He flies through the air with the greatest of ease, but surrounded by the canopy of aspen forests instead of a circus tent. After over a year of performing La Nouba with Cirque du Soleil, valley resident Jordan Tribble is putting a new spin on the flying trapeze with his performance troupe Pneumatic Arts. For 159 years, trapeze has been "stuck in a tent," he says. An opportunity arose to set up his system at Thirteen Moons Ranch, an artists' enclave on the Crystal River outside of Carbondale. The experience of training and creating in nature inspired Tribble to reach for new heights. "This is such a foreign place to put up a trapeze and fly. It't not what we're used to at all," he says. "We want to bring this into a new era, to put trapeze in places it's never been." In addition to hosting practice and performances, Tribble intends to offer workshops too. A film about the group, Connected Roots, is on the road—digitally—as Versatile Productions filmed Pneumatic Arts on Sunlight Mountain in August. The documentary is making the rounds in film festivals around the nation and will be streamed live on the web this spring.
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