Elena Sherman
Aerialist / Coach / Designer
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About

Elena Sherman is an aerial artist specializing on aerial hoop and working on aerial straps & dance trapeze. She especially enjoys ensemble collaboration, improvisation, and aerial partnering work. Photo by Tim Dub, 2019.

Elena Sherman is an aerial artist specializing on lyra & aerial partnering and working on aerial straps & dance trapeze. She especially enjoys ensemble collaboration, improvisation, spinning, and partnering work (both on the ground and in the air). Elena is one half of the artistic collaboration of Duo Kelaini.

 

Lyra solo performance teaser 2024. Music: Sparks by LAAKE

 
Photo by Spencer Studios.

Photo by Spencer Studios.

bio - elena sherman

Growing up, though she loved the idea of acting, Elena found herself gravitating behind the stage, especially in college where she worked on the technical stage crew at the Lied Center of Kansas learning everything it takes to put on full-scale Broadway productions to intimate lecture series.

Elena’s passion for aerial & circus arts started soon after her undergrad and had begun working full-time as a fitness wearables User Experience Designer while researching fitness trends. She took a lyra class in 2011 and hasn’t gotten off the hoop since. Realizing aerial & circus arts are the perfect combination of all her interests (design, artistic & physical expression, stage production, fitness) she began apprenticing at the Quixotic School of Performing Arts in 2012 and later became a founding member of Kansas City Aerial Arts (formerly Lucia Aerial Performing Arts) where she coached aerial & fitness classes. In addition she has taken on several production & performance roles including prop, makeup, costume, and graphic design. She moved to Portland in 2015 for 18 months where she continued developing as a circus artist at Pendulum Aerial Arts, The Circus Project, and Night Flight Aerial as well as traveling around the west coast to find as much training as she could. She returned to her roots in Kansas City in 2017 and has been delighted to continue performing, choreographing, and coaching circus skills to all levels, most recently through the newly formed performing troupe, Circus Scorpius.

Elena is one-half of Duo Kelaini with her performing partner Kelsey. The two first met in Portland in 2016 but did not start working together professionally until 2017 after Kelsey agreed to follow Elena back to KC to take a chance on a new partnership. The two have been completely inseparable since, blending their high technical acrobatic & aerial skill and goofy personalities to create meaningful art together. Together, the two of them have opened a movement arts training facility in spring of 2022.

In addition to her circus training, Elena is taking on a newly rediscovered passion of creating art through papercraft. The intricate detail and technical problem solving required for each piece she assembles perfectly balances out the high-stakes danger of her circus lifestyle.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE DESIGN PAGE.

INSTAGRAM : EMSPACES

It wouldn’t be an Elena vacation without some circus snuck in someway… Managed to catch opening night in STL of #cirqueitaliasilver show Metropolis and I was entertained. The singing handbalancer adding in foot juggling was an unexpected
It wouldn’t be an Elena vacation without some circus snuck in someway… Managed to catch opening night in STL of #cirqueitaliasilver show Metropolis and I was entertained. The singing handbalancer adding in foot juggling was an unexpected mashup of skills! 🎪🤹🏻‍♀️ #showofthemonth
Not how I was expecting to spend my Friday evening…especially since there were puppets involved :)
Not how I was expecting to spend my Friday evening…especially since there were puppets involved :)
“Must go faster…” practicing for spin tolerance is hard work 😵‍💫
9th year of #KCFringe (10th show) is complete. What an honor to be part of “pivot” and @circusscorpius for the 20th anniversary of this festival here. It’s always wild. Always weird. Always worth it. Thank you to the cast and crew,
9th year of #KCFringe (10th show) is complete. What an honor to be part of “pivot” and @circusscorpius for the 20th anniversary of this festival here. It’s always wild. Always weird. Always worth it. Thank you to the cast and crew, and to all the artists who participate and support each other in making this such a unique and memorable experience every year 🥳
Little doodle I’m building on, trying to whirlup some inspiration for a “whirlpool” based act…
This was a hard day during our company training time and I just wanted to acknowledge that I did this. No other deeper meaning other than I’m still trying to get back into the air comfortably again
I’m a few days late, but happy belated world juggling day! I mostly learned how to juggle (nearly 10 years ago) fueled by the power of spite, but have grown to actually enjoy it, even more so now that I have a group of humans in my community who have also grown to enjoy it :) Juggling is cool, and more fun with friends! Video from @madisonnicolebooks at a recent gig we did
Weird what happens when you actually spend time training for the skills you want 🤷🏻‍♀️ Thank you so much for class today @ariana.contortion ! Thanks for the new drills 💪
Well, it’s good to have goals/dreams 🤷🏻‍♀️
I started trying to learn how to unicycle a little over a year ago but then injured my shoulder and put it on hiatus so I wouldn’t accidentally take more hit points trying to learn a new skill. It’s…progressing…bit by little tiny bit - thanks in large part to my sister @fleurdeliqueur who gifted me the thing, @jameshigroundmagic who gave me some necessary starting tips, and @madisonnicolebooks who has been my accountabilibuddy :)
I have been focusing a lot more on my ground skills lately, but I am still very much an aerialist. Sometimes a bit of a break and distance is needed to refuel and rekindle the relationship 📸 @yuyu_photography_
I have been focusing a lot more on my ground skills lately, but I am still very much an aerialist. Sometimes a bit of a break and distance is needed to refuel and rekindle the relationship 📸 @yuyu_photography_
Just your casual bucket juggling klepto pixie NBD 🤷🏻‍♀️☂️🤹🏻‍♀️ Excited to open this very fun (and slightly EXTRA) show tonight with all of the character creatures from Umbra showing up fierce 📸 @francoisbergeronproulx 🎟️ @circusscorpi
Just your casual bucket juggling klepto pixie NBD 🤷🏻‍♀️☂️🤹🏻‍♀️ Excited to open this very fun (and slightly EXTRA) show tonight with all of the character creatures from Umbra showing up fierce 📸 @francoisbergeronproulx 🎟️ @circusscorpius See you this weekend!
Show of the month, May edition. My partner picked out this show so it was a fun surprise 🥳 #strangersings #showofthemonth
So excited to have @splits_whisperer here in town to have some hands on coaching through some problem spots 🥳 what a great weekend of lessons, workshops, and workouts. See ya soon Gunnar!
Happy World Circus Day! #tb to when I got to work in this beautiful tent for a bit 🥰
Happy World Circus Day! #tb to when I got to work in this beautiful tent for a bit 🥰
My little feets are really really doing their best to help and not give up 😅 This is very hard, but I’m slowly starting to get the strength and figure it out. Tiny steps, but working my way down to the floor, eventually #progress #circusstrong Thanks always to @jacki.w.k for the encouragement and weekly pep talks!
Show of the month - April edition! Happy to see friends dance and support other performance arts companies here in town 😊 @kansascitydancecollective
Show of the month - April edition! Happy to see friends dance and support other performance arts companies here in town 😊 @kansascitydancecollective
@mindfulaerhead made a comment today about it being “moving day” which is still kind of a strange thing to process. Instead of moving, we spent our evening putting in floors for our building to make space for becoming a home to 4 differen
@mindfulaerhead made a comment today about it being “moving day” which is still kind of a strange thing to process. Instead of moving, we spent our evening putting in floors for our building to make space for becoming a home to 4 different businesses (total). This feels good. It is nice to be able to create a space (literally and figuratively!) for a thriving community. Plus, learning new skills and being able to say I can do a thing is pretty cool too 🔨🪚💪
I’ve been working with a new PT who is helping me address a movement dysfunction I’ve developed since returning back to aerial training. His words “right now it seems like your engine is too powerful for your chassis, so we need to build up your support system” and I kind of like that way of framing it :)
Getting comfortable kicking to the box, one tick-tock at a time, with of course one aggressive calf cramp and several booty cramps too (6min condensed into ~35s). This will get better, right? Thanks for class @splits_whisperer 😅
It wouldn’t be an Elena vacation without some circus snuck in someway… Managed to catch opening night in STL of #cirqueitaliasilver show Metropolis and I was entertained. The singing handbalancer adding in foot juggling was an unexpected Not how I was expecting to spend my Friday evening…especially since there were puppets involved :)
“Must go faster…” practicing for spin tolerance is hard work 😵‍💫
9th year of #KCFringe (10th show) is complete. What an honor to be part of “pivot” and @circusscorpius for the 20th anniversary of this festival here. It’s always wild. Always weird. Always worth it. Thank you to the cast and crew,
Little doodle I’m building on, trying to whirlup some inspiration for a “whirlpool” based act…
This was a hard day during our company training time and I just wanted to acknowledge that I did this. No other deeper meaning other than I’m still trying to get back into the air comfortably again
I’m a few days late, but happy belated world juggling day! I mostly learned how to juggle (nearly 10 years ago) fueled by the power of spite, but have grown to actually enjoy it, even more so now that I have a group of humans in my community
Weird what happens when you actually spend time training for the skills you want 🤷🏻‍♀️ Thank you so much for class today @ariana.contortion ! Thanks for the new drills 💪
Well, it’s good to have goals/dreams 🤷🏻‍♀️
I started trying to learn how to unicycle a little over a year ago but then injured my shoulder and put it on hiatus so I wouldn’t accidentally take more hit points trying to learn a new skill. It’s…progressing…bit by little
I have been focusing a lot more on my ground skills lately, but I am still very much an aerialist. Sometimes a bit of a break and distance is needed to refuel and rekindle the relationship 📸 @yuyu_photography_ Just your casual bucket juggling klepto pixie NBD 🤷🏻‍♀️☂️🤹🏻‍♀️ Excited to open this very fun (and slightly EXTRA) show tonight with all of the character creatures from Umbra showing up fierce 📸 @francoisbergeronproulx 🎟️ @circusscorpi
Show of the month, May edition. My partner picked out this show so it was a fun surprise 🥳 #strangersings #showofthemonth
So excited to have @splits_whisperer here in town to have some hands on coaching through some problem spots 🥳 what a great weekend of lessons, workshops, and workouts. See ya soon Gunnar!
Happy World Circus Day! #tb to when I got to work in this beautiful tent for a bit 🥰
My little feets are really really doing their best to help and not give up 😅 This is very hard, but I’m slowly starting to get the strength and figure it out. Tiny steps, but working my way down to the floor, eventually #progress #circusstron
Show of the month - April edition! Happy to see friends dance and support other performance arts companies here in town 😊 @kansascitydancecollective @mindfulaerhead made a comment today about it being “moving day” which is still kind of a strange thing to process. Instead of moving, we spent our evening putting in floors for our building to make space for becoming a home to 4 differen
I’ve been working with a new PT who is helping me address a movement dysfunction I’ve developed since returning back to aerial training. His words “right now it seems like your engine is too powerful for your chassis, so we need to
Getting comfortable kicking to the box, one tick-tock at a time, with of course one aggressive calf cramp and several booty cramps too (6min condensed into ~35s). This will get better, right? Thanks for class @splits_whisperer 😅

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