Program

Luella choreographed this piece for her children. She hopes they know they can always come 'as they are' into a home that loves and accepts them.

LuellaShapiro.com

Emily, Pierce, Sara, and Ariel all know personally what it's like to muddle through the questions, "What even is asexuality? And is it me?" and are excited to bring you this aerial piece about trying to figure it out. We chose to use a number of quotes in the piece; the full text of each quote and their sources are as follows:

“Asexuality is a sexual orientation that includes any person who does not experience or rarely experiences sexual attraction.
“This definition seems pretty simple in theory, right? In practice, however, this definition creates a big tent, describing a diverse spectrum of experiences, a wide range of relationships to sex and intimacy, and a vibrant community containing people from all walks of life.”

- Cody Daigle-Orians, I Am Ace: Advice on Living Your Best Asexual Life

“Learning the term did not change how I viewed myself. I misinterpreted ‘a person who does not experience sexual attraction’ to mean ‘a person who hates sex’—and so I, personally, could not be asexual. [...] That’s the strange thing about this orientation and all the misconceptions it carries. It is possible to be ace and not realize it, to see the word and still shrug and move on. Definitions are not enough; one must plumb deeper.”

- Angela Chen, ACE: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex

“Of course, it’s not always as simple as just learning the word… There’s still a considerable leap from there to self-acceptance, or even just having the confidence to claim the label.”

- Eris Young, Ace Voices: What It Means to Be Asexual, Aromantic, Demi or Grey-Ace

“As ace folks, we go through much of our lives searching for the language to describe what we feel. We don’t see our experiences reflected in the world. We don’t see them depicted in the media we encounter and consume. And we don’t recognize them in the people we surround ourselves with. We feel like these little islands of experience, isolated, alone in what we feel.”

- Cody Daigle-Orians, I Am Ace: Advice on Living Your Best Asexual Life

“The asexuality posts I found on Tumblr were a startling education. They were the first place I saw asexuality properly defined and the first place I learned that my assumed definition was completely wrong. This was also my first encounter with the spectrum of asexuality… and the first time I’d encountered people talking about what asexuality felt like, how they came to know they were ace, and how they lived as ace in the world.”

- Cody Daigle-Orians, I Am Ace: Advice on Living Your Best Asexual Life

“Asexuality is like any other identity—at its core it’s just a word that people use to help figure themselves out, then communicate that part of themselves to others.”

- AVEN (Asexuality Visibility and Education Network)

“In the face of so much pressure to explain ourselves, pressure to be certain, the ease with which so many a-spec people hold onto the ambiguity, blurriness and changeability of human experience is both a strength and a radical act.”

- Eris Young, Ace Voices: What It Means to Be Asexual, Aromantic, Demi or Grey-Ace

This piece, presented by Dance Fabulous, a Madison Circus Space resident dance community, celebrates the joy of Pride through the music of Lady Gaga. Featuring original choreography by Lyn Pilch and sung by the amazing Nikko Murphy, a member of DOSES and The Periodicals, the performance brings to life iconic moments from Mother Monster’s videos, embracing the bold, empowering spirit of Gaga’s music and the LGBTQ+ community.