We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah & Amanda a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Hannah & Amanda, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

Our first performance opportunity (gig as we like to call them) came to us through a mutual friend. It was a very exciting moment for us when we had only been advertising our services locally for about 1 month. We got all the details from the hiring company (another small local business) and so started our rehearsals for this first gig! Amanda and Hannah met weekly for about 2 months trying out new moves on our specialty apparatus, a lollipop lyra, to choreograph a solo for each and a duet. The event was an LGBTQ+ celebration where some drag kings in the area raised money for 716 Pride. It was an incredible first dollar to make and a memorable experience!

Hannah & Amanda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

In the summer of 2022 Amanda and Hannah made the decision to buy a lollipop lyra. Together they have a combined almost 10 years of aerial experience and more than a decade of performance experience. Each have dabbled in taking pole dancing classes at local studio Electric Daisy. From there they decided to combine their love of aerial hoop and pole by purchasing a lollipop (aka free standing lyra) lyra together. Hannah and Amanda are committed to always continuing their education in the aerial arts world and cannot wait to share their love for flying with the Buffalo community!

We offer many different options for aerial performances. We started this together as a way to bring a new and smaller footprint apparatus option to the circus performance world of Buffalo, NY. We are the first and only of our kind with a lollipop lyra in the area. We are committed to providing a magical experience to not only our direct customers but to all who would like to stop and watch.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Creating a new piece of choreography for every event/gig is a lot more intensive than most people realize. There are a lot of hours of practice that go into learning new moves. We also are constantly working on trusting each other to make sure that we both feel strong and comfortable within some of these dangerous moves. It is not just about creating a piece or showing up in pretty costumes, it is also knowing how to market ourselves, advocate for ourselves, and explain what we do and what our apparatus is to everyone that asks.

Performing is just 1 piece of the whole puzzle of aerial performances. We got into the business of providing these services locally to spread the joy and love for what we do and hope that it translates in our performances.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

We got scouted for a local gig that was last minute and unfortunately the hiring company had run out of financial budget through which to pay us, so they offered a marketing package in exchange for our services. We were very excited for this local opportunity as there were a lot of big names attending this event and it was a great way for us to showcase and network with other local small businesses. Unfortunately we learned the hard way that sometimes these sorts of “trade” deals fall through and we never received the marketing package we were promised. From this we learned to advocate to be paid for the work that we provide as it costs us money to be insured correctly for these performances and our time during which we have perfected and learned this specialty apparatus is worth the money we ask to be paid.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://716skybound.wixsite.com/716skybound
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/716_skybound/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/716-Skybound-100087922502231/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@716skyboundaerial
• Other: https://linktr.ee/716skybound

Image Credits
Photographers for these photos: GD Photography, FIVETENLENS, Joshua Bessex