Sticks & Stone by Nicki Miller & Benny Oyzon
About this Event
ABOUT THE SHOW:
We first began Sticks & Stone in 2019 as experiment that put aerial rigger and aerial dancer onstage as characters in the same story. In it, a 3:1 counterweight pulley system became a landscape for exploring relationship dynamics, gender roles, physical imbalance, and personal agency.
In 2022, we had the opportunity to develop the piece into a full length show. Sticks & Stone premiered it at NYC’s Performing Garage and was made with generous support from 5th Wall Studio.
After nearly 4 years of hiatus, we are so excited to be preparing the show for its festival premiere at Hupstate Circus Festival on September 5, 2026!
As we prepare for this, we are thrilled to invite our Hudson Valley community to join us for workshop performances at Take the Leap Dance/Leaps & Bounds on June 20th at 7pm and June 21st at 5pm as part of our remount process.
All tickets are Pay What You Wish $5-50. All ticket funds help offset our production costs (including equipment, materials, space rental, and all of the collaborators’ skill/labor). Most importantly, your presence makes this whole effort with it! If you can’t make it but want to support the project, we will graciously accept your donation and gift the tickets to folx for whom cost is a barrier.
IMPORTANT VENUE INFORMATION:
These performances will occur in Leaps & Bounds gym, an ADA accessible space. It is right next door to Take the Leap Dance. When driving, follow signs to Take the Leap Dance Studio. There is a large animal population in this area! Please drive attentively and yield for deer, cat, rabbit, and fox neighbors.
Content Advisory: themes of body dysphoria, patriarchal gender roles, brief topless nudity
THE ARTISTS:
Co-creators and Performers Nicki Miller & Benny Oyzon
Production Manager David Glista
Veteran interdisciplinary artists Nicki Miller and Benny Oyzon have been weaving aerial dance and theatrical performance since 2017. The duo explores the poetry, dramaturgy, and embodiment of aerial counterweight and interdisciplinary performance.
Nicki Miller (she/her, Sticks & Stone: director, performer, dramaturg, co-choreographer) is an interdisciplinary theatre maker, aerial artist, writer, and movement educator uplifting arts practices and performance that ignite the imagination, trouble the intellect, and nourish the body. She was co-founding artistic director of Only Child Aerial Theatre (2012-2021), and is a 2026 New York Dance Force Choreographer’s Initiative awardee. She holds an M.F.A. in Theatre (focus on transdisciplinary aerial arts) from Sarah Lawrence College and is also an aerial choreographer and dramaturg for theatre and opera. www.nickimiller.com.
Benny Oyzon (he/him, Sticks & Stone: rigging designer/operator, performer, co-choreographer) is an artist and civil engineer with 20+ years experience as an aerial acrobat, aerial rigger (on and off Broadway), martial artist, dancer, fire performer, and Pilates instructor. Notable credits include Broadway: Floyd Collins (aerial coordinator); Off-Broadway: Breaking Surface (rigger, performer) and multiple projects with Lisa Giobbi, Grounded Aerial, ABCirque, and Only Child Aerial Theatre. He is continually creating different ways to find the beauty in nature and the magic in physics.
David Glista (he/him, Sticks & Stone: production manger) is a graduate of the Walnut Hill School, The Boston Conservatory, and a former dancer with the José Limón Company & Foundation. He has spent the last decade working as a production technician and designer in New York and is currently the Technical Director for Little Island. Past production positions also include the Technical Director The Wooster Group and Chelsea Factory.
HUGE THANK YOU to Take the Leap/Leaps & Bounds and Hudson Valley Circus Arts for supporting the restaging process of this show!
IG: @sticksandstone.art
Web: sticksandstone.art
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
