Dear San Francisco – The Acrobats Behind the Acrobatic Love Letter
During my month-long stay in the city by the bay, I was thrilled at the opportunity to watch and write a piece on The 7 Fingers’ resident production, Dear San Francisco at the historic Club Fugazi. What I did not expect was the opportunity to see the show, not once, not twice, but three times during my visit, and be floored each time. While I could go on about the versatility, passion and energy of this cast and production, I’ll let members of the cast tell you what it’s like to be part of the project themselves.
After hosting the iconic beat poets of the 50’s and 60’s, and staging the longest-running musical revue in history, Club Fugazi has been home to Dear San Francisco: The Intimate Cirque Experience since 2021. Intimate yet immensely powerful! Created by Bay Area natives and The 7 Fingers co-founders, Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider, Dear San Francisco, is described as “an acrobatic love-letter” to the city. The show incorporates some of the most iconic and enduring themes of the city’s history, focusing on the overarching theme of repeated booms and busts and rebirths. Breathing life into these themes and stories is an incredible, tight knit cast of rotating performers who bring multidisciplinarity to the next level. The artists flit around the stage, performing exhilarating acrobatics, choreography, spoken word, video projections, shadow play, and original music. To bring you into the fold and behind the scenes of this acrobatic, storied world, I’m happy to share these interviews with Dominic Cruz, Maya Kesselman, and Kyran Walton.
What is the team dynamic like on stage, off stage and in rehearsals?
Dominic Cruz (DC): Dear San Francisco is a beautiful and intense show to perform in. It requires a diverse set of skills from its artists, as well as an ability and willingness to collaborate. This fosters an atmosphere of cohesion and teamwork that is necessary to perform a show that is this complex seven times a week. Artists in this show quickly gain an intimate understanding of several different roles and tracks in order to be able to not only cover for another artist when necessary, but also nurture this constantly evolving piece of art.
Maya Kesselman (MK): I love working with this ever-changing cast of kind and talented humans. It is one of my favorite parts about performing in DSF. Sharing a life on and offstage creates such a strong bond. We spend so much time together, care about each other, and hold so much trust for one another.
Kyran Walton (KW): I was so unsure of what the dynamic would be when I showed up due to me being significantly younger than everyone and also new to the team. But the team dynamic here is filled with resilience, talent, passion, and tom-foolery. With such a great cast and having so much fun you forget that you’re working. To do 7 shows a week you need a team like this. It’s really a blessing to work with such amazing people on this show.
Do you have a favorite moment in the show? What’s happening and what does it feel like?
DC: My favorite moments in the show change with each cast, as my role shifts and adapts to the needs and skill set of the artists I’m sharing the stage with. Right now, my favorite moment in the show is playing banjo and singing during Enmeng Song and Shengnan Pan’s diabolo act. Their act is so beautiful and authentic that I feel truly moved every time I get to watch and participate in it. It honestly fills me with joy.
MK: The opening act, we call it “Fire,” is my favorite part of the show. It is an act where all cast members are weaving and flipping on the small stage, where timing is everything, because one second later and you might clip someone moving through their track. It is exciting and full of flips and passion.
K
W: My favorite part of the show is always changing, because there’s so many good moments. Currently the opening act “Fire” is so thrilling. I’m also doing the opening text that leads directly into the number. I’ll set the scene. The lights are low on stage, mic taped to my face, everyone is rolling around me in a circle, I’m getting to the end of my text and I say “take my hand, we will become something new.” I take someone’s hand, and get flung into the air, hovering over the group as the lights come up. It’s such a surreal moment and I get chills every time.
What would you say this show means to performers and circus artists in SF?
DC: I believe Dear San Francisco is a testament to the love this city still has for the arts, and is a beacon of hope for the many performers and circus artists in San Francisco who want to become professional circus artists and who hope for a thriving culture of circus arts in the city to participate in.
MK: This show is so meaningful to circus artists in SF and at large because it puts San Francisco back on the map as somewhere circus is appreciated and flourishing. SF is now somewhere artists can flock to to see and participate in contemporary circus.
KW: For circus artists in SF, this show is proof that the circus is alive and well in the city. SF has done so much for the circus world and it’s only right for there to be a show here and pay homage to that.
For an artist interested in performing in the show, what advice would you give them?
DC: For any artist interested in performing in the show, I would say develop all your skills as well as you can! This show requires its artists to have professional level technical skills in one or more circus disciplines, and also be able to speak and act on stage, play music, and work with a group.
MK: For an artist interested in performing in the show I would say keep going with your discipline while also learning others, try to have a well rounded repertoire of skills in acrobatics. And also remember how important it is to be able to work well in a group! This show is all about creating a special vibe as a group, and sharing it every night with the audience!
At the end of each interview, I like to ask my interviewees if there’s anything I missed, or anything they want to add. And I’m so glad Kyran took me up on this ask.
KW: I learned this show in 7 days and had never seen it. Once we performed I really depended on my cast showing me the way. You have to own it on stage when the audience is so close. I was literally starstruck with the stage presence of my cast for months. I couldn’t believe I was even allowed to be on stage with them. I studied these guys over 7 months and it’s given me great confidence in my abilities. Each individual in this show is such a badass on and off stage. As a Youth Circus kid and performer of 14 years it is so rewarding and such an honor to be here on this show with this team.
Dominic Cruz is a Bay Area native, being born and raised in the East Bay, and has been immersed in the performing arts his whole life. His mother is a musician and two older brothers are also circus artists. He began his circus training at the age of 5 with Master Lu Yi in the SF Youth Circus at the San Francisco Circus Center. Following in his brothers’ footsteps, he then continued his training at the National Circus School of Montreal. Since graduating, Dominic has worked for Cirque du Soleil, The 7 Fingers, Cirque Éloize, Midnight Circus, and co-founded the Back Pocket circus company in Belgium, co-creating and touring their first show La Vrille du Chat. Specializing in acrobatics, hoop diving, and pole climbing, Dominic also studied piano, sang in a choir throughout his childhood, and loves all things science fiction. He becameinvolved with Dear San Francisco when he participated in the first workshop by the 7 Fingers in the Club Fugazi space and is overjoyed to be performing in his home community.
Maya Kesselman is a native of San Francisco and was part of the San Francisco Youth Circus at the Circus Center from ages 10-18. Her dream of becoming a traveling circus artist started coming true when she attended L’Ecole Superieure des Arts de Cirque in Brussels, Belgium. After graduating with the hoop diving trio, Trio Anneaux, Maya went on to win a gold medal and the Public’s Choice award at The Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain. After touring Europe with her trio, she went on to perform in Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia. She has also done three tours with Midnight Circus in Chicago, and co-founded the Belgian circus company, Back Pocket, touring as an artist in their first show, La Vrille du Chat.Gypsy Snider brought her into the project to do one of the first workshops for the show as Club Fugazi was in renovation in 2021. She is so grateful to her and Shana Caroll for giving back to SF by creating a circus show that could remind everyone of the city’s artistic roots.
Kyran Walton is a St. Louis, Missouri, native and has been a part of the circus since 2009. He started at Circus Harmony and a few years later became a member of their Elite troop, The St. Louis Arches. Kyran has performed in various disciplines, including banquine, hand to hand, contortion, hand-balancing, juggling, unicycle, and flying trapeze, among others. Kyran is also a graduate of the National Circus School in Canada, majoring in hand to hand/hand-balancing. Over the past 13+ years, Kyran has performed internationally, including joining The 7 Fingers’ show Duel Reality with Virgin Voyages. In Kyran’s free time, he loves to teach circus and pass the art form on to the youth. Kyran was trying to figure out what to do after school when he reached out the The 7 Fingers early in his last year of school. A year later he was in San Francisco working with the coolest people.
Images courtesy of Kevin Berne and Fishshapes
These days, Em independently travels and tours the US as burlesque and circus bombshell, Karma Carnelian. Karma's performance style seamlessly blends classic and neo burlesque choreography with dynamic acrobatic chair and floor work. Karma has performed coast to coast, from the Hubba Hubba Revue in San Francisco, CA, to the House of Blues in Chicago, IL, to countless productions in their home state.
Em received their BA in Advertising in 2019 and MS in Integrated Marketing in 2021 from Florida State University, where they also performed teeterboard, flying, swinging and double trapeze in The FSU Flying High Circus from 2016-2020. Em first joined CircusTalk first as a journalism intern in 2020, and currently serves as the team's Community Manager, creating written and digital content for the site, and managing the companies' social media channels.
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