A circus without borders coming to town

By Anthony Collins

LPR Editor                                        

   A new kind of circus is coming to Lockhart this October, but Entre Dos Cielos, Between Two Skies, is about much more than acrobatics and aerial performances. The world premiere will bring together contemporary circus, dance, live music and storytelling for a production built around the shared cultures of Texas and Mexico. Performances are scheduled for Oct. 9-11 at the Gerry Ohlendorf Performing Arts Center, with Lockhart serving not simply as the host, but as part of the story itself. 

   The 75-minute, all-ages production features Austin-based Cirque Vida performing alongside original live music from Lockhart band Deadman, with special appearances by Lockhart High School Mariachi Corazón de Leon. Shows are scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9; 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11 at the performing arts center, 906 Center St. Early bird tickets range from $18.75 for students to $52.75 for premium seating, with family tickets listed at $20 and general admission at $32.25. 

   What audiences will see in Lockhart has already traveled quite a distance. The production began taking shape during a July creative residency at Centro Cultural Teopanzolco in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where artists from Texas and Mexico worked together to develop the movement and visual language of the show. An excerpt was later presented at the San Francisco Aerial Arts Festival in August before the full production returned to Texas for its world premiere in Lockhart. That path from Mexico to California and finally back to Central Texas has helped turn what began as an international collaboration into something with a distinctly local connection. 

   At the heart of the performance is Cirque Vida, an Austin-based contemporary circus company founded by Mexican American artist Xochitl Sosa. The company blends aerial arts, acrobatics, dance, and theatrical storytelling rather than relying on the traditional circus format many people might expect. Sosa brings more than 16 years of professional experience to the project, including international performances and work with Cirque du Soleil. Choreographer and co-director Edgar Zendejas adds another layer to the production, bringing a career that has included work with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Giordano Jazz Dance, BJM Danse and other major dance organizations. 

   The music is just as important as what happens in the air. Deadman, led by singer, songwriter, and producer Steven Collins, provides the original live score that helped shape the production from the beginning. Rather than creating a circus performance first and adding music later, the project was built around Deadman’s music, giving the performers a musical foundation for the movement, tension and emotion on stage. The Lockhart-based band’s sound blends Americana, folk, rock, and Latin influences, with its latest record, Six Milagros, exploring musical traditions found on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border. 

   Lockhart students will also have a place in the spotlight. Lockhart High School Mariachi Corazón de Leon will join the professional performers during the premiere, giving local students the chance to step onto the stage as part of the production itself. The mariachi program, part of Lockhart ISD Fine Arts, gives students an opportunity to learn and perform a musical tradition closely tied to Mexican cultural heritage. For Entre Dos Cielos, their participation helps make the local connection more than symbolic. Lockhart isn’t simply providing a theater for the show; some of its own young musicians will be helping tell the story. 

   That may ultimately be what makes Entre Dos Cielos stand out. The production brings together artists from different places, disciplines and backgrounds, but the idea behind it is familiar: what happens when cultures meet, overlap and become part of the same story. In this case, that story will be told through performers suspended above the stage, dancers moving below them, musicians playing live, and Lockhart students joining in. After being created across borders, Entre Dos Cielos will finally land where its creators planned for it to take full shape right here in Lockhart.