The Dream Enginemore detailsvideo publicity
This astonishingly creative company was set up in 1995 to bring together the talents of performers, technicians, musicians, designers and fabricators to create unique and unusual aerial events. More about The Dream Engine www.thedreamengine.co.uk
The Heliosphere
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A big show with a huge impact requiring a relatively small level of infrastructure to put on. A helium-filled balloon rises and falls to a wistful musical soundtrack as its aerialist tumbles and turns with balletic grace and beauty. The balloon is tethered to the waists of two ground-based performers and so is a highly mobile, processional piece, visible over long distances. A spectacle to inspire, mystify and enchant any audience and to raise the profile of any event, day or night. This year’s performances include Ravi Shankar’s 80th birthday party, product launches in Turkey, corporate events in Italy, Beirut and Mauritius, a wedding in Cairo and festivals and parties in 23 different countries. The Heliosphere can also be used creatively as part of a larger spectacle, and The Dream Engine have collaborated with or worked alongside many other performance groups including Xarxa, Les Quidams, Forkbeard Fantasy, Trans Expresse, Circus Roncalli, Cirque Bijou and Avanti Display.
The Diamond
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A show with a big surprise! The Diamond blooms like a giant semi-transparent orchid as it inflates to a full height of 11m with an aerialist inside. Using lights and a specially created soundscape, the show combines a huge sculptural presence with the beauty of solo aerial dance. At the finale she vanishes…
The Conedancers
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A 21st Century maypole! A boy and a girl parodying every folk dance you have ever seen are pulled up the sides of a giant 8m high air-filled cone. A sound system inside forces them to dance, bouncing around the outside on bi-rotational harnesses. Suddenly they realise that their soulmate is on the other side but cannot reach them and the finale is a riot of passion and longing, the music loud and upbeat. The cone begins to glow with lighting effects. Finally they meet by climbing to the very top and they sink together down inside as the cone collapses….
The Candle
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A giant transparent candle is illuminated against the night sky. At the top an air-filled “flame” flickers. As the soundtrack begins, the audience is drawn to it and begins to see movement inside. An aerialist cocooned in silks emerges, and then spirals and gyrates. The effect is hypnotic and bewitching. The internal drapes fall away leaving an entirely transparent tower, a structure supported entirely by air with a performer suspended apparently on nothing. The music reaches its climax and in a swirl of flutterfetti, the aerialist rolls down the length of the silks and the lights dim.
The Dream Engine have used as their inspiration a palindrome in Latin: “In girum imus noctes et consumimur igni” (“By night we gather in spirals and are consumed by the flames”). The show creates an hypnotic spectacle which draws crowds out of the dark to gather around it.
The Wishbone
A costumed aerialist harnessed into The Wishbone frame is counterbalanced into a state of perfect equilibrium. Subtle shifts of body weight over three rotational axes control speed and direction and allow her to move to any position, moving from graceful swoops and arcs to dynamic flips and spins.
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‘…Thank you for bringing your amazing shows to WOMADelaide. You were a wonderful company to work with and we look forward to having you back again soon’
Adam Hornhardt, Arts Project Australia
‘And then there was Conedancers…again, really beautiful’ Stewart Collins, Henley Festival 2006
‘Both the Conedancers and the Heliosphere added a touch of magic to the festival, lifted people’s spirits and helped to take the whole festival into a dimension of great joy and celebration’ Ian Scobie, Producer, Performing Arts Program, Melbourne
“Thank you so much for all your help in booking the Dream Engine for our Cavalcade of Lights Festival. The Heliosphere was utterly fantastic and we received so much very positive feedback about it” Aretha Phillip, Event Supervisor, Toronto City Hall
“I would like to convey my thanks for the wonderful show provided by The Heliosphere – the client was truly astounded and in awe of the spectacle” Jo Dimitri, Theme Traders
“This is one of the most beautiful and exotic acts on the market. I was proud to be able to include this within the show.” Jeff Lawson, Quantum Leap Productions
“Heartfelt thanks for your role as the amazing Helium Ballerina. Thank you also for remaining so positive and calm in the face of thunder, hailstorms, wind and, of course, sunburn” Fiona Morris, BBC Wales
“The Heliosphere has been widely regarded as the most astonishing and beautiful thing ever seen at the Festival. I have to agree – an astonishing impact every time it appeared” Stewart Collins, Henley Festival
“The Heliosphere lot were brilliant, very co-operative and prepared to give it a go whenever it looked like there was a break in the torrential rain and wind”– Kit Bailey, T in the Park festival
“Thank you for your beautiful performance, it was the perfect finale to our show ... a surreal moment in a surreal venue!” Alison Turner, HPICM
“The Candle in particular, caught the public imagination…the image of the illumination with the aerialist inside, all lit up, will remain in my mind a long time to come.” Miriam Dunne, Warterford Spraoi
“The Heliosphere was a huge success; loads of people commenting on how beautiful it is” Gill Dixon, Festival Co-ordinator, Thurrock Community Festival
“Diamonds in the Desert? You lot definitely were!” Alan Ellis and Grace Morreale, M & E Events
DVD available.