The following is a press release written by Krista Detor for The Hundredth Hill Artist Residence & Retreat.
Later this month, Dreya Weber brings HEXEN, her one-woman aerial performance, at to Bloomington - the place where she first learned to fly. Bernardette Pace of the High Flyers Family Circus had built a trapeze in her backyard and it was there that Weber had her first taste of the exhilaration of soaring through the air. “The first time I flew on that trapeze, I knew what I was after,” Weber recalls, and she’s formed an incredible career ever since by having her feet far from the ground.
In addition to being a celebrated performer, Weber has woven her passion for aerials into the other strands of her varied career as an actress, filmmaker, choreographer, writer, and teacher. She has choreographed aerial performances for some of the biggest names in pop music, including P!NK, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and so many others.
Weber’s lengthy resume also includes producing and starring in several award-winning films; directing Chicago’s Teatro ZinZanni, as well as Holland’s Opera Zuide; Playing aerialist roles in films like Water for Elephants; and choreographing Inaugural Balls and Grammy Awards Shows. Most recently, she and her brother, Airtime Aerials’ David Weber, designed and fabricated the ‘Webersphere’ for P!NK’s 2024 European and US Tour, and the two are currently working on a new apparatus for the Magic Mike Stage Shows worldwide.
Weber developed HEXEN, at Bloomington’s The Hundredth Hill Artist Residency in 2021, and will perform the refined piece, en route to New York, at Constellation Playhouse. The piece features aerial elements throughout, via three character archetypes: an old crone, an enchantress, and a contemporary woman. What connects them, Weber says, is “an ancestral exploration of witches.” Each character, she says, “has a transformative experience in the air. Part of my show addresses the fear of women to say their age,” says Weber, 64. “They feel they’re going to be dismissed, diminished. I say my age loud and proud.” The show is at turns empowering and hilarious, and Dreya’s years of performance polish make this a truly incredible night at the theatre. Wednesday, August 27 is 2-for-1 Student Night (with IDs), and IU Students are so welcomed to take advantage of the discount!
She is a multi-faceted and fierce performer who delivers a truly unique show that can inspire anyone to reach beyond the social constraints of expectation and limitation, and up into the stratosphere of possibility!
