Air Temple Arts presents
Heaven or California
The Story of the Donner Party
A contemporary circus show based on the tragic true events of the Donner Party, told through aerial arts, acrobatics and dance.
The production
Seen through the eyes of two newlyweds
HEAVEN OR CALIFORNIA is a contemporary circus show based on the tragic true events of the Donner Party.
Seen through the eyes of newlyweds Sarah Graves and Jay Fosdick, HEAVEN OR CALIFORNIA takes you on their infamous journey, from the American Midwest, to the Great Salt Desert, to end in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
The show was created and performed by Air Temple Arts, an aerial dance, circus and movement studio in Woodbridge, Connecticut.
- Presented by Air Temple Arts
- Directed by Liz Richards
- Original score Brian Samuel Robinson
- Performed July 10, 2021, Woodbridge, Connecticut
- Cast Seven aerialists, acrobats and movement artists
The journey
Two thousand miles, from the Midwest to the Sierra Nevada
One
The American Midwest
Sarah Graves and Jay Fosdick married on April 2, 1846 in Lacon, Illinois. The next day the newlyweds headed West with Sarah’s family, joining a group of 87 California-bound pioneers.
Two
The Great Salt Desert
The party took a new route promoted by the land speculator Lansford Hastings as faster and easier to travel. Neither claim was true. The terrain proved nearly impossible to navigate by covered wagon, and the lack of water cost them their oxen and cattle.
Three
The Sierra Nevada
In November the party became trapped by early snowfall at Truckee Lake. On December 16, seventeen of them, Sarah and Jay among them, left on improvised snowshoes to find help. They became known as the Forlorn Hope.
The performance
How the story is told
The hopes, dreams, and fears of the Donner Party are brought to life through aerial arts, acrobatics, juggling, prop manipulation, movement, and dance.
Air Temple Arts is an aerial dance, circus and movement studio founded in 2012, where students train in aerial silks and other apparatuses and skills such as contortion, acrobatics, juggling, and hand balancing.
- Aerial arts
- Acrobatics
- Juggling
- Prop manipulation
- Movement
- Dance
The history
One of the most infamous cautionary tales in American history
In 1846, depressed prices and failing crops pushed Franklin Graves to move his family to California in search of better opportunities. His eldest daughter Sarah and her new husband Jay Fosdick travelled with them, and together they joined a group of 87 California-bound pioneers who intended to take a new route West known as Hastings Cutoff.
Trapped by early snowfall in one of the worst winters on record, the party ran out of food. Many succumbed to hypothermia. To avoid starvation, the remaining survivors cannibalised the dead. Jay Fosdick died on January 5, with Sarah by his side.
Members of the Washoe tribe brought food to those left at Truckee Lake, and members of the Maidu tribe would eventually save the members of the Forlorn Hope by offering them food and shelter. Without the aid of Indigenous peoples, it is unlikely any members of the Donner Party would have survived.
- 87 pioneers set out
- 17 in the Forlorn Hope
- 48 survived the ordeal
- 4 months before relief came
From start to finish, the performance combines dance and sport to bring home the emotional valence of the story of the Donner Party, in all its joy and grief.
Ivy Fan, Arts Council of Greater New Haven
The company
Cast
Sarah Graves
Dani Bobbi Lee
she/her
Jay Fosdick
Holly Gilligan
she/her
Ensemble
Crystal Cassetori
she/her
Kate Gonzales
she/her
Casey Kogut
she/her
Julian Salevan
they/them
Nicholas Strange
he/him
Creative team
Director
Liz Richards
she/her
Composer, original score
Brian Samuel Robinson
he/him
Watch
Watch the recorded show
The full performance, recorded in Woodbridge, Connecticut and free to watch in its entirety.
HEAVEN OR CALIFORNIA was performed by Air Temple Arts in Woodbridge, Connecticut.
Original score by Brian Samuel Robinson. Directed by Liz Richards.