From the mischievous minds of Full Out Formula comes “I Think It Could Work” a daring and playful leap into the unexpected. With bright colors, dazzling acrobatics, and unflinching trust, this Chicago-based contemporary circus collective invites you into a speculative world where your choices decide their destiny. It’s circus like you’ve never seen before—live, improvised, and unforgettable. “I Think It Could Work” is a radical exploration of acrobatics, trust, and audience interactivity. The show weaves together partner acrobatics, juggling, handstands, and physical storytelling to question the very nature of circus as a fixed discipline. The audience actively influences elements of each performance, ensuring that no two shows are ever the same. This work embodies the intersection of risk, play, and collective decision-making, pushing the boundaries of circus beyond traditional spectacle. As an ensemble, Full Out Formula challenges the audience’s expectations of what circus can be, engaging them as active participants rather than passive spectators.

Christ Church Neighborhood House

20 N. American St,
Philadelphia, PA 19106

TICKETS

GA $25
Student, Industry, 25 & Under: $15
FringeACCESS: $2
PWYC/Sliding Scale: $5-20

Limited tickets for this show are “Sliding Scale”, or Pay What You Can, which means you are able to pick your price. If you are able to pay the suggested price, that will help to subsidize somebody else’s ticket in need, but seating is General Admission and is not determined by the amount you choose to pay.

Recommended for all ages

Full Out Formula is a contemporary circus collective that makes people believe in the possibilities of their own world. It’s a sneaky but feral rebellion. Sticks, eggs, the floor, and our bodies are portals to endless discovery. Liam likes to dance with objects. Kevin has spent thousands of hours playing with sticks, and Sierra prefers to be upside-down. We’re not here to show you what we can do that you can’t. We’re here to ask “what can we do together?” Our goal is to give play and light to those feeling heavy, and to show that American circus has something important to say.

Almanac is an award-winning contemporary circus company dedicated to original works of genre-defying art. Since its founding, Almanac has premiered 16 full-length shows, touring across the United States and internationally in Mexico, Egypt, Croatia and the United Kingdom, popping up from Jacob’s Pillow to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Unlike other performance companies with a singular focus, Almanac uses a collection of genres to push physical limits and put raw humanity on display. We believe that the artful sharing of original stories is a service to humanity. The deep themes and narrative structures of Almanac’s hybrid work take circus beyond “spectacle” into the realm of exploring our innermost truths.f Liam Bradley (they/them) – Perfmoer Liam is a 24-year-old non-binary circus artist from Chicago. They specialize in partner acrobatics, tumbling, and movement, with a love for storytelling and stagecraft. After graduating from Circadium in 2021, Liam co-founded “Company To X For”, a contemporary circus company based in Chicago. Liam’s work often incorporates elements of dance, theater.

Kevin Flanagan (he/him) – Performer Kevin is a circus artist and musician from Bronxville, NY. He began his artistic journey as a classical guitarist, studying at Ithaca College before discovering his passion for circus arts. After graduating from Circadium in 2021, Kevin has performed with various companies including UpSwing Aerial on Broadway, Le Nouveau Sud, Circus Evo, and Midnight Circus. He specializes in unicycle, partner acrobatics, and juggling.

Sierra Rhoades Nicholls (she/her) – Performer Sierra is a circus artist specializing in partner acrobatics and handstands. Sierra grew up doing gymnastics and went on to study circus professionally at Maine Circus Academy and Circadium School of Contemporary Circus where she graduated from in 2021. Sierra is passionate about both the technical and artistic aspects of her craft and has worked with companies such as Circus Evo, Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Le Nouveau Sud and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Sierra also founded CSAW – a non-profit dedicated to making resources and financial aid accessible for the circus community.

Lizzy de Lise (They/Them) – Sound Designer/Composer/Musician Lizzy is an interdisciplinary, gender queer artist who plays with otherworldly textures and tones to invite, envelope, and transport. They compose and perform music for dance, theater, podcast, and film. Their scores have been heard at the Cannes Short Film Festival and CamerIMAGE Festival. Lizzy’s work has been featured on NPR’s Invisibilia and at the Smithsonian Hirshorn. Lizzy is a company musician/composer with David Dorfman Dance, whose new work truce songs premiers this fall. Lizzy has performed with Yara Travieso since 2016, at venues including Joe’s Pub, Lincoln Center, BRIC, and the Chelsea Factory. Their Philadelphia-based, experimental pop band, Lizdelise is the 2024 recipient of the Recording Fund. The band’s last release, I Swore I Heard You Laughing, recorded with Andy Stack (Wye Oak, Helado Negro), centers radical self-acceptance through excavation of memory. Lizdelise has been featured on NPR’s “New Music Friday”, “Rough Trade Recommends”, WXPN, PBS, and the CW.

L M Feldman – Consulting Dramaturg L M Feldman is a queer, feminist, GNC playwright who writes theatrically audacious, physically kinetic, ensemble-driven plays that are both epic & intimate – usually about outsiders, often about searchers, always about the human connection. She writes plays that shift the prism, plays that quest & grapple, plays without answers. Plays about the women and queers she finds in the shadows & footnotes & margins. Plays wrestling with voice & agency, opportunity & access, history & its wake. Plays that explode space & time & dramaturgical form. Plays in which something TRANSCENDENT transpires – for the community both onstage and off. So far, her plays include S P A C E (EST/Sloan commission, Playwrights’ Center, Drama League, Fresh Ground Pepper, Sue Winge Award); THRIVE, OR WHAT YOU WILL [AN EPIC] (American Shakespeare Center, Kitchen Dog New Works Festival, New Georges Audrey Residency, Page 73 Residency, InterAct Core Playwrights); ANOTHER KIND OF SILENCE (Colorado New Play Festival, FEWW Prize Honorable Mention, Magic Theatre Play Festival, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, PlayPenn Conference, Playwrights Realm Fellowship); SCRIBE, OR THE SISTERS MILTON, OR ELEGY FOR THE UNWRITTEN (Playwrights’ Center, Emerson Stage, Georgetown University, Northwoods Ramah Theatre commission); THE EGG-LAYERS (Jane Chambers Honorable Mention, New Georges/Barnard College co-commission); GRACE, OR THE ART OF CLIMBING (Denver Center, Brown Paper Box Co., Art House Productions, Nice People Theatre, ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award Nomination, Barrymore Nomination); A PEOPLE [A MOSAIC PLAY] (Terrence McNally Award Finalist, Orbiter 3, YiddishFest, Jewish Plays Project); and a TYA stage adaptation of the poem-novel TROPICAL SECRETS: HOLOCAUST REFUGEES IN CUBA by Margarita Engle (Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Kindness Project commission).

Benjamin Grinberg (He/They) – Creative Producer Ben Grinberg is a Philadelphia-based performing artist, director, educator, and festival producer. For over ten years, they have created community-based platforms for artistic presentation and exchange both in Philadelphia and abroad. He is a company member, co-founder, and director of Almanac Dance Circus Theatre, an award-winning and internationally touring physical performance ensemble, and from 2017-2021 was a founding core faculty member and head of Performance and Artistic Craft at Circadium, the nation’s first certificate granting program in contemporary circus performance, where he developed and curated the Test Flights series. He co-founded Cannonball Festival, a hub for new performance in Philadelphia, and is on faculty at the (formerly UArts) Pig Iron MFA program in devised performance. Through Almanac, Ben initiated and co-produced the biannual Fit Fest in Penn Treaty Park in 2019, 2021, and 2023. With Almanac, they won a 2020 Rocky Award, a 2017 Suraya Award, and a 2019 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Movement/Choreography. Grinberg’s work has been presented by Queer Zagreb, Jacob’s Pillow, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Morris Museum Presents, Touchstone Theatre, FringeArts, New York Live Arts, La Casa de Artes y Circo, Assembly Festival, Circus Now, & more.

Vanessa Ogbuehi – Associate Producer Vanessa Ogbuehi is a director and performer of new and devised work, mixing clown, narrative, and spectacle to elevate everyday stories to mythic proportions. Most recently, she assistant directed Heartbeat Opera’s Lady M, which the New York Times called “Flat-out brilliant.” While the inaugural Director of Digital, Film, & Interactive Media at Pig Iron Theatre Company, she collaborated with filmmaker Josephine Decker on The Path of Pins or The Path of Needles, an immersive performance exploring fairy tales and motherhood. Other past collaborators include Double Edge Theatre and The Bearded Ladies Cabaret. University direction includes Orlando (Boston University), Metamorphoses (Villanova), and Resilient: Black Bottom (Drexel), a student-written piece about the university’s 1960s expansion atop a thriving black neighborhood. Vanessa was recently awarded a 2023 Drama League Assistantship, paired with Dawn Monique Williams for the world premiere of Welcome to Matteson at New Jersey Repertory Theatre. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Devised Performance from Pig Iron Theatre Company.

The Philadelphia Contemporary Circus Festival (PCCF) runs May 23 - June 1, 2025, featuring artists from Philly's vibrant contemporary circus community as well as ground-breaking artists from across the nation and beyond. These contemporary circus artists defy limitations, reimagine what’s possible, and create breathtaking moments of connection for audiences of all ages. Don't miss thrilling shows that blend acrobatics, dance, theater, and storytelling to push the boundaries of performance.

SUPPORT

The Philadelphia Contemporary Circus Festival is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.