About
About the Show
In the simplest terms, the Tarot is a deck of 78 cards that encompass the entire spectrum of potential human experience. A card someone pulls at any given time is a reflection of, or speaks to, the experience they are having at that moment.
Each Tarot deck contains 22 Major Arcana cards. The word “Arcana” means "secrets" or "mysteries". So, the Major Arcana cards represent the big mysteries of life. The Fool, which is the first card in the Major Arcana, represents the beginning. A blank slate. A leap into adventure. Ignorance, but in a joyful, child-like way. It is with the Fool, that our story begins.
Our Fool is a woman seeking guidance, as she feels overwhelmed by the chaos of life. She will happen upon our Storyteller, who leads her on a journey through the Major Arcana as a means to provide that guidance.
About Iron City Circus Arts
Iron City Circus Arts (ICCA) is a small, women-owned business in the heart of Pittsburgh’s South Side. They teach circus arts as a movement that fosters community, artistry, fitness, and joy in anyone adventurous enough to give it a try. In the former brewhouse facility, ICCA offers classes for ages 5 and up, as well as student showcases and in-house productions such as this one! Their space is also available as an event venue. Visit www.ironcitycircusarts.com or check us out on IG (@ironcitycircusarts) for more.
About Iron City Aerial
ICCA is home to Iron City Aerial (ICA), a professional aerial and acrobatic performance troupe. Under the direction of local aerial artists and Iron City Circus Arts owners Kelsey Keller and Jenly Deiter, ICA offers breathtaking performances on aerial silks, hoop, lollipop, and more for any event or venue. Contact ICA at info@ironcityaerial.com or on IG (@iron.city.aerial) to customize the perfect entertainment for your event and venue.
Program
ACT 1
The Fool
Choreography: Kelsey Keller with Kelsey Walls and our tech crew
Our story begins with The Fool, a woman seeking guidance in her chaotic life.
The Meeting
Choreography: Angela Anderson
When The Fool happens upon our Storyteller, (or is it fate?), she begins her journey through the Major Arcana.
The Magician
Choreography: Angela Merlino, with Shelby Shingle and Stephanie Geletko
Magic Consultant: Nina Ruffini
The energy of the Magician is a creative force, manifestation, power, boss energy, call to action. Toeing the line between miracle worker and trickster, the Magician has the entirety of the minor arcana at his disposal, full access to masculinity and femininity. Doors are opening all around, and as the Fool says yes to the Universe, in the energy of the Magician – the universe says yes back.
The High Priestess & The Empress
Choreography: Sarah Moslen
The High Priestess is the introduction of the divine feminine, representing the ancient knowing that lives within us all. She is mysticism. She reminds us of the legitimacy of feminine power and is found in moments of stillness, quiet, and meditation. The Empress is the embodiment representing the birth of the physical world. A wildly large capacity for creativity, deeply rooted in humanity and passion. She embodies abundance, sensuality, beauty, confidence, and richness. She knows how to give and accept love. The High Priestess and Empress together comprise the full force of feminine energy.
The Emperor
Choreography: Janet Peters with Jenly Deiter
The energy of the Emperor is the need to direct all of that wildly creative feminine energy into a productive cohesive course of action. The Emperor brings order, structure, and organization to the world.
The Lovers
Choreography: Emma Patarcity and Kelsey Keller with Ruthi Dede
The Lovers symbolize the marriage of the Empress and the Emperor. The union of masculine and feminine elevation, together creating something greater than the sum of their parts. These partners amplify each other's strengths, lifting each other up in mutual respect. The Lovers represent the discovery of self through connection with another, creating freedom for both parties.
Chariot & Strength
Choreography: Elyse Kardos and Meghan Strickhouser
Music Editing: Luis Angel “Himboza” Mendoza
The Chariot represents a drive fueled by willpower but lacking the maturity to execute it efficiently. It is determined, passionate, and good for short term energy expenditure. Staying in this energy too long can lead to enabling the workaholic in us and end in burn out. Strength is an expression of power through gentle triumph. It exudes maturity, deliberate action, and self awareness.
The Hermit & The Wheel of Fortune
Choreography: Ayne Terceira
The Hermit asks for silence, introspection and stillness. This is the process that leads to self love and acceptance, finding your authentic self. The Wheel of Fortune brings awareness to patterns we are repeating and gives us the chance to break free.
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INTERMISSION
(20 minutes)
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ACT 2
Justice & Temperance
Choreography: Ziggy Sheynin
Justice is the halfway point in the Major Arcana and a place to reflect on the progress that’s been made as well as the work yet to be done. This card is typically represented with a sword, with which we have been granted the trust to cut things out of our lives to achieve balance. While we cut the unnecessary with Justice, Temperance asks us to add things, like presence and connection, to achieve harmony. Together, Temperance and Justice help us find a calm and healing center.
The Hanged Man
Choreography: Kelsey Keller
The Hanged Man is suspended upside down, but not against his will. Instead, he has chosen to be this way to gain a new perspective. He is in a place of surrender, profound acceptance, and non attachment. A snake does not mourn the loss of its old skin, nor does the caterpillar lament its chrysalis. Whatever we are leaving behind, it is also leaving us behind.
The Devil & The Tower
Choreography: Jenly Deiter
The Devil brings to light our deepest cycles that we weren’t able to break in the Wheel, cut away with Justice or surrender to Death.They are patterns and blocks embedded into the deepest parts of our souls. The Devil brings these things to the surface to be burnt down and forcibly removed by the Tower. It’s going to be ugly. The Devil brings us to our knees with the opportunity to witness the manifestations and clear them if we wish to move forward. Enter the Tower, the burn it down energy. Enlightenment is a destructive process. The tower is appreciated best in hindsight. The Tower can be all consuming, like walking through fire. Whether we entered willingly or were dragged in kicking and screaming, everything false is destroyed and we are left only with ourselves.
Death
Choreography: Jenly Deiter and Kelsey Keller
A moment of transition. Rather than actual death, the Death card facilitates the natural letting go, which is required for rebirth. It is freedom, closure, and transformation.
The Sun, The Moon, & The Star
Choreography: Shelby Shingle with Ziggy Sheynin
The Star represents healing, hope, and connection. The Moon represents reflection, receptivity, and intuition. The Sun represents illumination, community, and joy. Crawling out of the rubble of the Tower, and unburdened after Death, the Star is the dawn that follows the darkness. The Moon then asks us to set our ego aside and give in to our wild side. And the Sun offers clarity and relief.
Judgement & The World
Choreography: Kelsey Walls with Kelsey Keller
Judgement is about integration, awakening, and triumph. It is the time we live our purpose armed with the sense of self earned through the many layers of the journey thus far. We’ve reconciled what we are and find it glorious. It calls us toward forgiveness so radical in nature that we can’t help but see ourselves in everyone.
When we arrive in the energy of The World, we’ve made it, no outstanding tasks or loose ends. The World invites us to bliss out and bask in the freedom, consciousness, and satisfaction that we worked so hard for. “Everything will be ok in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”
Meet the Cast + Crew
The Cast
The Fool - Kelsey Walls
The Storyteller - Angela Anderson
The Storyteller’s helpers - Alyssa Amendola, Rose Leonard, Kate Lundy
The Magician - Angela Merlino
The Magician’s assistants - Stephanie Geletko, Shelby Shingle
The High Priestess & The Empress - Nikki Battestili, Jenly Deiter, Lexi Ferguson, Sarah Moslen
The Emperor - Janet Peters
The Lovers - Kelsey Keller, Emma Patarcity
Chariot & Strength - Elyse Kardos, Djuna Gulliver, Amrit Moore, Meghan Strickhouser
The Hermit - Ayne Terceira
Temperance & Justice - Ziggy Sheynin
The Hanged Man - Kelsey Keller
The Devil & The Tower - Jenly Deiter, Lexi Ferguson, Sarah Moslen
The Sun, The Moon, & The Star - Angela Merlino, Ziggy Sheynin, Shelby Shingle
The Crew
Stage Manager - Katie Mack
Lighting design - Bayley Brown
Light board - Sam Oates
Sound board - Liz Seip
Costume design - Jenly Deiter, Lexi Ferguson, Rose Leonard
Social media - Courtney Jerioski
Graphic and web design - Liz Seip
Jenly Deiter & Kelsey Keller, Directors
Jenly is an Eastern Pennsylvania native who has always been a mover. She began dancing at age three and teaching dance at age fifteen. She initially came to Pittsburgh as a college student and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Social Work in 2007. She found her passion for circus arts while attending graduate school in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts in 2009. After completing graduate school in 2012, she relocated back to Pittsburgh as a hospital social worker. Since the circus community had such a positive impact on her life, she made a promise when she left Philadelphia to bring circus to Pittsburgh. She wanted others to experience the community, joy, strength, and inspiration that she found through circus arts. She is now living the circus life full time. In addition to teaching at ICCA, she is also the Assistant Director of the performance company Iron City Aerial.
Kelsey began her circus journey 14 years ago while in school in Ohio. After graduating with her PhD in Biophysics, she quit her day job to run away with the circus. In 2015, she was recognized as a top ten finalist in the U.S. Aerial Championships in New York City, and in 2016, she was hired by Cirque du Soleil to teach and perform for their Cirque Experience, Club Med CREACTIVE in Punta Cana. She now has two wonderful girls who also share her love of circus.
Together, Kelsey and Jenly have been boss business owners for 11 years. They founded Iron City Circus Arts in the South Side in 2017 and love their ever-growing circus community with their whole hearts. This is their 6th in-house production and their 2nd original creation. They hope this show leaves you feeling amazed and inspired.
Alyssa Amendola
Alyssa has been in awe of aerial arts since her senior year of high school when her dance studio added silks to their curriculum. She eagerly took to the silks ready to climb, but never quite left the ground. Believing she “just wasn’t strong enough”, she put her circus dreams on a shelf. In 2023, Alyssa decided to give silks another try and now she is the strongest she has ever been! Alyssa is honored to be a part of the tech team, helping her friends fly - literally! When on the ground, Alyssa is pursuing her doctorate in Public Health at WVU.
Angela Anderson
Angela discovered circus in 2013 and was instantly captivated by the blend of strength and magic in the air. She’s since found her happy place above the ground, specializing in dynamic silk and rope, though for this show she’s trading fabric for the sphere. When she’s not teaching classes or performing with Iron City Aerialists, she’s managing projects (and perhaps juggling a few deadlines) at a local engineering firm.
Nikki Battestili
Nikki could not be more thrilled/honored/joyous about being a part of Iron City Aerial! She has been taking circus classes for about 7 years. She is also a hoop/trap/acro instructor. Outside of ICCA, Nikki is the Marketing Director at City Theatre, the Executive Director at Indiana Arts Council, and Executive Director at Footlight Players Theater for Youth Camp. She is a RYT500 Yoga Instructor and an Author (Yes, This is About You - available online at Barnes and Noble). M.S. (Arts Administration) Drexel University. B.A. (Theater) Robert E. Cook Honors College at IUP. Her favorite role is Mama.
Lexi Ferguson
Lexi is thrilled to be performing as an Iron City Aerialist. Lexi has been training since 2019 in silks, hoop, and trapeze. Aside from performing, Lexi is also an aerial silks coach at ICCA. As a costume designer on the production, Lexi has painstakingly hand-placed SOOOO many rhinestones and can't wait to see them sparkle on stage. When she's not at the circus studio, you can usually find her renovating her 1875 Victorian era house in WV.
Stephanie Geletko
Stephanie took her first aerial class while living in Cleveland when she was completing training for her doctoral degree in Psychology. Upon returning to Pittsburgh she began taking classes at ICCA, and has continued her aerial journey by trying out different apparatus along the way. She is a pole instructor and is delighted to be part of Iron City Aerial. Prior to aerial she was a longtime gymnastics coach and judge, and loves the opportunity to get back in the air.
Djuna Gulliver
Djuna was born in Minneapolis, MN, and moved to Pittsburgh in 2009 to get her doctorate in Environmental Engineering. In 2013, she started training with Kelsey and Jenly, and in 2016 she started training to be an aerial instructor. Outside the studio, she is a research engineer and science enthusiast.
Courtney Jerioski
Courtney first stepped inside Iron City Circus Arts in 2021, and has been head over heels (quite literally) for aerial and pole ever since! Courtney is an aerialist, pole instructor, and the face "behind the screens" of ICCA's social media accounts! When she's not teaching, performing, or training, you'll find Courtney curled up with a book, pushing her caffeine limits, or struggling to untangle a ball of yarn while insisting that crocheting is, in fact, relaxing.
Elyse Kardos
As any bored office worker would do, Elyse passed up the gym for something a little more extreme – joining the circus! Her circus career began in 2017 under the high, post-industrial ceilings of Iron City Circus Arts. Between training and learning new circus skills, she teaches aerial lyra, silks, and static trapeze to students of all ages. A passionate artist, Elyse uses her background in theater as inspiration during aerial and flow art performances. When not in the studio, she can be spotted with silk fans, rope darts, slack lines, and (very occasionally) eating fire. She loves adventuring and being outdoors.
Rose Leonard
Rose took her first aerial class in 2022 and quickly fell in love with the circus community. In 2024, she began teaching pole at ICCA and loves sharing her joy for movement with others. Earlier this year, a friend introduced Rose to rhinestoning, which has become one of her newest hobbies. Rose now loves making things as sparkly as possible and is so happy to have been part of the costume design for this production.
Kate Lundy
Kate began her circus journey all because she didn't like "regular" camps growing up. Kate was introduced to the world of circus when she was 8 years old at Boston Children's Circus camp and continued her training at Circus Smirkus camp for seven summers. Due to growing up, moving for college, and navigating life in general, Kate took a long break from circus until... she rekindled her love with circus at ICCA in 2023! Although Kate primarily trains in silks, hoop, and trapeze, she likes to dabble in hand balancing, juggling, and other circus skills. Other than circus, Kate loves to paint, hike, and play tennis and volleyball.
Katie Mack
Originally from a small northwestern PA town, Katie accidentally stumbled into the Aerial Arts world. In 2011, she was recruited off a film set to work in Props for Cirque Berzerk at L.A. Live Theater in Los Angeles. It wasn't until moving to Pittsburgh in 2015 that she found an aerial home at ICCA and fell in love with Silks, Sling, and Dance Trapeze classes.
Angela Merlino
Angela is thrilled to be a part of her third Iron City Aerial production! Angela has been training since 2018. She fell in love with aerial and this community from her very first class. She spends her studio time training in silks, rope, hoop, trapeze, and acro. She spends her out of studio time with her husband, son and daughter and loves traveling, hiking and reading.
Amrit Moore
Amrit grew up in Virginia dancing and joined the Rockbridge Ballet Company at 12. In college, she captained the dance team, the Earthquakers, and was co-clerk of the student-led dance production Dance Alloy. After college, having danced nearly her whole life, she didn't know what to do next. She stumbled upon Philadelphia School of Circus Arts. Since that fateful day in 2012, she has been on a journey of aerial and acro. When not in the air, she's laser cutting, sewing, 3d printing, hammering, or writing code with her students in the Provident Charter School Makerspace.
Sarah Moslen
Sarah started her circus career in 2014 when a video of an aerial hoop routine lit her soul on fire and has been burning ever since. After a small stint in Chicago where she completed a professional circus training program, she returned home to join the ranks at ICCA as a coach and an Iron City Aerialist. While she exclusively teaches aerial hoop/trapeze and straps, you can also catch her performing on silks, duo trapeze, dance trapeze, and a multitude of ground skills. Sarah is honored to have been asked to choreograph for such incredible aerialists during this show. When she’s not at the studio, you can find her figure skating or snuggling with her cat, Swinkie.
Sam Oates
Sam is upstairs.
Emma Patarcity
Emma has been training at ICCA for over 6 years in hoop, trapeze, silks, and acro, and she is beyond excited to perform in her third iron city aerial production as one of the Lovers! Outside of aerial Emma loves shenanigans, her partner Stephen, their cats Audrey & Mowgli, and their dog Ginny.
Janet Peters
Janet first discovered the joys of circus life back in 2018, and the rest is history! While hoop and trapeze have been her loves from the beginning, she can't stop herself from trying any new apparatus. She also takes classes in sling and straps (with past dabbling in silks and occasionally lollipop!). She has also started teaching, primarily or youngest students, the Tots Circus, which allows her to pass along her love of circus to new students. When not up in the air, she enjoys exploring acro and other ground skills, including contact staff and fairy wing flags. If she can infuse a performance with comedy, she couldn't be happier.
Liz Seip
Liz grew up an artist painting in oils and constantly drawing. Eight years ago, she found ICCA, and more importantly its loving and supportive community, at a time when she needed it most. For the past two years, Liz has had the pleasure of teaching youth and adults to love aerials as much as she does. Outside the studio, she is happiest making her daughter laugh and being trapped under cats on the couch.
Ziggy Sheynin
Ziggy began their circus journey in California training silks and straps. Very quickly they also took up trapeze and hoop. In 2017, they joined Circus Spire, a pre-professional youth troupe in Oakland, CA. With Spire, Ziggy performed silks, straps, hand balancing, partner acro and acro, among other things. For the past six years, Ziggy has also been coaching circus and loves being able to share a love of circus and movement with others. Outside the studio, Ziggy is getting their Master’s in Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh after receiving a B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Hispanic Studies from Carnegie Mellon University.
Shelby Shingle
Shelby began her aerial journey in September 2013 and quickly fell in love with the art and community and has stuck around ever since. Over the years she's practiced and performed on many apparatuses and currently has settled on specializing in Sling. When she's not teaching and performing, she resides south of Pittsburgh with her husband Jake and two daughters Kira and Ember.
Meghan Strickhouser
Meghan was born and raised in northeastern Ohio and has been living in Pennsylvania since 2012. In 2015 she discovered aerial through Instagram and spent 3.5 years traveling 2 hours each way to train in aerial silks, hoop, and trapeze with Jenly and Kelsey. She finally made the move to Pittsburgh in 2019 and has since begun teaching both youth and adult classes at ICCA.
Ayne Terceira
Named a "solo tour de force" by Pittsburgh Magazine, Ayne Terceira creates strange theater in Pittsburgh as the Creative Director of Uncumber Theatrics, and has devised interactive and immersive pieces for Bricolage, ScareHouse, the Cultural Trust’s First Night, the Duquesne Club, folkLAB, among others. Always in search of new frontiers, Ayne now brings a love of physical theater, clown, and improvisational comedy to hoop and trapeze.
Kelsey Walls
Kelsey is so excited to be performing with Iron City Aerial. She studied theatre and English at Point Park University which has led her to perform around on many stages in Pittsburgh. She started her aerial journey in the summer of 2020 and now trains hoop/trap/silks, acro and handstands. She would like to thank her friends, family and her partner in crime Andy for all their love and support. Kelsey would also love to extend a big thanks to her coaches for all their hard work helping her be exactly where she needs to be.