Coming together from around the world, Listo Trapèze Volant is an aerialist team formed specifically for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival to showcase some of the best flying trapeze artists. They presented both choreographed performances and training sessions, showing that circus artists don’t always fly with the greatest of ease—only with extreme practice and dedication.

Featured team members in this interview include emcee and instructor Miguel Cáceres; flyer Sara Deull, originally from Washington, D.C., but now working in Montreal; ringmistress Suzi Winson, also the director and cofounder of Circus Warehouse in New York City; and the group’s youngest flyer, at age sixteen, David Ponce.

Shelley Davis is pursuing a bachelor’s in fine arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a media production intern at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.