Artist Statement
3:00 p.m. on September 23, 2017
5:00 p.m. on September 24, 2017
Since the dawn of time, humans have turned their faces to the sky and dreamed of taking wing. Of flying high above their earth-bound homes. Of soaring through clear skies. Of being a bird.
But what have birds been dreaming of all this time?
Do they dream of us?
Do birds dream of walking tall down the streets of our immense cities? Wearing our fine clothing? Enjoying a refreshing glass of…bread?
Tiny Cities is a 30-minute contemporary circus show featuring bread-filled wine glasses, cardboard-box juggling, life-sized pigeons, live costume changes and wire walking.
Tiny Cities is an absurd and whimsical celebration of Columba Livia, the common pigeon. Perched on a power line, windowsill or park bench, the pigeon is the wildness in our cities, inviting us to change our perspective and see our homes in a new light.
Tiny Cities builds community by bringing together an audience to experience high-level circus arts in their own neighborhood. Tiny Cities is suitable for all ages, can be presented indoors or outdoors and can be performed a maximum of two times per day.
The slackwire set-up forms the stage for Tiny Cities and evokes one of the most ubiquitous features of the urban landscape. Power lines. This show reinterprets the landscape that it is presented in, injecting the city with magic and possibility. Glancing overhead to see a pigeon sitting on a power line will never be the same again.
Artist Bio
Esther de Monteflores is a circus artist, physical performer and choreographer based in Bellingham, Washington. In her work, Esther seeks a balance between technical skill and expressive movement. Circus arts allow her to create work that is both intimate and spectacular, using the inherent element of risk to focus attention and spark imagination.
Esther is one of a small handful of circus performers in the USA specializing in slackwire walking, under the instruction of Beth Clarke, founder of Sweet Can Productions. Esther has received years of professional training in aerial arts, wire-walking, contortion and handbalancing at the San Francisco Circus Center and Trapeze Arts in Oakland.
Esther developed and produced her first solo performance piece, Equilibrium, in 2014, which was funded in part by a Grants for Artists Projects award from Artist Trust (Seattle, WA). Equilibrium has been performed across the country, venues include the Lookout Arts Center in Alger, Washington, the Orcas Island Shakespeare Festival in Eastsound, Washington, Art on the Atlanta Beltline in Atlanta, Georgia and The Prop Box in Oakland, California.
Recently Esther’s work has been seen in Seattle, WA at Moisture Festival and SANCA (School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts), with The Bellingham Circus Guild in Bellingham, WA, in Santa Fe, NM with Wise Fool New Mexico’s Circus Luminous and See/Saw, at Toronto’s Harbourfront Theatre with Circus Sessions and in Chicago, IL at the second annual Chicago Contemporary Circus Festival. In collaboration with writer Meredith Hambrock, Esther created CLIMB, a 45 minute work of contemporary circus theater. CLIMB has been presented at the Vancouver Fringe Festival (2015) and the Edmonton Fringe Festival (2016).