An Act Above | About Us
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We Are An Act Above

For over twenty years, An Act Above has brought its special kind of magic to audiences in over 47 countries. In all kinds of settings, from exclusive corporate occasions to local community spirited events, An Act Above is a celebration of circus excitement and theatrical glamour.

PAST

The roots of An Act Above lie in The Wrong Size, established in London in 1994. The founder, Kirsty Little steered the company in a strong theatrical direction and developed some of the well known acts that we still do today. The Stalkers, Dragons and Lightwalkers stilts have been performing around the world to great acclaim and are still popular.

 

Desiree Kongerod joined the company in 2000, having toured around the world as a contemporary dancer. She was introduced to a myriad of new skills including aerial and stilts and found a new passion mixing her contemporary dance background with circus.

In 2003 Desiree Kongerod started An Act Above, a company focusing on contortion, dance, aerial and choreography.

In 2010 Kirsty moved to USA and Desiree took over the running of The Wrong Size. The two companies joined forces in 2015 under the umbrella of An Act Above.

PRESENT

Desiree Kongerod is the director and the driving force on a daily basis.

 

An Act Above is a company of talented freelance performers, handpicked for the diverse skills. Our core group consist of 8 experienced aerial and stilt artists.

“You’re simply the best thing here!”
Tom Stoppard at his party

FUTURE

Actively creating new acts as well as providing bespoke concepts, we are eager to push the creative side of our company. We are artists that know the value of originality and eccentricities, but also how to behave in a commercial setting.

 

We have years of experience taking clients’ projects from an initial idea to a full scale performance in all its glory.

 

We are proud of our painstaking attention to detail and we work closely with the client to create exciting and memorable performances of the highest standards

About Desireé Kongerød

Desireé Kongerød was born and grew up in Norway where she competed in gymnastic and rhythmical gymnastics before she moved to London to study dance at London Contemporary Dance School and Laban Centre for Movement and Dance.
She has had a successful career as a circus performer and a contemporary dancer touring throughout Europe, Asia and the States with, amongst others, Yolande Snaith Theatre Dance, S.O.A.P. Dance Theatre Frankfurt, Rosemary ButcherRui Horta, Robert Tannion and Klaus Obermaier.

 

She has gone on to choreograph for dance, circus, theatre, and commercials. Her choreographic credits include San Diego Dance Theatre, Klaus Obermaier’s Apparition, Aurora, Luminous, and commercials for Bacardi Mojito and the British Heart Foundation as well as numerous circus events.

She has also worked as an aerial consultant for feature films, commercials and theatre.

 An Act Above achieved a Guinness World Record for 30 synchronised aerialists.

Video: Mark Morreaux


World’s Top Aerial Performers Achieve a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title at History-Making Event in London

The “Mace Spirit of Adventure” global aerial performance team made history in London on June 24 2015 by breaking the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the ‘Most people performing aerial silks’ with over 25 dancers performing a synchronised routine in the air.

With the average number of simultaneous aerial performers usually between 2 and 5, this performance of over 25 dancers performing over five minutes of synchronised aerial silks is a significant first for the art form.

The performance took place at Old Billingsgate in London to celebrate the 25th anniversary of international consultancy and construction company, Mace. The company, famous for building The Shard and delivering the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, brought together a hand-picked team of top professional aerial performers from all over the world to form the “Mace Spirit of Adventure” aerial performance team.

 


An Act Above is according to Guinness World Record “Officially Amazing”. We got the Guinness World Record for doing 30 synchronised performers on aerial silks.

 

Kirsty Little had the idea in 2008 and spoke to Adam Blackwood from Private Drama on a flight back from one of our shows. He carried the idea for 8 years and finally found the perfect event when Mace had their 25th year anniversary.

 

An Act Above put together the performers and the choreography and organised the bespoke coloured silks and costumes to match the logo of Mace, the client.

Adam Blackwood, Founder and Creative Director, Private Drama

It was a fantastic experience performing the routine with 29 other performers and then getting the record after only one attempt!

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