Slipstream by Lindsay Bellaire

March 17 – 18, 8:00 PM
Articus Productions Studio: 560 Thompson Dr Unit 1, Cambridge, ON N1T 2K8

Slipstream, is an immersive experience that uses circus-based disciplines to create a calming space.  Inspired by my experience with anxiety after the birth of my daughter, and the ensuing quest to regain control of my mind, Slipstream takes the audience on a soothing journey of resilience and hope. Through a series of four pieces that manifest in various places throughout the space, the audience is invited to witness the stories and concepts that unfold through the relationships between the performers and their apparatus. Using choreography that is rooted in simplicity, breath, authenticity, and repetition, each piece tells a different story by exploring imagery that is grounded in an aspect of mindfulness or meditation, supported by original soundscapes and gentle melodies that serve to lull the nervous system into a relaxed state. This is a workshop presentation in the artists own studio.

Run Time: 40 minutes

The audience will be asked to move around throughout the performance.

The performance is wheelchair accessible.

Tickets

Lindsay Bellaire is the co-owner of Articus Productions, a theatrical circus company that provides circus-based entertainment for events and venues across Ontario. As a classically trained actor (BFA in Acting, University of Windsor) and a professional aerialist, her work as a performer and creator focuses on using aerial arts as a tool for storytelling. She has co-created six shows under Articus, including Rough Magic, Shipwrecked, The Lumberjack Show, The Aerial Pirate Show, Camp Articus, and the company’s longest running flagship show, WEIRD, which toured theatre festivals and venues from 2015 – 2020, earning awards at several Fringe Festivals and showcasing at Ontario Contact in 2018. Lindsay also co-owns the TriCity Centre for Circus Arts in Waterloo Region (www.tricitycircus.com), a studio dedicated to fostering creative expression through circus arts.

STEPHEN JOFFE – Composer

Stephen Joffe is an actor, musician, writer, and sound designer based in Toronto. He began acting at the age of six as Buster Carver in Stephen King’s ‘Storm of The Century’, and in his youth played in such films as Frequency (opposite Jim Caviezel and Dennis Quad), The Wishing Tree (opposite Alfre Woodard and Blair Underwood, Young Artist Award nomination), and Dirty Pictures (with James Woods). He then went on to star in such youth programming as Overruled (Family Channel/Disney), Timeblazers (Discovery/YTV), The Latest Buzz (Family Channel), and Max & Shred (Nickelodeon/YTV), before entering his studies at The National Theatre School of Canada from which he graduated in 2012. Since graduating, he took the role of Jamie Walsh in the Netflix miniseries Alias Grace, an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s critically acclaimed novel written by Sarah Polley and directed by Mary Harron, appeared in TIFF hits Bang Bang Baby and Wet Bum, and starred in the film All About Who You Know on CraveTV. He has also appeared in such series as Reign, Slasher, Bajillionaires, Murdoch Mysteries, and Hudson & Rex, among other television series and films. Most recently he played Ricardo in the Lionsgate/Buzzfeed feature 1Up. His stage work includes a Dora Award nomination as Ziggie in the cast of Tough Jews (a critically acclaimed production by Storefront Theatre), the lead role of Alan in Judith Thompson’s The Crackwalker at Factory Theatre, and performances at many of Toronto’s other most prestigious theatres, including Canadian Stage and Buddies In Bad Times. He is the lead singer of Birds of Bellwoods, who received a CFMA nomination for their debut album Victoria, and in the winter of 2019 completed a 28 show arena tour across Canada opening for olympic gold medalists Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue during their farewell performances, which included a number set to their Top 40 hit Let You Go. They have played festivals including Osheaga, Festival D’ete du Quebec, Hillside, and Mariposa. He has composed and arranged music for theatrical, dance, and circus productions with such companies as Factory Theatre, Vazari Dance Projects, School of Toronto Dance Theatre, and Headstrong Collective. In addition, he has written and composed music for film productions including The Anniversary (Valerie Buhagiar) and White Night (Dan Slater et al). Currently he is composing original pieces for Articus Productions, and a full-length dance piece produced by Chantal Baudouin slated to premiere in October of 2022.

ERIKA LUI – Collaborator and Performer (Pieces: Aerial Silks, Aerial Hoop)

With a background training in Provincial-level competitive gymnastics in Toronto from the age of 14 – 17, Erika continued to explore many modes of movement knowledge, ranging from cheerleading to dance, to parkour and free-running, to rock climbing, after finding a home and heart within the circus arts in 2016. In 2018 Erika left Toronto to immerse within the circus world by completing a two-year, full-time intensive circus arts training program with ALOFT in Chicago, IL, USA. On returning to Toronto in 2020, Erika taught at Cirque-Ability before moving to Waterloo Region, and is continuing to seek work as a circus coach and professional acrobatic and aerial performer, with future aspirations to create full length ensembled circus shows that meld ideas within the realms of physics, neuroscience, mindfulness, and the human experience.

EMILY HUGHES – Collaborator and Performer (Piece: Hand-Balancing)

Emily Hughes is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist, creator, curator, educator and producer, drawing on her life long foundation in circus as the heart of all of her work. While pursuing her BFA in Theatre Performance, Emily solidified her passion for storytelling and creating characters through (acrobatic) movement. In 2009 she cofounded Hercinia Arts Collective as a means to combine her passions into creative, multi-disciplinary circus work. As a creator/performer, Emily is most interested in work that hovers on the borders between circus and theatre. Using her extensive background in circus as a language, she explores themes, characters and stories through theatre, film, dance, visual art and installation, while influenced heavily by her training in Pochniko clown in both creation and performance. Her works seek to encourage curiosity and play, while asking questions about our place in the world. Emily has performed internationally in Dubai, Belgium, Berlin, Costa Rica, Bermuda and throughout Canada and the USA. Recent work includes touring with Femmes de Feu Creations as a performer on their early years’ circus-theatre shows Tweet Tweet! and Flora & Fauna, and creating and performing in a new street theatre show Construction Guys with Hercinia Arts Collective, which made its debut in festivals in summer 2022. Other performance highlights include Underneath (aerial silks with live projections, cocreated with Evan DeRushie for Balancing on the Edge, produced by Girl in the Sky Productions/Thin Edge New Music Collective), Weird: The Witches of Macbeth (circus theatre with Articus Productions),Circus Sundaes (neighbourhood circus show on a flatbed truck with Flying Solo TO) and Otros Rotros (durational & ritualistic sculptural aerial dance for Diana Lopez Soto presented in Uxbridge Fall 2021). Currently, Emily is in development on a new solo show, Goodbye Esther, which examines grief and death through aerial arts and clown, and recently completed five new animated shorts about Aug, the Asparagus Bug, that take a playful look at gardens.

CHRISTA WILSON – Collaborator and Performer (Piece: Cyr Wheel)

Christa was a competitive ice skater at the National level for many years, when she graduated from McMaster in 2006 she began her performing career. She was working onboard Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas when she met her husband, an accomplished acrobat. She transitioned from ice skater to circus artist and continued performing with her newly developed circus skills. She specializes in hand to hand, duo aerial loops, Cyr wheel, and aerial hoop with skates. She has toured Brazil with Cia Rudá, worked onboard Mein Schiff Cruises, Freelanced in Dubai doing corporate and event entertainment as well as working with various event productions in Canada.