Sarasota circus arena gets ice rink for skating show

The Circus Arts Conservatory is turning the Sailor Circus Arena in Sarasota into an ice rink for a new production pairing figure skating with circus acrobatics.

AIR & ICE runs Nov. 21–28 at the Sailor Circus Arena, according to a press release from the organization. The eight-day run includes 10 performances, with tickets starting at $30.

Leading the skating cast is Kurt Browning, a four-time World Champion and three-time Olympian who landed the first ratified quadruple jump in competition at the 1988 World Championships in Budapest. That feat earned a spot in the Guinness Book of Records. Browning, 60, will share the ice with his wife, two-time U.S. National Champion Alissa Czisny, who will skate in every performance.

The international roster also includes Larkyn Austman, a member of Canada's 2018 Olympic team; Jeremy Ten, a two-time member of Canada's world championship team; and Andy Buchanan, a professional skater whose credits include Cirque du Soleil's Crystal and ITV's Dancing on Ice. Buchanan also serves as an associate producer on the show.

Above the ice, circus performers will add aerial acts, acrobatics and juggling. Emma Grace, a Sarasota native and Sailor Circus Academy graduate, performed with the Flying Caballeros trapeze troupe at the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam. She returns to the arena where she started.

Grace was one of the youngest circus artists featured at the 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Other circus performers include Tersit Asefa Dersu, an Ethiopian-born bounce juggler, and Raphael Nepomuceno, a Brazilian acrobat whose credits include Cirque du Soleil's Varekai. Sailor Circus Academy students will also perform, including trampoline artists and aerial silks performer Ava Weller.

"Transforming the Sailor Circus Arena into an ice rink and creating a production of this caliber is an exciting milestone for our organization, and something entirely distinct for our community," Jennifer Mitchell, CEO and president of the Circus Arts Conservatory, said in the release.

The Circus Arts Conservatory, a nonprofit founded in 1997, is home to the Sailor Circus Academy, which the organization describes as the nation's longest-running youth circus, operating since 1949.

Tickets and the full performance schedule are available at CircusArts.org.

Upcoming in Sarasota