FRINGE FUSE: LAUNCHED EDITION CURATED BY RIA MURPHY OF AERIAL CIRQUE

When: 8pm – Saturday 24th August
Where: Aerial Cirque, 10 Exchequer St, Dublin 2
How Much: Free, but ticketed

FRINGE LAB are delighted to partner with Aerial Cirque to present Fringe FUSE: Launched Edition. Join us for an evening of in-person work-in-progress, curated by and MC’d by Aerial Cirque Director Ria Murphy with a line-up of Lisette Krol, Nicola Moran, and Charlotte Bruce.

Join us for an evocative evening of aerial artistry, a celebration of movement and momentum, where gravity surrenders to the sheer force of creative vision. This works-in-progress showcase invites you into a realm where bodies ascend and dreams take flight, capturing the moment when potential becomes kinetic.

Suspended in mid-air, these performers are caught in the exhilarating instant of release—the split-second when they leave the ground and dare to defy the earth's pull. Through a series of unfolding acts, each artist interprets the theme of Launched in their unique voice, blending fluidity and tension, vulnerability and strength.

With each ascent, you’ll witness the beauty of what it means to be in motion, to be launched into the unknown, carried by nothing but faith in body and flight. This is not just a display of physical prowess, but a meditation on the forces that propel us forward, the unseen energies that lift us when we leap. Join us as we explore the art of launching—into the air, into possibility, into a world where the only limit is the horizon.

Fringe FUSE is a platform for work in development, please receive all performances in the spirit of scratch. 

This event is free, but capacity is limited.

Please note: Aerial Cirque is accessed by stairs only, the seating is on the floor with a few chairs available upon request, the performances may contain strobe lighting

Artist Information

FRINGE LAB

Dublin Fringe Festival’s FRINGE LAB is both physical rehearsal space and a platform of activities for training and learning, providing vital and in-demand workspace, skill-sharing, mentorship and supports for established and early career artists year-round. Dublin Fringe Festival is a curated, multidisciplinary arts festival and year-round artist support organisation. We seek out and present contemporary, playful and provocative new work made by Irish and international artists of vision in an annual celebration all over the city. You can check out this year’s programme here.

Ria Murphy: Curator

Ria Murphy is the founder of Aerial Cirque, an aerial school and performance space in Dublin City Centre, which has become an integral part of the budding aerial community and creation space for professional research.  

Ria is an Irish aerial artist, specialising in silks, rope, and vertical dance performance and has a keen interest in developing site specific public spectacle. Her work explores themes of identity, psyche, and home. 

She has performed both nationally and international touring as far field as the opera houses of Japan, Vancouver’s skyscrapers, and the cloud forests of Costa Rica. Over the last few years, Ria’s productions have spanned from the most remote landscapes while dancing on the side of Irish Sea cliffs (Tethered) to the epicentre of urban Dublin while curating an international team to dance off a 60m tower crane (Elevate).

Her work has been gratefully funded by Dublin City Council, Arts Council Ireland, Creative Ireland, Culture Ireland, and The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. She is a member of the Dublin City Council Artists Panel. 

Ria is an Irish aerial artist, specialising in silks, rope, and vertical dance performance and has a keen interest in developing site specific public spectacle. Her work explores themes of identity, psyche, and home. 

She has performed both nationally and international touring as far field as the opera houses of Japan, Vancouver’s skyscrapers, and the cloud forests of Costa Rica. Over the last few years, Ria’s productions have spanned from the most remote landscapes while dancing on the side of Irish Sea cliffs (Tethered) to the epicentre of urban Dublin while curating an international team to dance off a 60m tower crane (Elevate).

She is the founder of Aerial Cirque, an aerial school and performance space in Dublin City Centre, which has become an integral part of the budding aerial community and creation space for professional research. She is a member of the Dublin City Council Artists Panel. 

Her work has been gratefully funded by Dublin City Council, Arts Council Ireland, Creative Ireland, Culture Ireland, and The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. 

Lisette Krol: Artist

Lisette Krol is a Pole and Aerial Artist/Athlete, born in Venezuela and based in Ireland for over 20 years. She is a three time World Pole Champion and the owner and lead instructor at Tribe Fitness Dance Studio in Dublin. She has 12 years experience in aerial arts, and studied Fitness and Marketing. In 2022, she won the TV Talent Show The Big Deal. She is part of the cast for the renowned show Wake by This is Pop Baby. From a young age, Lisette was a competitive swimmer and loved sports. This passion for sports, dance, and the arts led to her discovering Pole Art, Aerial Art, and Acro, though she did not know at the time how this love would change her life and become her career. The main focus of her work is to break free from traditional stereotypes and expectations. She is on a mission to show the world that Pole is Art through contemporary circus.

Nicola Moran

Nicola Moran is an Artist. Additionally, Nicola is a creative, and program director for the Dublin Circus Project, she is dedicated to developing programs that empower and inspire youth. Her artistic and activist endeavors are driven by the belief in nurturing creativity
and providing support to those who need it most, ensuring that art and opportunity are accessible to all. She is also the director and
founder of the newly formed contemporary circus collective, Bockety Bodies.
Nicola earned her BA in Fine and Applied Art from the University of Ulster, Belfast, where she specialized as a silversmith. Nicola previously worked in New York as a metalsmith for the fashion house Artemas Quibble. Now, based out of the Pallas Projects, D8, Her handcrafted work is created with love and showcases time-honored skills, resulting in pieces that boast a strong yet minimal aesthetic driven by social themes.

Nicola works professionally as a freelance artist and collaborator, across many artistic platforms, exploring alchemical female surrealism, sculpture, and circus arts. She draws and dreams of the vast potential of objects that are active at the boundary of the body, pushing the limits of possibility in the world of contemporary art.

She creates bespoke shows and performs both independently and with companies such as Feathers Ensemble and Twisted Lane Productions, touring both nationally and internationally. Furthermore, Nicola has ventured into the world of film, working as a specialized movement artist for the feature film 'The Watched'.

Her most recent independent aerial show, Brigit Rising, Nicola directed and performed a vertical dance spectacle on the historic GPO for Brigit's Festival in Dublin 2024, which received national
attention.

Since 2014, Nicola has been developing her artistry and passion, to nurture the body. She studied Hatha and Nidra at Arhanta yoga ashram, India. Ashtanga with Luke Jordan and Sonja Radvila, Rotterdam. Most recently, Nicola completed a Menstruation cycle awareness facilitation and yin yoga training with Kitty Maguire and Sue Flamm. This journey has influenced her creative work and interest into durational performance art, leading her to complete the Cleaning the house workshops by Marina Abramović.

Currently Nicola works nationally and internationally as a performer, teacher and maker.'

Charlotte Bruce

Charlotte Bruce is an Aerial Dance Artist and Contemporary Dancer based in Limerick/Wexford Ireland. Charlotte specialises in Rope, Fabric, Acro and Contemporary dance.
Her background is in Acrobatic Gymnastics, training and competing from the age of 4 until 18.

She graduated from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance with a 1st Class Honours Degree, studying the BA Performing Arts Contemporary Dance. She now works and trains at the Irish Aerial Creation Centre Limerick.

Charlotte’s artistic vision is to contantly seek ways of connecting movement qualtities from floor to air.