Most dancers harbor two secret dreams: dancing without touching the ground and joining the circus. Utah native Kate Law Holfich and her creative partner Alayna Stroud fused these two whimsical impulses and created Bow & Sparrow, a San Francisco-based aerial dance company that is one part Cirque du Soleil, one part Ririe- Woodbury and one part something else entirely.
Helos—Bow & Sparrow’s most recent offering—features multiple bits of aerial apparatus that dangle from the ceiling so the performers can gracefully spin, contort themselves, hang upside-down and perform contemporary dance moves while suspended in mid-air. A Bow & Sparrow performance is like an elegant minicircus, only with better music and costumes, and no creepy clowns, pyrotechnics or large, smelly animals. Artistic director Holfich vows that Bow & Sparrow’s Salt Lake City performance will brim with special energy, since this is the first time she will showcase her dance creations for friends, family and members of the Salt Lake City dance community whom she has known her entire life. Bow and Sparrow’s Utah premiere also features an aerial workshop noon-2 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, geared toward anyone who has harbored secret dreams of joining the circus or dancing without touching the ground. There will be no creepy clowns, pyrotechnics or large, smelly animals at the workshop, either. You will be greeted by a wildly talented team of dancers and aerial artists eager to help you defy gravity.
Bow & Sparrow: Helos @ University of Utah Marriott Center for Dance, 330 S. 1500 East, March 19-20, 7:30 p.m. BowAndSparrow.org