New Year’s Eve was a night to remember for the acrobats that performed at the New Year’s Eve Gala at the Stephens Performing Arts Center in Pocatello, Idaho. After paying their dues for four years and performing more than 150 shows, Stasia Acrobats finally received an invitation to be the featured performance artist for a major event. . . and they did not disappoint. With their normal hard work a diligence, these acrobats, coupled with a handful of ISU students/dancers, went on to put on a most memorable show! The audience was blown away by the performance skills of these acrobats and acrobatic skills that enhanced the nearly 40 minute performance.

This is the best show that Stasia Acrobats has ever done, and that is saying so much because the Eastern Idaho State Fair was an amazing show as were so many other shows throughout their short history. Here are a few pictures from that amazing night and the video of the show will be posted on our website, stasiaacrobats.com and our YouTube channel. If you did not see our performance on New Year’s Eve, be sure to watch the video of this “can’t miss” performance!

After all was said and done, Stasia Acrobats would dance the night away into the New Year. What a tremendous experience for all involved!

Thank you to the ISU students/dancers that performed with us, to Lauralee Zimmerman that helped, the awesome staff at the Stephens Performing Arts Center, and all of those that put this event together, invited us to perform, and helped make this a great memory for all of us at Stasia Acrobats!

The first of the two shows is Monday night, November 16^th. Stasia Acrobats will take the stage at 7:30 pm. If you miss this one, you will have your second chance to catch the ‘Bats” on Thursday night, November 19^th. On that night the Acrobats will take to the stage at 8:00 pm. Don’t miss out on either show or such a great event as the Festival of Trees. See you there!

(Photo courtesy of Krystal Anderson)

MacKyla has been a part of Stasia Acrobats for three and a half years and over that time she has grown immensely. When she began she was that goofy acrobat that would wave at the camera and family members during performances. Now, well, she is still that goofy acrobat, but she no longer waves at the camera and the family during performances. She has now become the epitome of professionalism! Mac is a driven and focused, hard-working acrobat that has really become a shining example of what Stasia Acrobats is all about.

Over the course of October, Stasia Acrobats was met with several challenges, as well as a busy performing schedule, and although everyone stepped up to cover voids and sure up routines, MacKyla would stand out to the Troupe and lead the way through a difficult time. Showing her true colors, Mac stepped in to field new pyramids, learn new routines, and she stepped up her character play so much that her Halloween character was very much appreciated by crowds. Her determination to never let bumps in the road stop her from accomplishing her goals in life rubbed off on the Troupe through October and for her leadership, hard-work, and great attitude, Mac definitely earned Acrobat of the Month honors.

Congratulations, MacKyla. You are an amazing piece to the Stasia Acrobat family. We are so happy to have you with us!

(Photo courtesy of Krystal Anderson)

A Happy All Hallo’s Eve to all of you. This is an acrobat’s favorite time of the year. The chance for us to change from our normal storylines and performances and become characters that go bump in the night, characters that scare and spark the imagination. Last year was our homage to the zombie craze that has taken the country by storm, but this year is more geared towards scary and fun.

This year we pay tribute to the imaginations of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman. These two men have combined to create characters and music that has thrilled, scared, and given a bizarre sense of hope to people. Tim Burton has brought together characters from Beetlejuice and that depressive girl he tries to marry, Lydia, to that of Jack and Sally of “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. Danny Elfman, the former front man for Oingo Boingo, has written and performed the musical scores for almost all of Tim Burton’s films. These two have combined to create some of the most memorable films of all time.

This Friday night, October 30^th, you will find Stasia Acrobats in Pocatello entertaining audiences at two different events. First, from 3:00 to 5:30 pm, Stasia Acrobats will be entertaining the crowd at Bish’s RV in Pocatello, Idaho for their annual Trick or Treat Street. This will be our third year handing out candy and performing a series of pyramids that entertain the kids and parents alike. Second, we will take to the stage at Idaho State University’s Pond Student Union to perform their Halloween routine (a Tribute to the brilliant minds of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman) for the Haunted Union Carnival. At 9:30 pm Stasia Acrobats will take to performing their scary, yet fun routine for the college students and friends and families. This is not one to miss.

But these two shows do not end our Halloween as we will take part in one more Trick or Treat Street. Once again, we will take off to Pocatello, Idaho, but this time we will be heading to the Outer Limits (another place where we have entertained the masses and handed out candy) to take part in their activities. This will run from 3:00 to 5:30 pm. It is a full weekend for us and we are excited to take part in all of it.

Be certain to put one of these events on your calendar and come see Stasia Acrobats as they entertain many audiences with their Halloween-based acrobatic show!

Their Day Will begin with a jaunt to the Idaho State University Campus here in Idaho Falls to perform for the annual Halloween Carnival that the campus puts on.  There will be a  petting zoo, games, and Halloween surprises in store for all of those that come to this event.  Doors open at 11:00 am and the carnival will run until 1:00 pm.  At 11:30 am, Stasia Acrobats will take to the floor to perform their Halloween routine, an homage to the characters of Tim Burton and the music of Danny Elfman.  Such an amazing duo that has worked together for three decades.  So come in, sit back, and be scared or enjoy the Halloween Haunts of the carnival and of Stasia Acrobats.

Second, Stasia Acrobats will take to the field for one more flurry of a finish as they will perform will the Idaho Falls Marching Band to close out their season together.  And what a way to end it, performing for the halftime of the Emotion Bowl.  The acrobats are quite geared up for this one as it is one of the biggest games in the country.  Be sure not to miss this one as this has been an amazing collaboration and has been an amazing experience for the band geeks, circus freaks, and audiences alike.

Don’t miss out on these opportunities to see Stasia Acrobats in action!

It is hard to single down one month with Aly as she is just such a driving force behind the Troupe. An amazing Captain that is respected and trusted by the Acrobats, the parents, and highly respected by the coach and owner of Stasia Acrobats. Aly really stood out in the month of September because of our work with Idaho Falls Marching Band and the performances at the Eastern Idaho State Fair.

Not only is Aly a strong leader as Captain, she is an awesome performer. Best example of this is our routine, “Fall of the Pharaoh”, where Aly brought her character as the evil pharaoh to life, so much so that the audience hated her character (which they were supposed to) by the end of the forty minute show that we put on during the final day of the Fair this past month. This hatred for her character in the show is in stark contrast to how Aly is in real life as she is one of the most loved acrobats that has ever been a part of our Troupe.

Throughout the month of September 2015, Aly helped keep the Troupe focused and motivated as we had so many different things going on from our own performances to our work with the Idaho Falls Marching Band. She is a calming influence for the Troupe and leads by example as she is always working to improve her skills. She is the strongest base and holds all of the big pyramids in our main routines. She performs as an aerialist on the Lyra. She is a hand-balancer, tumbles, and more. She is a shining example of what well-rounded acrobat should be.

And when the coach has to step out to speak to parents or finish something up, Aly takes charge of practice and conducts it like a seasoned coach. She has been so dependable throughout the past month (which has been crazy) that it would be wrong to think of anyone else as Acrobat of the Month. Aly has been an incredible part of Stasia Acrobats and she has definitely earned her moment as Acrobat of the Month. Congratulations to you, Aly Rhead, from all of us at Stasia Acrobats!

This Saturday, October 10th we will be competing, not once, but twice.  We will start our day off at Idaho State University in the Holt Arena.  We will be performing in the late morning hours of the day.  But we will not be staying long as we will be hopping back on the bus and heading for Utah State University in Logan, Utah.  Performing at the Utah State Maverick Stadium, we will be competing in the 5:00 pm hour.

Stasia Acrobats is very excited to be a part of these competitions and we are thankful to Jason Bull and all of the coaches and band members of Idaho Falls Marching Band.  We love to expand our experiences in our acrobatic world and will continue to improve our knowledge and goals throughout our history.

https://youtu.be/67bbXQjjoQc

• Festival of Trees – 2012
  • November 2012, we would take to the stage for the first time. This first time has led to us becoming a stapled favorite for this event. This year, 2015, will be our fourth time performing for this amazing event. Still in our first season, we presented an updated version of “My Day at the Circus”.

https://youtu.be/a-PbHwh96b8

• Miss Russet Pageant – 2013
  • During our second year, we were asked to perform for the Miss Russet Pageant. This was not our first pageant, nor would it be our last, but this one was particularly fun because of the theme of the pageant and because of the stage set up. With a carnival theme, this pageant went all out making the stage look like the circus tents of old. And with such an awesome circus atmosphere, the acrobats would take to the stage with a feel of the old style American Circuses.  (We apologize for the fact that the video was not trimmed.  There is a delay in the start as they announced us before we were ready.  Move the slider forward approximately a minute for start.)

• Melody in Motion (IFAC) – 2013
  • What do you get when you mix a live band playing Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and crazy acrobats? You get one heck of an amazing routine that is fun for the audience to watch. Performing this routine on stage while the Snake River All-Stars played a classic song is still regarded as one of the highlights of our young history.

https://youtu.be/2Nk11VP6KrE

• Dream State – 2014
  • One of the best times we have performing is during basketball halftimes for ISU. We have done this several times and our biggest fan is always Bennie the Bengal. You will see that in the video. Taking to the floor with a routine that we had just recently unveiled, “Dream State”, we tell the story of a girl that is caught in a dream (or is she) as she bombarded with characters of good and evil and is tugged in all directions. This routine is the precursor to “Shindana”, the entire storyline. This video cuts in a few seconds late to the start of the routine, but it is still an amazing video to watch.

• Project Z – 2014
  • In the year of 2014, we put together to different twenty-five minute routines. One was “Shindana”, the other was “Project Z”. For this routine we took the acrobats routines that they developed for their respective talent shows and then we revisited two of our routines from way back, “The Matrix” and “Voo Doo”. We put The Matrix in the middle and ended with “Voo Doo” – our homage to the zombie craze. This is definitely a fun routine and we debuted it at the Roaring Youth Jam and Duck Races.

https://youtu.be/YjZUeS1KrbQ

• Trio, Fine-Print, Duo-Quad and Fall of the Pharaoh – 2015
  • To finish our featured past videos, we have chosen the collective performances that we did for the Distinguished Young Women’s Show (Junior Miss Pageant). This was a pageant that utilized the carnival theme and had a great stage set up, too. That old style American Circus feel really energizes the acrobats. This was another night that we just felt the vibe and went out and put on a great series of performances ending with the Fall of the Pharaoh. Elly, our Co-Captain, would also perform her lyra routine, Fine-Print, at this show. Altogether, it was a great experience and a great show.

Enjoy this one, it is definitely worth the watch!

(Photo courtesy of Krystal Anderson)

The Acrobat of the Month for August 2015 is. . . . . .   Kaiden Hunter!

Kaiden has been a part of Stasia Acrobats for a couple of years.  He has always found himself timid and struggled with fear when it came to the bigger pyramids that we do.  But, we took the time to build up his confidence, to build up his skill on his clock.  And that worked out very well.  A few months ago, Kaiden found himself ready to push through his fears and to start advancing his skills.  As soon as he made that determination, he took off.  He started to drive forward in June and that prepared him to do great pyramids on the trailer during the 4th of July Parade this year (one of those pyramids is featured here at the bottom of this post).

With his confidence building, Kaiden earned his opportunity to be a part of the Carmus Jamboree and participate in one of the routines, the five person routine called, “V” in August.  This really helped his confidence and paved the way for him to perform during the Fair last week.  Kaiden has done amazing work and because of his hardwork and desire to overcome his fears, Kaiden earned himself Acrobat of the Month honors for August 2015.

Congratulations to you Kaiden, from all of us at Stasia Acrobats!