Program
Performances
Black Widow - Aerial Hoop
Jennifer Nese - Aerial Hammock
Emily LaHaie - Trapeze
Pazit - Rope
Linda - Silks
Kira Bucca - Pole
Sebastian Plester - Diabolo
Pam - Aerial Hammock
Tom Lewks - Aerial Straps
Kati Schwartz - Aerial Silks
Evelyn Lazen - Aerial Rope
Francis + Sebastian - Partner Acro
Hosted by Emily Lesinski
Thank You to
Sage - Stage Manager
Amy Ably, Bri, Bailey - Crew
Sean - Sound
Billie - Rigging
Danie - Program Notes / Design
Cast
Emily Lesinski, Host
Emily and Sean co-run CirqueHaus and Warrior Bridge. Emily is a physical therapist specializing in treating the circus community. She also trains handbalancing, partner acrobatics, aerial straps, and weight trains. She loves producing the shows in this space!
Black Widow
Black Widow is a New York City–based drag artist and dancer turned aerialist. Having performed on both land and sea, they bring a unique blend of artistry, athleticism, and flair to the stage. They are thrilled to return to Cirquehaus, this time unveiling a brand-new act creation.
Jennifer Nese
Jennifer is beyond thrilled to have been introduced to the CirqueHaus community! She’s been training aerial arts for over a decade, and took a short intermission to birth her 4 babies (ages 7, 5, 3 and 1). Her passion for fitness and performing makes aerial the perfect combo to keep her sanity in the midst of motherhood! Jen is a freelance model, and cardio kickboxing instructor when she’s not teaching others to fly! She loves helping people step out of their comfort zone. Her husband is a huge supporter of her many endeavors and for that she is eternally grateful.
You can follow Jen at Jennifer_Nese on Instagram! She would love to see you at a kickboxing or aerial class in the future!
Emily LaHaie
Emily LaHaie is an NYC-based aerialist. A former competitive synchronized skater, she draws on a foundation in ballet and visual art to support her creative versatility. She has developed original acts on a variety of aerial apparatuses (dance trapeze, silks, rope, and hammock) continually exploring the interplay between movement, musicality, and storytelling in the air. Emily has performed at venues such as The Slipper Room, Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Open Stages, Aerial Arts NYC, and Friday Nights at SLAM. She’s always happier upside down.
Pazit
Pazit (@pazitrose) was born and raised in Brooklyn and has a background in ballet, modern dance, and gymnastics. She began taking aerial silks classes a few years ago and now primarily focuses on aerial rope. When she's not flailing in the air she enjoys designing and sewing costumes and has a talent for untangling necklace chains.
Originally from Hungary, Linda is a certified aerial and pole dance instructor and a former professional ballroom dancer. While working as a teacher and raising two children, she is finally returning to her passion for creating and performing primarily on aerial silks.
Linda Gergye
Kira Bucca
Kira Bucca is an Ultra Pole World champion (aka crazy trickster) and multiple times award winner for pole art and sport. Kira is currently part of the Vertical Show touring cast and competes with the Team USA at IPSF. She can also be seen performing on the stage of the fun pole dancing and comedy show Schitckit in NYC.
Kira is known for being fearless in her dynamic movement and character pieces, where she seamlessly ties unique pole tricks into a captivating story for her audiences.
When Kira isn't being found hanging upside down, she can be found shooting fashion photography or working on her socially aware magazine: Jejune Magazine.
Sebastian Plester
Born and raised in Bogota Colombia, Sebastian Plester discovered his passion for movement at a young age. Before diving into the circus world, he trained martial arts for more than 10 years, spending 1 year in China at the Shaolin Temple. He graduated from L’École de Cirque de Québec with Diabolo as his main discipline.
After working with companies like the 7 Fingers, Machine de Cirque and Les Productions Haut-Vol for the past years, he’s excited for new opportunities to grow as an artist in the circus world.
Tom Lewks
Pam was born in Thailand, raised in California, and has been living in New York City for the past two years. She specializes in aerial hammock, which she discovered after taking up aerial yoga as a hobby during the pandemic. When she moved to NYC, she dove into hammock more seriously. She loves to train at Cirquehaus and take classes at Warrior Bridge. Outside the studio, she works in private equity as a climate investor.
Find her @aerial.pammock
Pamela Duke
Kati Schwartz
Kati is a theater artist whose true passion is in circus arts. Since beginning their aerial journey in 2019, she’s become obsessed with combining theatrical clown work with aerial silks and rope. They've performed in NYC at The Slipper Room, Dixon Place and with Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, as well as Cafe Istanbul in New Orleans and internationally in Cabarete, Dominican Republic.
Evelyn Lazen
Evelyn Lazen works in neuroscience research by day and trains at CirqueHaus by night. With 10 years experience on silks, rope, Lyra and trapeze and 3 years coaching at Echo Theater and Polaris Dance, Evelyn is passionate about aerial technique and theory, as well as improvisation, creative expression, and mind body connection. Evelyn is available for booking, and currently accepting students for private lessons.
Follow them on Instagram @elevyn__11 or reach out via email lazencircus@gmail.com
Francis-Olivier Girard
Francis-Olivier Girard Formerly an acrobatic gymnast and also a graduate from the École de cirque de Québec (ECQ) in 2020, Francis has developed over the years a passion for throwing people around and catching them. It’s this same passion for hand to hand and group acrobatics, that he’s had since he was a teenager, that has led him to work in many countries for companies such as Flip Fabrique, Les Productions Haut-Vol and Machine de Cirque, with his partner Marie-France. Although he is mainly a hand to hand porter, he has a lot of experience in banquine, floor acrobatics and club passing. While he’s offstage, Francis also loves teaching and meeting new people to share his passion with!