Loop (2014)
Loop is a circus-theater show that traces our unseen connections, which premiered at the 2014 Philadelphia FringeArts Festival. Tangle’s acrobats swing, climb, and weave through suspended loops and strands of rope to embrace—and sometimes to escape—the knots of human relationships. (Photos by Michael Ermilio.)
The New York Times writes, “Tangle Movement Arts turns a series of hanging loops into a stand-in for examining precarious relationships.”
Via trapeze, aerial rope, and partner acrobatics, Loop follows two very different women through the difficult choice to leave or stay with their communities. A solitary wanderer climbs a mountain of suspended ropes, but she is confronted by strangers before she can escape to her next adventure. By turns they fight, flirt, and finally realize they are stronger together.
Meanwhile, a close-knit trio of entertainers rely on each other to move in unison through the air—until one suddenly quits, tired of living life in perfect synch. The women she leaves behind have to rebuild their act—and their friendship—in the wake of her choice.
Behind the scenes of each of these stories, two mysterious agents manipulate the members of each community, pulling the invisible loops that keep people together—pluck one strand of a web, and the whole net reverberates, transforming lives and reshaping connections. Tangle’s innovative aerial storytelling is staged among sculptures by artist Julia Wilson, and performed on Philadelphia Soundstages’s unique infinity cyclorama.
For the creation of Loop, Tangle received state arts funding support through a grant from The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.