Suraya Lewis

How did your creative journey begin and when did you discover aerial arts?
I think I grew up in a creative home because my mum was a Steiner teacher and a creative dance teacher and my dad an engineer who invents and designs machines. I wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a kid and mum put up a trapeze in the loungeroom when I was about 4. Mum said when I was little I was always putting on dramatic performances, writing scripts, putting together costumes organising my sister and friends to act, sing, dance and put on plays.

When I was 5 I started learning ballet with Miss Lauren from Jete in Mount Helen. Miss Lauren taught me how to be graceful, also dance and performance skills. My mum always encouraged me to dance and would take me along to her creative dance classes.

Just before COVID hit, I saw Kristy Sellers (from Physipole Ballarat) win Australia’s Got Talent on TV with her aerial pole performance. That inspired me to go along to her studio and try aerial silks and hoops. I loved how it was like dancing in the sky with an element of risk from being up so high. Kristy had a new studio built which made it even more fun to go to class. My teacher Lauren from Physipole really supported me and encouraged me to grow in skills and confidence and still does. Steph (Studio Manager of Ballarat Physipole during COVID) supported me so much and even gave me a job so I could start training as a teacher.

I’m 14 now and I’ve been doing aerials for nearly 3 years.

How would you describe what you do? What does being an aerial artist involve?
My stage name is Suraya Skydancer, and in a nutshell, it’s like dancing in the sky, up high on a hoop. Each performance usually has a theme and some kind of story to it. The music, costume and choreography all come together to create the performance. During the performance I will perform various tricks which have different levels of difficulty. Being an aerialist requires a lot of strength, flexibility, creativity and performance skills.

What do you feel is your greatest achievement?
Winning Bend the Air Melbourne is definitely my biggest achievement so far. I was doing a short course at NICA in Melbourne with Helen Embling (an internationally renowned circus performer) and she suggested that I enter Bend the Air Melbourne. I decided to enter thinking I probably wouldn’t win but the experience would be good for me. It turned out that I won my category Advanced Lyra (hoop) 13-17 year old solo’s.

What are you preparing for next?
In January 2023 I am competing in Australia's biggest Circus competition, Bend the Air Finals held in the Gold Coast. It is a national competition where finalists from all over Australia come together to compete and showcase their current performance.

For my next competition I’m creating a performance piece inspired by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Frida Kahlo is inspiring because even though she lived with chronic pain and often was confined to her bed, she was able to express her true self and give her gift to the world through her paintings. I am developing the storyline through choreography, costume and using music from the Frida movie. I am hoping that I will have opportunities to perform this piece also in Ballarat at a local festival or show.

I am always looking and listening for ideas and inspiration for my next performance. Sometimes it comes from a piece music, an idea, a word, nature, a feeling, a movement, it could be anything. My mum and I are always brainstorming ideas and looking for inspiration for performances.

Where do you hope to see yourself in the future?
I plan to do a Bachelor’s degree in circus arts at NICA (National Institute of Circus Arts). After that I would love to join Cirque du Soleil and also work for myself as a solo performing artist both in Australia and internationally.

I am interested in learning hair hanging which is a very specialised and unique aerialist art form where you hang by your hair but there is no teachers in Australia that I know of currently.

I have plans to develop an online course in strength and flexibility training specifically for aerialists which may grow into my own aerialist training school one day. I also love creative writing and have a strength in that area too (according to my high school teachers) so maybe I will be a writer too or use those skills within my performance career. I’m really fortunate to have Mr. Seeary at Damascus College as my drama teacher from now through to year 12. Drama is my favourite subject at school and Mr Seeary is not only a great teacher but an expert in performance techniques.

You were a successful recipient of the Creative Inspiration Grant. How has that support assisted you?
It is a dream come true for me, the grant is allowing me to train with one of my idols Itzel Salvatierra Airgoddess, a world renown aerial hoop performer. I am doing her professional level course which is helping me to up level my skills, developing further strength, flexibility, technique and tricks. I get to be part of a community of other aerial artists through her program which is really fun.

Can you give us three words, to sum up your inspiration?
Freedom. Feeling. Being.

Extra note of interest…
My mum said my name Suraya is a Persian word which describes the Pleiades star constellation. She says when her and dad named me that they did not know that I would grow up to be a Star in the Sky.

See more of Suraya’s routines on her Youtube Channel or Instagram at @suraya_skydancer

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Photographs by Larry Vila Pouca.