Circus comes to Sisters in spring dance recital

America's love affair with the circus has lasted for over 200 years. It glitters with costumes, tastes like peanuts and popcorn, and sounds like an old-time calliope!

Earnest Hemingway, a lifelong circus lover, once wrote, "The circus is the only ageless delight that you can buy for money. It's the only spectacle I know that, while you watch it, gives the quality of a truly happy dream."

Last Saturday Sisters Dance Academy students performed "Under the Big Top" on stage in the Sisters High School auditorium. The stage became the Big Top, the center of the circus village where dance students of all ages performed as tightrope walkers, dancing ponies, clowns, tigers, lions and more.

"I like to pick a theme that will have a wide scope of creativity, and Under the Big Top lent well to that," said Lonnie Liddell, director of Sisters Dance Academy. "My team of teachers and I met together to brainstorm music ideas, dance-theme ideas, and how we could bring those ideas together. The process was fun, creative, and collaborative."

The opening act with 14 dancers (ages 12 and up) performing a Broadway jazz number to "Welcome to the Circus" gave the audience a sneak peek of some of the acts that dancers would be performing throughout the show.

It was a balance of grace and flair when eight stunning dancers performed the number "The Tight Rope" (in pointe 2) as tightrope walkers, each with her own parasol.

During the performance things will happen that are not usually possible: an animal trainer surrounded by lions, a man folding his body into a small case or jugglers keeping seven balls in the air. And in the Sisters Dance Academy's Big Top there was a "tissue" act. Two long strips of material ("tissus" in French) hang from the ridge of the circus tent. The long strips of material in the Sisters auditorium were silk and they hung above the stage from a high beam with professionally trained aerialist Kendall Knowles at the helm performing amazing feats in the air while the spectators held their breath.

Knowles, owner and lead instructor for Central Oregon Aerial Arts, has been performing aerial arts for over 12 years and has a passion for teaching students of all ages and abilities.

"When I first saw Kendall perform at the Central Oregon Dance Showcase in Bend several years ago, I was awestruck by her amazing talent," Liddell told The Nugget. "She supports her own body by hanging from a silk that is tethered to a beam in the ceiling. She has extreme muscle control and beautiful grace. We are so thrilled to have her a part of our show this year."

The last act before intermission, titled "Popcorn! Peanuts! Cotton Candy!," took the audience back in time to the circus of years ago. Eleven dancers performed a Broadway jazz number dressed as food vendors carrying food trays and exited through the auditorium yelling out "get your popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy!"

The team of choreographers/teachers were Lonnie Liddell, Kayla Williams, Shannon Abero, Jordi Weaver, Tiffany Lynn Bell and Sharri Bertanga. Two new teachers this year were Liz Warren, teaching contemporary; and Kendra Kemp teaching jazz.

The dance academy had a guest choreographer direct the opening number of the second act, "Carnival of Venice." Professional ballet dancer and choreographer Joshua Deininger also choreographed the senior ballet students in a piece so they were able to enter the "Turn it Up" competition in Eugene earlier this year.

"We took five group acts to competition, two duets and eight soloists to compete this year," Liddell said. "All the entries received very high rankings and we came away feeling so proud of all our dancers' accomplishments. We featured the performers in a special showcase in May; however, since two of our entries ranked highest scoring in their division, we allowed them to perform in this recital. Makenna Liddell earned the highest score in the intermediate division for her solo, and Kamryn Osborne and Mackenzi Reed earned the highest score in the intermediate division overall for their duet. These are huge honors and we are so glad their efforts were recognized."