Sky Candy has been producing aerial dance works for several years in Austin. Their seventh and latest full-scale work, Swings Asunder, is now being staged at the Rollins Studio Theater at the Long Center.
Like any Sky Candy production, Swings Asunder is the result of many artists (including dancers, aerialists, musicians, visual artists, and more) working together, but it's also a personal piece.
Written, directed, and choreographed by Nathan Brumbaugh, this new work draws from his own experience "growing up queer in Iowa, a small, rural community, and really sticking true to myself and having a really strong, supportive family." Swings Asunder explores gender roles, birth, sex, and self-worth through movement and music. And while the impetus for the piece is personal, Brumbaugh is aiming for a universal message, something that will help people see "how beautiful each one of us are individually, and authentically from the very beginning.
Swings Asunder also features new original music by Justin Sherburn, who worked with Brumbaugh to create a score that incorporates a broad spectrum of musical influences, from traditional jazz piano to electronic drum programming.
Swings Asunder is onstage at the Rollins Studio Theater at the Long Center through July 3.
