Suspended Motion Aerial Arts is putting on its aerial Cabaret Circus this Valentine’s Day weekend.
Ria Zelada
Special to Mustang News
This Valentine’s Day weekend, more than a dozen performers will be suspended in the air for Suspended Motion Aerial Arts Academy‘s (SMAAA) aerial Cabaret Circus.
Cabaret Circus is a performance show, where performers display intricate skills while suspended in the air.
“I feel elated and free; it’s an incredible feeling,” said Gigi Penton, owner of SMAAA. “You’re using every inch of your body. You’re using all of your muscles. You’re trying not to look like you’re in pain when you’re suspended 20 feet in the air. When you let go, you can hear the audience gasp when you land, and you’re safe. It’s just the most unreal, incredible feeling.”
The show is an aerial silk show, Penton said, but it also features other performers.
“We have some singers, some ground routine, contortionist, and a lot of it is going to be paired with sexy outfits,” she said.
Penton is just one of the performers who will be performing in this week’s show. She will be accompanied by Cal Poly students and recent graduates.
One performer is Michelle Ong, a Cal Poly alumna and SMAAA instructor.
“It’s amazing,” Ong said. “It’s something else. I actually have a fear of heights. It’s kind of funny, but when I’m up there, I’m not afraid. I trust my body.”
Ong got involved with the studio during a Cal Poly event.
“I ran into the people who run the studio at a Cal Poly event — Culture Fest — and we hit it off,” she said. “I came in for a class, and there it is.”
Ong said she would love to see more community involvement, and hopes the show encourages that.
“We always love having new students,” she said. “If they are interested, they can come to the classes afterwards.”
Jamie Relth, public relations coordinator for the studio, said the show is an opportunity for the community to see an unexpected form of performing arts.
“It’s a cool way to be exposed to a new kind of performing arts,” Relth said. “It will also be really entertaining and really fun for a Valentine’s Day, like a date night.”
The show will benefit the SMAAA studio and will add needed resources.
“The performance is also a fundraiser for the studio, which they will be expanding in the next couple of months,” Relth said. “The fundraiser is going toward expansion and the purchase of more apparatus and more classes.”
The show ran this past Feb. 14, but there is still the show on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. It is for mature audiences. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.