Week 2: Inspiration Under a Dark Sky & In the Air [Bella Keegan]

In my second year of college I discovered two things that are now a huge part of my life: immerse theatre and the circus. It is weird to think how much these two things have shaped me and and my path in this world, but I cannot deny their influence. I am the person I am today because I fell in love with aerial silks and because I developed a deep penchant for immersive theatre, with haunts being my favorite form of that. To me, these two particular niche forms of performance are utterly inspiring as they both require deep dedication. In fact, I often try and figure out ways to work these two things into conversation and I have used these things as inspiration for some of my own creations. These two things are what constantly push me to become a better artist and a better performer because I often crave to be on the level of the professionals I witness. With all of this being said, I absolutely knew I had to go to the Queen Mary's Dark Harbor. This particular haunt always features amazing aerialists and fire spinners, and I knew I really wanted to take a look at the lighting on their aerial rig this time around since I understand it all a lot better now. The picture below is one I took during a dance trapeze piece. As a photographer, I absolutely love the lens flare from the LED behind the performer because it feels artistic. As an aerialist, I was in awe at the performers technique and choreography. When I look at this photo now though, my heart swells with happiness and a deep longing. This picture is inspiring to me because I got to witness an aerial performance with lightning design, and in my mind's eye I can picture all of the deep reds and saturate pinks that helped tell the story the aerialist was crafting with their apparatus and their body. Whoever designed this piece heightened the stakes and made the performance feel creepy and unhinged with the use of strobes, moving lights, fog, and high angles and I was drawn so deeply into everything. This picture features three things I have come to really love: aerial, lighting, and scary things and when I look at it, I see the things I wish to achieve and become.