Taking their underground circus to new heights, these ladies' only net is each other.
A secret spectacle lives in the heart of New York's underground art scene, where sequins are hot-melt glued and the good shows happen behind doors without signs. Follow best friends and impresarios, Kae and Anya, through the illicit nightlife of New York and learn what makes a friendship a partnership, a dream reality. It's all happening at the House of Yes. THE BALANCING ACT's interviews have been hailed as 'unfiltered' and 'an incredibly honest portrayal'. (Melissa Hanson, Reel News Daily).—Anna Leah
A secret spectacle lives in the heart of New York's underground art scene. THE BALANCING ACT is your ticket into this world - seen by few and documented by none. In an industrial desert of Brooklyn, a circus was built by a troupe of friends. Balancing the push of professionalism with the pull of personal connection, they create high-end spectacles of cirque nouveau. Follow them through the illicit nightlife of New York and learn what makes an artist become an impresario, a friendship become a partnership, and a dream become a reality. It's all happening at the House of Yes.
Kae and Anya created this second House of Yes out of the ashes of the first. After it burned down, there was no question these remarkably young women would build something bigger. 'Jellyboy' describes these days with mature and understated insight - unexpected from a clown in full makeup. THE BALANCING ACT's interviews have been hailed as 'unfiltered' and 'an incredibly honest portrayal'. (Melissa Hanson, ReelNewsDaily).
Kae and Anya established themselves as the two Queen Bees of this hive of performers and crew. Now, a new player has come onstage. How much sweat and tears will it cost Elena to prove her worth and expand their duet into a trio?
Follow the ladies through Brooklyns vibrant creative scene, where sequins are hot-melt glued and the good shows all happen without a sign in front. The movie peeks behind graffiti and roll-top gates into New York's avante-garde nightlife.
THE BALANCING ACT explores each woman's dedication as she strives to surmount her own personal challenges and their shared luck. The ladies run the show without fear - whether faced with five-alarm fires, police raids, near-tragic falls, or the everyday impossible odds of running a cabaret behind closed doors.
Dimensions of friendship, collaboration, and unflagged passion are explored in this documentary. As Anya says, "Its easy to do amazing, mind-blowing things, but its really hard to keep them afloat consistently." The ladies don't just keep their theater afloat - they keep it in the air, on (controlled) fire, and never dull.
The shows at the House of Yes blend the outrageous with exquisite acts of acrobatic skill. Re-enactments of the extinction of the dinosaurs take place in glittery costumes thirty feet off the ground. Rebel ballerinas twirl amidst broken glass. Ladies climb and contort atop thick chain. Fireworks get shot off indoors, possibly followed by a modern-day tableau vivant, bringing Dali's visions into the flesh. The ladies may be professional showgirls, but dont look if you're only interested in a hootchie-cootchie dance.
Just as THE BALANCING ACT showcases the greatest NYC circus performers, the soundtrack rides you through each scene on new waves of New York's emerging musical talent. Rachel Ann Weiss provides powerful funk hooks and lyrics that poetically express her generation. Kai Altair's electronica is hypnotic and rich-voiced. The Stumblebum Brass Band is what one of the Yes crew called "the soundtrack of the girls" - rude and captivating hot jazz sung through a bullhorn.
This movie takes place after the traditional coming-of-age tale. It shows what dedicated, powerful people do once they've figured themselves out. That goes for the stars of the show as well as the director. This is Anna Leah's feature documentary debut and it breathes potential with each second.
