Event Detail

Inspired by the idea of creating trusting communities in trying and dangerous times, Brave Space starts as a puddle 250 yards of fabric on the floor, and, with the help of the audience, grows into a massive blanket fort--a world of hope that includes interdependent acts of aerial arts, acrobatics, juggling and balancing on 8 ft high poles. A show that is impossible to perform without an audience, each act in Brave Space is designed to physically draw spectators into the experience of putting oneself on the line for the safety and well being of at-risk members of a community. Not passive viewers, the audience becomes a part of the show, sometimes helping to raise the tent, sometimes holding ropes that keep trapeze artists aloft, sometimes standing so close to the performers you can hear their hearts beating.

Brave Space was created as an antidote to the horrors of daily news cycle. It’s not a “safe space,” but, an immersive performance that requires the audience and artists to show up as their best selves, encouraging them to care of themselves and those around them. “I wanted to create a show that felt like the opposite of the Handmaid’s Tale--something empowering. I wanted to create the world I want to live in, even if it only exists for an hour at a time,” director Shayna Swanson explains.

“As remarkable as the circus artistry here is – and it is skillful, daring, agile, innovative, and breathtakingly beautiful to boot – what sets Brave Space apart, and makes it magical, is the care the performers take of each other and of their audience,” writes reviewer Wendy Arons in the Pittsburgh Tattler. “I left with the impression that these artists wished nothing more than to share the secret to forging a space of care and connection with all those of us who had come together to build that little magic tent with them.”

To ensure intimacy and safety, the audience is limited to 100 people per show, and audience members must be able to sit on the floor, stand up, walk around for the duration of the performance. Audience members requesting assistance, or a chair to sit in, should note so when purchasing tickets. In addition, Brave Space may make persons suffering from claustrophobia feel uncomfortable at times.

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