About
photo by Greg Haerling
Kyla is a performer, director, choreographer, and producer, whose work spans cabaret, immersive theater, nightlife, ballet and contemporary dance, contemporary circus, live & livestream events, concerts, film & tv, and advertising. Her personal work explores identity and sexual politics - it is a reimagining of history where female figures, herself included, are liberated from the institutionalized misogyny that is embedded in our late-stage capitalist society. As a recovering ballerina, she reclaims her autonomy with each self-authored exploration and creation.
Currently:
Performing at Slipper Room, The Box, The Stranger and in various shows, special events, and nightclubs (schedule updates on instagram)
Teaching aerial at Vital Brooklyn & Aerial Arts NYC
Producing & performing in The Underground Cabaret (click through for schedule updates)
Featured aerialist in dance film Rituals from Indelible Dance - coming 2023
Past:
Aerialist with Brian Newman at The Jazz Club at the Aman Hotel, NYC (fall 2022)
Featured aerialist for Alicia Keys at the Apollo Theater, NYC (November 2021)
Choreographer, rigging consultant, and featured aerialist and dancer (Mustard Seed) in Midsummer: A Shakespearience from Variety Life Productions
Producer of Anver Entertainment X City Point: Aerialists & Acrobats Residency January-August 2021
Lead aerialist in Eyes on New York from American Circus Theater & The Ride “…joined by the across-the-board breathtaking aerialist Kyla Ernst-Alper on silks”
Aerial consultant, choreographer, and casting for Estee Lauder’s Supreme 2021 campaign with Carolyn Murphy, Ana de Armas & Adut Akech.
Creator of UnderOneDances, a cross-platform dance project.
Co-founder and co-director Brooklyn AirSpace, a year-long pop-up circus & dance training facility.
Established the video department at Praytell, where I produced More Than T & Trans 102 with director Silas Howard.
Producer of The Chicago Party with Beep Iams.
Featured performer at New York Burlesque Festival, Teaser Fest, Dirty Show Detroit, Torture Garden UK & NYC, Fetish Factory, Vancouver Fetish Weekend.
One half of performance duo RA\/EN.
Original cast, lead dancer and aerialist in weekly show The Devouring at Paradise Club in Ian Schrager’s Times Square EDITION Hotel.
Performer with Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech, Elisa Monte Dance, Battery Dance Company, White Wave, Dzul Dance, C Eule Dance, Encounters, and ABCirque.
Aerial instructor at The Muse and Body & Pole.
Press:
Eyes On New York:
“They were joined by the across-the-board breathtaking aerialist Kyla Ernst-Alper on silks, Randy Kato on the Cyr wheel, Ashlee Rose Montague (associate producer of the show, who also provided the engaging choreography) on the Lyra hoop, and contortionist Maria Pucciarelli – all of whom delighted and amazed with their fearless stunts, perfect control, and flawless agility.”
Anver:
“While the residency may not be permanent, it’s a major win for Ernst-Alper and the circus community. “We’ve always been on the fringes,” she said, referring to both how circus is sidelined to other performing art forms in the United States and to the outer boroughs, where their training spaces often are located.”
“Limited to training with a free-standing rig in her apartment during the colder months, Ernst-Alper sought something better for herself and the city’s close-knit community of circus performers, a category which includes performers like acrobats and aerialists. Today, in partnership with City Point in Downtown Brooklyn, Ernst-Alper is launching a new, two-month residency that will give aerialists and acrobats the ample space – and height – required to work on their acts. The residency, called Aerialists & Acrobats, will provide the artists with access to City Point’s event space, BKLYN STUDIOS, which offers 13,000 square feet of space as well as 24-foot-tall ceilings.”
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