Bringing a whole new level of aerial artistry and instruction to the Central Coast, San Luis Obispo’s new Levity® Academy, San Luis Obispo presents its premiere feature length stage production, Cirque de Lorria, at the Alex and Faye Spanos Theatre at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo on the Cal Poly campus at 7 p.m. on June 1 and 2, 2018.
The Cirque du Soleil-like aerial adventure, which follows two young girls as they journey through the high-flying and whimsical world of their own imaginations, features live musicians, aerial acrobatics numbers, and guest artists.
Written and directed by Levity® Academy owners Gigi Penton and Lei Lei de Kirby, and featuring a local cast of performers ranging from age five to age 45, the show brings mesmerizing and dreamlike scenes to life through aerial dance, from flowers swirling on aerial silk “vines” to an enchanting encounter with soaring mermaids, to the twirling duel of squirrels as they climb, combat and flip through the air on ropes. Performers will also be seen on aerial straps, aerial lyra (hoop), aerial sphere, and aerial ladder.
Gigi Penton, who has co-written and directed more than 20 local studio and stage aerial performances, says, “This production is a complete 180 on shows that I have had the pleasure of producing and directing in the past.”
For one, she says, all of the music in the show is instrumental, except for the live, original songs performed by singer and musician Francis Dawson.
“Our local aerial cast is beyond phenomenal,” Gigi says. “Our goal is to present aerial artistry in new and fantastic ways; we want the audience to see magic in their hometown theater with a local crew.”
With the opening of Levity® Academy in May 2018 and the debut of Cirque de Lorria in June 2018, Lei Lei de Kirby says she is thrilled to see two of her longtime dreams and goals come to fruition.
A sought-after professional aerialist and a recent transplant to San Luis Obispo, Lei Lei has performed with Puff Daddy, Chris Brown, Snoop Dogg, DMX, and many other high profile musicians. She travels internationally, performing for her entertainment company Levity® Arts and leading her Levity® Aerial Yoga Teacher Trainings and workshops.
Lei Lei says her most heartfelt aspiration as a professional aerialist and teacher is to contribute to the development of aerial arts by suffusing them with the expressiveness, fluidity and artistic sophistication of dance.
Tickets for Levity® Academy’s premiere performance of Cirque de Lorria range in price from $18-$34, with discounts for children, students and seniors, and are now on sale at PACSLO.org. The show begins at 7 p.m. on both June 1 and 2, 2018 and doors open at 6:30 p.m.
For more information about Levity® Academy and Cirque de Lorria, visit levityacademy.com, or find it on Facebook or Instagram (@LevityAcademy). For high resolution images, videos, interviews or pre-views, contact Jamie Relth at [email protected].