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Ephemera

EPHEMERA 
World Premiere
Presented by Hydrangea Sky Movement Arts at Old Town Center for the Arts, Cottonwood, Arizona
November 11th & 12th at 7:00 pm
Doors open at 6:00 pm for a special viewing of original mixed media paintings by visual artist Marrin Robinson in her Solo Exhibition entitled “Light Across Time”. MarrinRobinson.com 
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Greeting you at the door will be guest artist Deborah Heron Williams of High On Life Stiltwalking.
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Program

FIRST HALF
I. “Wings”

Marie Turner and Colleen Walls 
Modern Dance 
Choreographed by Marie Turner and Colleen Walls
Original concept, choreography, and costumes by Christine Eaton
Music: “Arrival of the Birds” by The Cinematic Orchestra, London Metropolitan Orchestra 

II. “Ophelia”
Mazzy Rose
Lyra
Costume, choreography, and performance by Mazzy Rose
Music: “Ophelia” by Marika Hackman

III. “October”
Kristen Massey
Silks
Costume, choreography, and performance by Kristen Massey
Music: “October” by Feverkin

IV. “Music Box”
Colleen Walls
Tai Chi
Costume, choreography, and performance by Colleen Walls
Music: “La Boîte à Musique” by Rhian Sheehan

V. “Of the Ethers”
Grace Livermore
Lyra
Costume, choreography, and performance by Grace Livermore
Music: “Open Me Slowly” by Rena Jones

VI. “Pipe Dreams”
Marie Turner and Colleen Walls 
Modern Dance
Original concept, choreography, and costumes by Christine Eaton
Revised choreography by Marie Turner, Colleen Walls, and Christine Eaton
Music: “Beyond the Edge” by the Electric Harp Guitar Group

VII. “Blood, Milk, and Sky”
Lilith Velarides
Aerial Chains
Costume, choreography, and performance
Music: “Blood, Milk, and Sky” by White Zombie

INTERMISSION 

SECOND HALF
VIII. “So Close”
Evan Thibodeau
Poi
Costume, choreography, and performance by Evan Thibodeau
Music: “So Close” by Ólafur Arnalds, Arnór Dan

IX. “The Chase”
Colleen Walls, Kristen Massey, Marie Turner
Kung Fu and Aerial Silks 
Costumes, choreography, and performance by Colleen Walls, Kristen Massey, and Marie Turner
Music: “Container Park” by The Chemical Brothers

X. “Affection”
Lilith Velarides
Aerial Straps
Costume, choreography, and performance by Lilith Velarides
Music: “Affection” by Amber Run

XI. “Abyss”
Jeffrey Williamson
Trapeze
Costume, choreography, and performance by Jeffrey Williamson
Music: “Hanazeve Caradhina” by Kevin Penkin, Takeshi Saito 

XII. “Human”
Sunn Mixon
Aerial Sling
Costume, choreography, and performance by Sunn Mixon
Music: “Buffalo Dance” by Dub Sutra

XIII. “Transfiguration”
Heather Elliott
Corde Lisse
Costume, choreography, and performance by Heather Elliott
Music: 1. “Love Stream” by Brice Davoli 2. “Muse III (Transfiguration)” by Nathan Lanier 
​
XIV. “Escape Artist”
Mazzy Rose, Grace Livermore, Marie Turner
Silks
Costumes, choreography, and performance by Mazzy Rose, Grace Livermore, Marie Turner
Music: “Escape Artist” by Zoë Keating
CAST
Heather Elliott - corde lisse
Grace Livermore - lyra, silks 
Marie Turner - modern dance, silks
Kristen Massey - silks
Sunn Mixon - aerial sling
Mazzy Rose - lyra, silks
Evan Thibodeau - Poi
Lilith Velarides - aerial chains, straps 
Colleen Walls - modern dance, Tai Chi, Kung Fu
Jeffrey Williamson - trapeze
CREW
Marie Turner – Director, Co-Producer, Head Choreographer
John G Compton – Stage Manager
Stephan Barber – Stage Technician
William Eaton – Co-Producer, Sound
James Ball – Head Lighting Designer
Elena Bullard – Lighting Designer
Logan Turner – Sound
James Ismert – Photographer, Videographer
Greg Fishell – Aerial Rigging Consultant

CAST

Heather Elliott — Corde Lisse
An instructor at Momentum Aerial in Flagstaff AZ, Heather Elliott has been an aerialist for over a decade. She has trained at various circus schools around the country, and has been teaching aerial for 7 years. Her love is rope but she also loves silks and harness dancing! She has performed with Dark Sky Aerial, Circus Bacchus, QT entertainment, and is excited to be working with Hydrangea Sky Movement Arts Dance Company.
Picture
photo by Cody Williams

Grace Livermore — Lyra, Silks
Grace has a background in classical ballet and has dabbled in modern/contemporary, burlesque, hip hop, bhangra, and Latin dance forms. She has been doing aerial silks and lyra for 3 years and aerial rope for 2 years. Recently she has started working in aerial harness, taking workshops with Bandaloop and collaborating with Dark Sky Aerial.
Picture
photo by Michelle Badger Photography

Marie Turner – Director, Co-Producer. Modern Dance, Silks. 
Marie Turner is an aerialist, singer-songwriter, and visual artist. 
Marie has a background in modern dance and currently performs on aerial silks, lyra (aerial hoop), corde lisse (rope), trapeze, and invented apparatus.
Picture
photo by Morgan Louvier

Kristen Massey — Silks
Kristen first fell in love with the graceful, dance-like movements of rock climbing. Rock climbing was her first pathway to embodiment, and the strength, freedom, and altitude it allowed her to access paved the way for silks. Kristen has always been drawn to the aerial arts, and her first silks experience was over 12 years ago. Now, two kids and a full time career later, she feels privileged to have access to a local gym and formal classes the last four years. Her aerial interests include silks and pole dance.
Picture
photo by James Ismert Photography

Sunn Mixon — Aerial Sling
Sunn was first introduced to aerial and performance arts 8 years ago while training in partner acrobatics. After moving to Flagstaff 5 years ago, she fell in love with aerial dance and has been practicing ever since. She now teaches for Momentum Aerial, specializing in solo and duo lyra and has recently taken up a passion for aerial sling. Her love of movement and somatic based practices has led to a deep connection to movement arts that allow her to express through her body and motions.
Picture
photo by James Ismert Photography

Mazzy Rose — Lyra, Silks
Mazzy Rose began her aerial journey in 2018 after being inspired by performances from Circus Bacchus and Dark Sky Aerial. She began training on silks at Momentum Aerial before taking a break from that apparatus to build strength on lyra. When she returned to silks, corde lisse seemed like a natural evolution to add to her training. She loves the feelings of freedom and empowerment that come with exploring the aerial arts.
Picture
photo by Danee White

Evan Thibodeau — Poi
I moved to Flagstaff at 21 in 2009 to study Forestry at NAU and just never left. I like to think that Northern Arizona is where I learned how to be an adult through my educational background here and now being a small business owner, and also how to be a kid again through performance and flow arts communities. I began spinning poi in 2018 after seeing it a few times at events or festivals, and immediately found myself head over heels with the specific movements art of poi and 3-poi juggling. I now facilitate poi classes and workshops, organize fire circles and fire performances, and create new acts every chance I get!
Picture
photo by Transformational Eye

Lilith Velarides — Aerial chains, Straps 
Lilith is a self-taught aerialist with a diverse interest in apparatuses, doing everything from silks and lyra to trapeze, straps, sling, and aerial pole. Lilith's specialty is aerial chains, having begun performing in shows with Peppercorn Games in their home town of Flagstaff in 2022. Having never been a dancer before finding aerial arts, Lilith has become passionate about expression through dance and flow, especially on any apparatus you can use with boots on and metal music playing.
Picture
photo courtesy of Lilith Velarides

Colleen Walls — Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Modern Dance
Colleen Walls is a second-degree black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu and a certified instructor at Sacred Mountain of Fighting and Healing Arts. She specializes in the tiger crane 108 system, northern long fist, and tai chi. Colleen is also an active member of Sacred Mountain's lion dance team and has experience performing the head and the tail parts of the Chinese lion. Her passion is giving martial arts demonstrations in front of a live audience, and she has competed and placed at several state and national championships. In 2021, she received the ICMAC Women's Tai Chi Grand Champion award. Colleen enjoys sharing her passion for Chinese martial arts with her community.
Picture
photo courtesy of Colleen Walls

Jeffrey Williamson — Trapeze 
Jeffrey saw his first aerial performance on Valentine's Day of 2020. He was so inspired by the performance, he started training on trapeze that Fall at Momentum Aerial. Since then, Jeffrey has fallen in love with being in the air and specializes in trapeze, lyra, and silks.
Picture
Photograph by Michelle Badger Photography

Crew

John G Compton — Stage Manager
John G Compton produces site-specific, immersive, and interactive theater in Flagstaff through Peppercorn Games. He's the Production Manager for The Flagstaff Foundry and directs narrative-driven circus performances seasonally. 

Stephan Barber — Stage Technician
Stephan Barber is the Audio/Video Coordinator at Center of Universal Light in Cottonwood and has assisted in many live productions at Old Town Center for the Arts, notably aerial dance performances.

William Eaton — Co-Producer, Sound
William Eaton is a musician, composer, and designer-builder of unique guitars and stringed instruments.  He is the director of Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery: a guitar making school in Phoenix he co-founded in 1975. William is also the co-Director of Old Town Center for the Arts.

James Ball — Head Lighting Designer
James Ball (lighting designer) is the director of choirs and Theatre at Mingus Union High School here in Cottonwood. He has been awarded Northern AZ Theatre teacher of the year and runner-up Yavapai County teacher of the year. His plays and musicals have received multiple state awards and accolades. James started helping at the OTCA in 2009 and he is elated to return for this beautiful show!

Elena Bullard — Lighting Designer
Elena Frankenthaler Bullard grew up in New York City, totally immersed in the Arts.  After receiving her B.A. at the University of New Mexico and M.A. at the University of Texas, she spent her professional career managing Engineering software firms and teaching at Arizona State University. Elena was part of the original team that opened the Old Town Center for the Arts in 2008.

Logan Turner — Sound
Logan Turner, Crane School of Music alumnus with a B.A in Music Business, is a classically trained percussionist, as well as a guitarist, bassist, and sound technician. 

James Ismert — Photographer, Videographer

James Ismert was audio engineer and producer for Anybody Listening? Recording Studio and BREAKER Records for 15 years. Photography and videography are his current passions and he is the official photographer for Hydrangea Sky Movement Arts.

Guest Artist Deborah Heron Williams, High On Life Stiltwalking

Picture
Deborah Heron Williams
As a stiltwalker, I love being a conduit, bridging the earthly world with the sky, the heavens, the divine. There is also great gratification in morphing through characters, seeing who presents next. There is a gift of reminding myself and others to be childlike and whimsical, filled with fantasy and imagination. High on Life!
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THANK YOUs 

Special thanks to aerial rigging consultant Greg Fishell.

Thank you to our sponsor, Best Western Cottonwood Inn of Cottonwood, Arizona.

Thank you to Old Town Center for the Arts for hosting this event, and a huge thank you to all of our OTCA volunteers!

Thank you to Walker Eaton of Holistic Fitness Fusion for his injury prevention and athletic performance coaching.

Thank you to the cast and crew for their creativity, artistry, hard work, and enthusiasm – all those involved in the creation of the Ephemera show put their heart and soul into this production and it shows! 

Thank you – We hope you enjoy the show!
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A special and heartfelt thank you to Christine Eaton (known professionally as Christine Lamb of Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre) for her modern dance props, handmade costumes, choreographic insight, and for the conceptualization and original choreography of “Pipe Dreams” and “Wings” that inspired the two pieces of the same names featured in Ephemera. Christine, co-founder of Old Town Center for the Arts alongside William Eaton, was the creative visionary and reason for OTCA’s involvement in aerial dance performance. Christine introduced her daughter Marie to aerial dance in 2004 at the Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder, Colorado, and four years later Christine and William created and renovated a historic building into what is now Old Town Center for the Arts in Cottonwood, Arizona – a performing arts venue that features live music concerts, theater, and aerial dance, amongst various other performance art forms.

Hydrangea Sky Returns to the Stage in Fall 2025

November 21 & 22, 2025

Come see us in Cottonwood, Arizona at ​our 'home' performance venue, OTCA:
OLD TOWN CENTER FOR THE ARTS

DONATE to Hydrangea Sky Movement Arts, registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Arizona. Read more here.
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ABOUT US
  • home
  • about
    • company artists
    • team
    • OTCA
    • Live Music
    • Holistic Fitness Fusion
  • repertoire
  • photos
  • journal
  • contact
  • donate
  • careers