"I use apparatus to create a rhythm and an environment," she says. "In aerial dance, the audience is never allowed to stop thinking about the apparatus, because if they do, the virtuosity gets lost. I like it when the apparatus goes away as a focus of concentration, and the character emerges. Not everything I do is pretty, or fluid, or graceful."
A graduate of Towson University's graduate theater program, Neimanis, 46, comes to aerial dance from such disparate disciplines as clowning and commedia dell'arte, a form of highly physical improvisational theater dating to 16th-century Italy.
For his part, Scofield, 39, was one of those daredevil kids who could perform amazing feats on his bike, roller skates and skateboard. He also began devising imaginative, interactive sculptures while he was still a schoolboy. Eventually, he earned a master's degree in sculpture, and moved to Baltimore in 2000 to take a job at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Scofield not only erected the beams above the alley at Station North, he also designed the spinning teeter-totter and the pendulum for two aerialists that will be hoisted atop a Station North rooftop during the Festivals. Many of his creations are based on a system of counterweights and balances.
Spend any time with Scofield and Neimanis, and it quickly becomes apparent that they are birds of a feather. They met in 2005, when she was working on "Air Heart," a piece inspired by the life of aviatrix Amelia Earhart.
"I had the body of the plane that I wanted to use, but I didn't know how to make it kinetic," she says. "I was looking for someone who did sculpture. Coincidentally, Tim was trying to find someone who did aerial work."
Both are blessed with athletic gifts, share a similar artistic sensibility and jointly make choreographing decisions. But if Scofield is the master craftsman, Neimanis is the more seasoned performer.
"I hope people can see the uniqueness of what we're doing," Neimanis says. "I hope they see that aerial theater isn't just about pizazz, but can also take them someplace thought-provoking, magical and new."
If you go
The Baltimore Aerial Festival will be held this weekend behind the Load of Fun Gallery, 120 W. North Ave. Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. Classes will be held at noon, 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday and at 11 a.m. Sunday. Tickets $5-$15. Call 410-800-8685 go to or www.loadoffun.net.
