuristic short film, to name a few. She is a graduate of the New England Center for Circus Arts Professional Track program, and has been a two time resident at the Peñasco Theater summer residency series in New Mexico. India teaches Aerial Hoop at Kinetic Arts Center, and The Mat in Oakland, as well as wildly popular weekly private pole classes for Queer and Trans People of Color and Women of Color. She is a founding member and choreographer of Body Waves, a Black Queer acrobatic dance and multidisciplinary art collective. India lives in Oakland, CA. rubydiamondarts.com |
| Topsy-Turvy’s Managing Director, Producer and Performer Indi McCasey believes in the transformative power of artistic inquiry and collaborative performance. As a teaching artist and non-profit program administrator, Indi has pursued community-building strategies for social change with the organizations Destiny Arts Center, Fine Arts for Children and Teens, Solace, Streetside Stories, and Urbano. They are a former artistic member of Wise Fool New Mexico, a social justice circus and theater company in Santa Fe and founded two nationally touring physical theater troupes. Indi is on the faculty of the Alameda County Office of Education’s Integrated Learning Specialist Program and is a recipient of the Endeavor Foundation for the Arts Artist Award. indimccasey.com |  |
| Topsy-Turvy 2015 Featured Artists | |
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Kiebpoli Calnek is an actress and aerialist. She is a graduate of CCNY, a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and of the Actors’ Equity Association. Her works have received generous funding and support from Elizabeth Streb, Astrea Foundation, Asian Arts Initiative, and The New York Foundation for the Arts. Kiebpoli is also founder and artistic director of Black*Acrobat, a social enterprise that seeks to empower fringe communities through the vertical world of aerial acrobatics with devised theatrical performances. Our shows tackle provocative dark subjects and re-imagine stories of the black diaspora. Fusing arts & activism by depicting what seems impossible, Black*Acrobat’s work inspires and educates while curating spaces for community (r)evolution and sustainment. kiebpoli.com |
| (Family Matinee Perfomers) Since 1993, the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company (DAYPC) has focused on the power of young people’s stories told through theater, dance, and spoken word. Their productions combine hip hop, modern, and aerial dance, as well as martial arts, song, and poetry to address relevant social issues that affect young people’s lives and their communities. Company members perform for up to 25,000 audience members every year and have wowed audiences at a variety of venues including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Yoshi’s Oakland, and the Bioneers Conference. DAYPC was the recent subject of a 2014 documentary, F.R.E.E., by award-winning producers Suzanne LaFetra (She Wants to be a Matador) and David Collier (For Better or for Worse). destinyarts.org |  |
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(Adult Show Perfomer) Fabienne Giselle Delacroix, also known as D. FAUST, is a Burlesque inspired performance artist, creative visionary, YouTube blogger and sorceress of the Left Hand Path. Of Brasilian and Creole lineage, she is a “stage witch” and is known for creating supernatural and subliminally layered atmospheres within the medium of Burlesque. As devotee and priestess of Pomba Gira, she moves through the world as a monsterous femme shape shifting humanoid here to transform the lives of all who cross her path. She is part of the creative and production team for WILDCARDXFAUST, and the writer and envisioner of “FAUST”. She has danced with performers like Saul Williams and Morgan Sorne, and will continue to converge with high vibrations internationally. She is performing exclusively with Cult of Gira, an esoteric, erotic and intentional production house out of Oakland, California. 777delacroix777.com |
| Marshall Jarreau is a professional dancer and circus aerialist. He began his dance training in the BFA dance program at the University of Colorado in Boulder. From Colorado, he began performing around the world with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines for 5 years and was also a top finalist on the first season of FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance. In 2010, Marshall began formal training as an aerialist at the New England Center for Circus Arts and, afterward, was featured as the Walrus character and dancer in Cirque Du Soleil’s LOVE. While in Las Vegas, he returned to school to get his certification in massage therapy and, in his spare time, took 1st place in the Men’s Divison of the 2013 Pole Expo. He is currently teaching dance, circus, and Zumba classes in the San Antonio area and performing throughout the US. marshalljarreau.com |  |
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SAM Luckey is a multi-directional circus performer specializing in combining theatrical character work with creative choreography and stunning aerial and acrobatic skill. She has toured internationally and locally, performing trapeze, hand-balancing, partner acrobatics, juggling, clowning, immersive theater and aerial dance. SAM loves diversity and intimacy, teaches handstands at the Athletic Playground, and collects winks. SAMluckey.com |
| A long time San Francisco staple and home grown San Francisco treat, Honey Mahogany recently gained world wide fame as a cast member on Season 5 of the reality television cult phenomenon RuPaul’s Drag Race. Honey’s most recent work includes her debut EP Honey Love and appearances on the HBO series Looking. Honey currently performs all over San Francisco, and hosts her own drag variety show and RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing party: Mahogany Mondays—every Monday night at the Midnight Sun in the Castro. itshoney.com |  |
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Always an overactive child Xochitl Sosa dove willingly into sports and dance. At age nine Xochitl was introduced to aerial arts and at age eighteen, under instructor Carrie Heller, she became lead instructor of the aerials department at Camp Winnarainbow, a summer camp in CA. In 2010 Xochitl relocated to Austin where she created several aerial theater shows with Sky Candy aerial arts company. Eager to make circus arts a full time career Xochitl Sosa left Texas to attend the world renowned Professional Program at New England Center for Circus arts. Under the coaching of Elsie and Serenity Smith, and Duo Trapeze instructor, Aimee Hancock, Xochitl specialized in Single point Trapeze and Duo Trapeze. Apart from Trapeze Xochitl has extensive experience in Silks, Corde de Lisse, and sling. xochitlsosa.com |
FUNDERS
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