In the ambivalence of life, we carry both delicacy and aridity. The backlands constitute us, and the creative process of circus artist Lucienne Machado reveals how the arid and the delicate walk together in our lives. Seeking affectionate memories of her seamstress grandmother, she shows us that she too sews life, but in a different way, in an arid and delicate relationship with the circus and aerial silks.

"A Return to Movement” is a short vertical dance film celebrating the largest dam removal project in world history and the Klamath River Renewal. Dancers are suspended over the water as they use movement to bring attention to this unprecedented environmental event.

Every decision we make weaves our lives into a story shaped by societal expectations. We become trapped in self-imposed cocoons, immobilized by narratives not our own. Yet, within us lies the power to break free—the power to choose our own path and become the narrators of our own story. ARCO is an invitation to dissolve into creativity, where movement transcends cognition, and art becomes a shared human experience. More than a performance, it is a meditation on dance as a catalyst for transformation, leaving audiences with a sense of interconnectedness and the boundless potential of authentic expression.

A short documentary exploring the creative process behind Flyaway Productions' Down On The Corner, created in partnership with the TxT Initiative. Honoring the site of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, the film reflects on its legacy of resistance, liberation, and collective imagination while envisioning a more just future.

On July 24, 2024, a wildfire tore through Jasper, Alberta, reducing aerialist Sasha Galitzki's home to ashes. Embers connects Sasha's loss in the wildfire and the glacial recession she has witnessed in her creative work to highlight their common cause: climate change. Set in the year following the fire, Embers follows Sasha as she rebuilds her life and confronts the realities of a warming world. Speaking with wildfire and climate experts, she seeks to understand the heartbreaking changes affecting the mountains and community she loves. Gradually returning to her aerial practice, she performs over the ashes of her home and amidst the whirling winds of melting glaciers—inviting us on an intimate journey to find hope out of darkness. Embers ultimately captures a profound shift within Sasha, who channels her grief and art into a powerful and visually impactful message of environmental advocacy.

Set against a majestic outdoor rock wall, ""JINSHAN: Seams of Gold"" is a site-specific vertical dance film that reimagines gravity as a partner in storytelling. Harnessing the power of rock climbing technology, dancers are lifted into the air—not just to defy gravity, but to awaken a sense of flight, freedom, and deep connection. Suspended in space, they soar, tumble, and reach across stone surfaces, turning sheer rock into a canvas for memory, imagination, and transformation. Inspired by the courage, creativity, and resilience of ancestors and elders, ""JINSHAN"" honors the strength it takes to rise—literally and metaphorically. As bodies float and cling, release and return, the film evokes a sense of wonder and reflection, expanding what we believe is possible when we move together. This is a dance of flight, of legacy, and of the golden seams that bind us through time and across space.

Set against Fernando Pessoa’s poem of the same name, “Ode Maritima” explores the charged space between departure and arrival, self and other. Through a mysterious, suspended choreography, dancers drift like sails in the wind, embodying the swelling desire and nostalgia of a ship pulling away from shore. A lyrical screendance piece where flight, poetry, and emotional distance converge.

Through dance and movement, OMEN tells the story of one woman’s exploration of bravery and perseverance, intimately following her as she takes risks and overcomes fears. The film tells the story of our shared interdependence - and the beauty of surrendering to the unknown. OMEN was shot in the Grand Canyon National Park by award-winning filmmakers Harlan Taney, Justin Clifton, and Blake McCord of Sandcast Media. OMEN is a 10 minute dance film with a 17 min. companion documentary film.

SPACE OPERA is a short aerial film by Jungkyun Shin that blends movement and cinematic imagery to explore the intersection of the human body, gravity, and the boundless imagination of space.

"Spinewalker uses archival collage of early horror films including George Méliès' 1909 “The Haunted Mansion,” Paul Wegener and Henrik Galeen's 1915 “The Golem” (inspired by 16th century Jewish folktale), Isadora Duncan’s historic 1897 “Serpentine Dances” and more as backdrop for character driven aerial work to create a surreal world that explores psychological and spiritual manipulation. The film was originally commissioned by Dance Thrill Fest and had its international premier at Manifest Dance Film Festival in Auroville, India."

The Audition is a short aerial circus film that shows the emotional roller coaster that is the process of auditioning. The rise and fall of anticipation and excitement that is often met with rejection and disappointment and the constant internal battle with the drive to do the thing we love. The Audition addresses the struggles performers have in maintaining confidence and a sense of self in the quest to be cast.

A woman emerges from a golden cocoon onto a large cliff face and climbs her way up the mountain and into the air.

UNENDING, by Suzanne Gallo, Rachel Maxwell, and Nino Fernandez, is an exploration of self-love and acceptance, and an interpretation of how those sentiments evolve over time.

"Water Spirit" is a dance that expresses the mysteries inside a drop of water. As icebergs melt and water transforms from frozen to liquid its spirit dances. Performance by UpSwing aerialist Helium Valentine, this aerial dance is performed inside a suspended snowglobe. Created in June 2022.

A middle-aged man reflects on the death of his estranged father, a former circus performer who vanished decades earlier. Through quiet moments in a late-night bar, he revisits the blurred line between memory and regret. The film blends real vintage circus footage with generative AI imagery to create a haunting meditation on grief, family, and the fragile inheritance of broken legacies.

82-year-old tells how he got captivated by aerial silks 7 years ago and how it changed his life, while the screen shows many of the more challenging moves he did in a public performance, including Fallen Angel and Astronaut.

Vertical feeling is a dream like short film about what it’s like to grow up climbing the aerial silk. How does vertical suspension feel like in the body? How does it effect ones body image and maybe even the identity that’s still developing? In the film memories, experiences and imagination blend together. The outlines of the body blur, the silks flood and the inner child has something to say.

BECOMING is a poetic short film exploring aerial artist Lydia Adunola's personal journey of transformation through aerial movement. The film reflects on identity, resilience, and the continual process of becoming.

This 1977 film “Dare to Climb” shows the story and stunts of aerobatic pilot Joe C. Hughes, a famous air show pilot in the 1970s who was inducted into the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) Hall of Fame in 2010. Hughes, born in Texas, developed the Boeing-Hughes Super Stearman plane and was known for his wing walking acts. Joe C. Hughes passed away in 2017. His first Super Stearman now resides in the EAA Aviation Hall of Fame in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive

The broader context in which the first vertical dance experiments emerged was the dawn of space exploration in the 1960s, culminating in humanity's first orbit of the Earth and the first Moon landing in 1969. The image of the human body floating weightlessly in space, broadcast on television screens around the world, had a profound impact on people everywhere, but especially on artists. It inspired new ways of imagining the body's relationship to gravity, space, and architecture, helping to prompt some of the earliest explorations of vertical dance—performances that offered audiences an entirely new perspective on movement and the built environment.

A aerial hoop film created for Vespertine Circus's virtual show "Egress & Oriel".

The journey of ascending above what has been imposed, transforming what once seemed a weakness into strength. Yet, the structures we build in response cannot erase the past; the scars remain. This is the bittersweet dance we call life.

Road to Forgiveness is a short documentary chronicling the creation of Forgiveness, Thank You, a 15-minute aerial dance work exploring the complexities of trauma, healing, and transformation. Through rehearsal footage, performance, and artist reflections, the film follows Veronica Blair's creative process, revealing how deeply personal experiences are translated into movement. Audiences are invited into an intimate exploration of self-awareness, surrender, and forgiveness, illuminating the human capacity to transform pain into freedom.

A dynamic cinematic aerial straps film featuring Sasha Harrington and Cassandra Cornell.