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ACROBUFFOS PRESENT WRITERS AND CREATORS Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone PERFORMERS Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone AIR SCULPTURE COLLABORATOR Daniel Wurtzel 2 DIRECTOR West Hyler
My characters have undergone the same process of simplification as the colors. Now that they have been simplified they appear more human and alive than if they had been represented in all their details. -Joan Miró, surrealist painter Intro 4 Show Description.5 Creative Team..7-8 Credits.9 Press 11 Tour.13 Track List..14 Contacts..16 For more information about Air Play and Acrobuffos please visit our websites: airplayshow.com acrobuffos.com 3
AIR PLAY is a visual poem, using no words. It lives on the edge of definition: part comedy, part sculpture, part circus, part theater. To audiences around the world the wonder and discovery of Air Play are bold reminders of childhood and growing up. Written and created by circus performers Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone in collaboration with renowned air sculptor Daniel Wurtzel, Air Play was devised through years of experimentation with simple materials, movement, and technology. There is nothing quite like seeing this production come alive on stage. Air Play has played around the globe, from the southernmost opera house in the world, Teatro del Lago in Chile, to London s Royal Festival Hall, to Melbourne's State Theater, and Shanghai s Grand Theatre. No translation needed, Air Play continues to tour all over the world. 4
SHOW DESCRIPTION Ride the wind and dream with Air Play, a modern spectacle that brings to life the very air we breathe. Flying umbrellas, larger-than-life balloons, giant kites floating over the audience, and the biggest snow globe you ve ever seen will make you gasp in wonder and laugh until it hurts. Air Play is a circus-style adventure of two siblings journeying through a surreal world, transforming ordinary objects into uncommon beauty. Fabrics dance in the wind, balloons have a mind of their own, confetti turns into the night sky, and an enormous canopy of hovering silk forever alters their future. The creation of husband & wife team Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone, Air Play merges their circus and street theater performance art with the sculptural artistry of Daniel Wurtzel. With visual images seemingly sewn from the sky, this poetic ode to childhood will enchant and electrify the young and young at heart. 5
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Creative Team Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone, the Acrobuffos, are the creators, writers, and performers of Air Play. They met at a circus in Afghanistan, were engaged while street performing in Scotland, and married in China. Collectively they ve performed in over 48 countries. Highlights of their career include performing at the Royal Festival Hall in London, headlining the Big Apple Circus, competing at China s Wuhan International Acrobatic Arts Festival, and working nightly under the stars at Germany s Kleines Fest im Grossen Garten. They ve created 5 shows together for street, circus, and stage, including The Acrobuffos: Madame & Monsieur and Waterbombs! Seth Bloom spent his childhood in Kenya, India, and Sri Lanka. His college career was interrupted multiple times with national tours as a professional juggler and silent comedian. He worked extensively in Afghanistan with Mobile Mini Circus for Children, creating performances with visual theater to carry social messages in Afghan rural areas that were often illiterate. Seth received his MFA in London for Lecoq theatre technique, and co-founded Split Knuckle Theater, a 5-star physical theater company. Seth is a graduate of Wesleyan University, RBBBC Clown College, Dell Arte School of Physical Theatre, and LISPA (MFA). He has performed in 28 countries and 48 US States. Christina Gelsone grew up in Texas and has traveled the world as a silent comedian. She started as a professional-level ballet dancer and then graduated from Princeton with a degree in Shakespeare. She performed for years with Bond Street Theater in multiple post-war zones including a wordless Romeo & Juliet in Albania and in Kosovo with Bulgaria s Theater Tsvette, and a non-verbal depiction of war and survival with Exile Theater in Afghanistan. Christina is a graduate of Princeton University, and The Dell'Arte School of Physical Theatre. She has performed in 38 countries. 7
Creative Team Daniel Wurtzel has worked as a sculptor in multiple mediums. His airflow piece Magic Carpet went viral with millions of views. His work has been seen around the world, including pieces with Cirque du Soleil, Julie Taymor, Robert Lepage, Diane Paulus, Franco Dragone, and the Sochi Winter Olympics. He exhibits in museums all over the world, and creates new work in his studio in Brooklyn. danielwurtzel.com West Hyler is a theater director equally at home in the circus or on Broadway. He has directed on Broadway for Cirque du Soleil and has twice directed Big Apple Circus. As the associate director of Jersey Boys, he staged productions on five continents. Jeanne Koenig has worked with light for her entire career. Her work as associate lighting designer for The Lion King has taken her world-wide with more than 20 companies, and 14 countries at last count. Other associate works include Broadway productions of Side Show, Leap of Faith, Come Fly Away, Ragtime, The Times They Are A-Changin, All Shook Up, Movin Out, Bells Are Ringing. Todd Alan Little has production managed more than 40 musicals for the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, as well as a record-breaking around-theworld solo balloon flight. Adept at comedy improv, he occasionally plays fiddle in a honky-tonk band and creates new work. Flora Vassar has stage managed extensively in New York and Philadelphia, specializing in devised theater and prop creation. 8
Info and Credits Running Time 60 Minutes Age Guidance All Ages Recommended for ages 5 to 105 (Air Play is not suitable for infants and toddlers) Writers and Creators Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone Performers Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone Air Sculpture Collaborator Daniel Wurtzel Director West Hyler Technical Director Todd Alan Little Stage Manager Flora Vassar Lighting Design Jeanne Koenig Costumes Ashley Dunn Gatterdam Sound Design Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone Additional Sound Design Phil Ingle Props Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone Air Play has been made possible with support from Playhouse Square New Victory Theater Zoellner Arts Center Flushing Town Hall 9
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PRESS **** (Four Stars) Fun for all ages is a common puff in the arts, but with Air Play it s strictly true. From the minute the curtain goes up on this buoyant fusion of wordless clowning and aerial spectacle, you feel as if you ve stepped into an enchanted world somewhere between childhood and what comes afterwards, where normal rules (gravity included) have been temporarily held at bay. A joy from start to finish, Air Play will entrance children, and will act as a great reset button for stressed adults. Sydney Morning Herald Air Play holds the whole audience in the palm of its outstretched hand. A winning combination of visually stunning sculptures and cheeky but heartfelt storytelling that keeps both adults and children enthralled. British Theatre Guide You feel you re witnessing divine natural occurrences rather than carefully devised circus stunts. Hartford Courant The curtains open and we see a man holding on to a huge piece of light fabric, dancing in the air, moved by a circle of fans. The wonder begins and I suddenly feel like a child again, receptive to every single magical moment in Air Play. - A Younger Theatre 11
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TOUR World Premiere Playhouse Square Cleveland, OH, USA Royal Festival Hall London, ENGLAND New Victory Theater New York NY, USA Teatro del Lago Frutillar, CHILE Melbourne State Theatre Melbourne, AUSTRALIA Shanghai Grand Theater Shanghai, CHINA Arts and Ideas Festival New Haven CT, USA Brighton Dome Brighton, UK De Harmonie Leeuwarden, NETHERLANDS Des Moines Civic Center Des Moines IA, USA Miller Auditorium Kalamazoo MI, USA Tennessee Performing Arts Center Nashville TN, USA Fine Arts Center UMass Amherst MA, USA Weis Center Lewisburg PA, USA RVCC Branchburg NJ, USA Strathmore North Bethesda MD, USA Fine Arts Center at CSB/SJU St. Joseph MN, USA FestivALL Charleston WV, USA Zoellner Arts Center Bethlehem PA, USA Morse PAC The Villages FL, USA Brooks Center Clemson SC, USA Hopkins Center Hanover NH, USA Teatro Circo Braga, PORTUGAL AT&T Center Dallas TX, USA IPAY Montreal, CANADA Music Center at Strathmore Kensington MD, USA International Children's Festival Pittsburgh PA, USA Flint Hills Festival St. Paul MN, USA 13
TRACK LIST Song Doina Si Cintec Sun Will Set Gymnopedie No. 1 Moliendo Cafe Slobujenia The Clandestine Adventures of Ms. Merz Attaboy Spiegel im Spiegel Rebel Enforcer Bang Bang Secktor Two Galang The Planets, Op. 32 Jupiter Mother s Journey Arabesque No. 2 Bo Mambo Turandot: Nessun Dorma! Maraja The Rach. 3 Prelude from Psycho Point Zero Danza Española, Op. 37, No 2 Songs From Friday Afternoons, Op. 7: Cuckoo! Laulud laulust ja laulikust: Lauliku lapsepoli bu Ert Joroin Somewhere Over The Rainbow Maraja Artist Fanfare Ciocarlia Zoe Keating Finghin Collins Doch ft. Doch Gypsy Orchestra Doch ft. Doch Gypsy Orchestra Tin Hat Trio Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Chris Thile Sally Maer, Sally Whitwell Mix Master Mike Nancy Sinatra Mix Master Mike M.I.A. London Symphony Orchestra Yann Tiersen Simon Trpceski Yma Sumac Luciano Pavarotti Vinicio Capossela David Helfgott Invert Yann Tiersen Enrique Granados Choir of Downside School The American Boychoir Olafur Arnalds Israel Kamakawiwo ole Vinicio Capossela Composer Adrian Sical Zoe Keating Erik Satie Jose Perron Manzo T. Donaldson, W. Eager Tin Hat Trio Stuart Duncan, Chris Thile Arvo Part Mix Master Mike Sonny Bono Mix Master Mike M.I.A. Gustav Holst Yann Tiersen Claude Debussy Moises Vivanco, Billy May Giacomo Puccini Vinicio Capossela Sergei Rachmaninoff Bernard Hermann Yann Tiersen Enrique Granados Benjamin Britten Veljo Tormis Olafur Arnalds Israel Kamakawiwo ole Vinicio Capossela 14
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CONTACTS New York City 10 Saint Nicholas Terrace, Suite 10 New York NY 10027 www.airplayshow.com www.acrobuffos.com Creator/Performer/Producer Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone +1 646 812 6530 seth@acrobuffos.com Social Media Instagram: acrobuffos Facebook: airplayshow Facebook: acrobuffos Twitter: @acrobuffos Represented by NEW YORK Boat Rocker Entertainment James Weiner T: +1.646.220.6730 jim@boatrockerentertainment.com BERLIN Aurora Nova Wolfgang Hoffman T: +49.30.284.457.728 wolfgang@auroranova.org 16