Adult Spring Showcase 2024 Program

2 PM Show

Ally Morris

This is Ally's second showcase and her first solo performance. She loves to knit, explore, and listen to new favorite songs.

Rose Leonard

Rose has found so much healing through circus arts. Circus has brought her joy, strength, and confidence, and this routine is a celebration of healing and growth.

Justin Liu

Justin embarked on his journey with ICCA in September 2023 upon moving to Pittsburgh to pursue his computer science degree at CMU. This is his first showcase, inspired by the song “Destiny,” "Though we may part ways, destiny unfailingly guides us to what is meant to be."

Ayne Terceira

Named a "solo tour de force" by Pittsburgh Magazine, Ayne Terceira creates strange theater in Pittsburgh. (Learn more at UncumberTheatrics.com)

Thyo Kimberlin

Celebrating eight years at ICCA, Thyo is thrilled and excited to perform again on silks. A voice major at Westinghouse Arts Academy, Thyo spends their free time making music, creating digital art, reading, and flying through the air at ICCA.

Emily Hendrickson

Emily's performance is inspired by the joy that circus brings to her life. She sees every class as an opportunity to forget about her responsibilities and be in the moment. She lives in Crafton with her husband and their two dogs.

Barbara Brutt

Barbara is known to be afraid of heights, to obsess over books, and to pontificate about shoulders. She's been doing aerial since 2016, and she invites you to bob along to this crab rave.

Alyssa Amendola

Alyssa began dancing at the age of 4. In the summer of 2023, Alyssa pursued her high school dream of learning aerial silks and has fallen in love with the art. Professionally, Alyssa works for the Center for Violence Prevention Research and studies the best methods to prevent gender-based violence. Her performance to the song “Praying” by Kesha blends her personal and professional worlds to express the pain and joy in healing from abuse.

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Intermission

(15 mins)

• • • •

Olga Mendenhall

Olga’s first solo aerial performance has been a very exciting and challenging journey for her. Billie Eilish’s ballad deeply touched her heart, speaking to her as she’s been on a journey of self-discovery and struggles to find herself, as a woman, immigrant, and artist in this unpredictable, messy, and beautiful world.

Liz Wildenhain

Liz is thrilled to participate in her first showcase. She would like to extend a special thanks to her coach Sarah and to her sister Anne for their invaluable help with her choreography.

Penelope Murphy

Penelope is 12 years old and has been doing circus arts for 6 years. When she's not doing circus arts, she's either playing football or writing. This will be Penelope's first performance on rope. She will be performing to “Rewrite the Stars” — the song that inspired her circus journey.

Lena Fritsch

Lena came to Iron City Circus Arts in 2021 as a beginner silks lover. Shortly after, she fell completely in love with hoop and trapeze! This performance was inspired by Sarah’s incredible flow class, from which Lena has learned so much and gotten so much joy out of. She doesn’t know where she’d be without it (and without Sarah in general) and she appreciates the beautiful choreography every week so much!

Haley Vrolijk

As Haley dives into her 7th year at Iron City Circus Arts, and her second showcase, she is so excited to perform “Hot to Go” on silks. While she steps out of her comfort zone doing a more jazzy piece, she would love to thank Jenly for helping her create this fun routine, and ICCA for being the best second home anyone could ask for.

Milo Marlow

Milo began studying trapeze 4 years ago at Empyrean Arts in Asheville, NC. They feel so incredibly grateful for the warmth, kindness, and welcome of the Iron City Circus Arts family. Milo would be absolutely delighted if what you experience here today inspires you to try your first class — because it's never too late to run away and join the circus!

Aleena Beckett

Aleena is performing a piece demonstrating the battle of atelophobia, the fear of imperfection, inspired by the character Azula.

Dance with Everybody

Coaches Angela Anderson, Nikki Battestilli, Barbara Brutt, Ruthi Dede, Jenly Deiter, Lexi Ferguson, Djuna Gulliver, Elyse Kardos, Kelsey Keller, Katie Mack, Sarah Moslen, Janet Peters, Liz Seip, Ziggy Sheynin, Shelby Shingle, Meghan Strickhouser

6 PM Show

New York, New York

Sling 4 students Joanna Abel, Lindsey Briant, Djuna Gulliver, Justine James, Katie Mack, Kari Sepesky, and coaches Shelby Shingle and Meghan Strickhouser

Sarah Schultz

Luis Zul Rabasa

Luis asks: How can we continue to express ourselves at the dawn of exhaustion from emotional labour, from expectations from others and ourselves? What do we deserve?

Lexie Reinhart

Lexie has been taking classes at Iron City Circus Arts for a little over a year and is excited to participate in her first showcase!

Kate Lundy

Kate grew up around the Boston area where she first discovered circus arts and spent her summers attending Tito Gaona's circus camp and Circus Smirkus. After high school, Kate attended the University of Pittsburgh where she majored in Civil Engineering and minored in Studio Arts. And in 2023, Kate rekindled her love for circus arts when she found and started training at ICCA.

Natalie Baum

Natalie started exploring the world of aerial arts almost two years ago and was instantly hooked! This is her first showcase routine, and she couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. Join her on the passionate journey of true love as she performs “Here to Mars!”

Stephanie Richard

What if your surgeon was a minion?

Rhia Murtaugh

Rhia leaves for a professional circus school in the fall. This is her interpretation of the ugly parts of the creative process, the parts where no matter where you go, you end up in the same spot.

Ruthi Dede

Ruthi celebrated her 40th birthday this year, and she hopes to enjoy aerial circus arts for another 40! This is her first time performing on sling.

Sarah Moslen

“Like lovers entwined, I know for the last time you will not be mine. So give me the night, the night, the night…”

• • • •

Intermission

(15 mins)

• • • •

Team Aggressive: Adrianne, Angela, Emma, Janet, Lexi, Nikki, and Steph

...are thrilled to return for another performance together. These fierce ladies drew heavily from their close friendships to create this routine. They believe that the best thing about being a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun!

Charlie Walsh

Charlie is an ecology student at Pitt. He’s been doing aerial for almost five years now and has enjoyed venturing out of his comfort zone on rope this past year.

Sarah Moeller

Ladies and gentlemen, thrill-seekers of all ages! Prepare to witness a human defy gravity in a feat of daring that will leave you breathless! Step right up to witness the magnificent, the marvelous, the one and only... “Bellbottoms!”

Justice Williams

Justice started her aerial journey in October 2021. She is 16 years old and graduating high school this summer. Her song is “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone. She chose this song because it expresses how she feels while doing aerial. She hopes that her performance shocks the audience and leaves them feeling good tonight.

Rhonda Dare

Ronda’s performance tonight is a hesitant unveiling of mental illness. For the next four minutes, she’ll dance with her demons, her sling a representation of the push and pull, fear and fixation, and overwhelming isolation that, until now, she determinedly kept out of view. If you see her afterward, she’ll smile and say everything’s fine.

Bradley Johnson

Brad has been doing aerial for 2 years. When he’s not at the studio, he can be found tutoring kids or learning to garden. He dedicates this performance to his coach Sarah, not just for teaching him to move in the air but also to pursue his passion for circus.

Aubrey Thompson & Courtney Jerioski

Aubrey and Courtney have known each other forever at this point. Aubrey doesn’t like to toot her own horn, but she’s pretty sure she knows everything and can do anything. Courtney is literally just a girl.

Shelley Rowe

Shelley is a mom of 3 who started her aerial journey 4 years ago. Prior to aerial, she and her kids competed in Ninja Warrior, and for most of her childhood and early adult years, she was heavily involved in martial arts. Shelley works as a computer programmer for the University of Pittsburgh and loves spending time with her kids, working out, and building a happy and healthy life.

Shannon Jones

“Life gets you down sometimes… but you just gotta keep rolling.”