Flying Leap is a non-profit arts organization making family theater in communities. We bring original performances around challenging topics to families across NYC and beyond.
A young girl smiling under blue fabric held by two performers.
Our Mission
Flying Leap Productions makes and produces thoughtful, participatory performance around complicated or difficult subject matter, for families to experience together. Our performances take place in the community, outside traditional theater spaces, and we make them in direct collaboration with our artists and our audience. With a core emphasis on accessibility and joy, our performances offer a foundation for discussion between children and their families.
Our Vision
To empower families to leap across perceived boundaries together and towards each other, into a more liberated world where kids have the agency to ask challenging questions and take action, and adults have the tools to navigate tough topics alongside them.
News and Updates
Featured
Current Projects
Performer showing baby and father a cup of water.
The Garden
Available for Touring
The Garden is a meditative performance for babies and their adults exploring themes of nature and life cycles. Poetic text performed in multiple languages blends with interactive nature toys, all seated on the grass and lovingly encircled by a panoramic backdrop under the open sky.
The Garden was developed with support from the New York City Artist Corps, New Victory LabWorks Alumni Program, and Chelsea Factory.
A large, wood framed, female puppet .
Beyond the Wall || Más Allá del Muro
2017-2020; Returning 2024
Known for performances with 15 foot tall puppets at the US/Mexico border wall, Beyond the Wall collaboration between Mexican and American artists and educators exploring borderland identity with youth growing up in the shadow of the border wall. Since Jess and collaborator Ana Díaz Barriga founded the project in 2017, Beyond the Wall has built 14 giant puppets, hosted two arts and culture festivals, piloted a binational pen pal program, and performed in Nogales AZ/SON, New York, London, and Prague.
PLAY/TIME Logo
Play/Time
In Development
Set a timer for 10 seconds, and wait. Did it feel like 10 seconds? Or did it feel longer than you expected? Shorter? What does 10 seconds feel like? That’s what Play/Time will be about. We’ll play, with time, and what it feels like in our bodies.
This app-based interactive adventure is currently in development; more info available Summer 2023.
a page from a picture book showing a drawing of a white duck lying on the ground, eyes closed, while a skeleton wearing a plaid housedress sits looking at her face, all on a dark blue background
Duck, Death and the Tulip
In Development
Adapted from Wolf Erlbruch’s tender picture book, Duck, Death and the Tulip explores our earliest existential thoughts through the eyes of a young Duck, as she forms a tender friendship with Death. Young actors perform the lead roles in mask, while a trio of musicians accompany them and guide us on our journey.
Currently seeking a home for Spring 2022 development workshop. Interested in hosting? please contact us!
Past Projects
Mathilda and the Orange Balloon
2018 – 2020: Co-created The DH Ensemble in the UK and Senses Askew Company in the US
an image of a balloon is projected onto cloth; a woman watches and blows into her hands, which are glowing with a soft light
D/deaf and hearing accessible play for families based on the popular picture book by Randall de Sève. Mathilda is a grey sheep in a grey world, but when an orange balloon makes a surprise appearance on her farm, she starts to question if that's all she can be. Mathilda takes her family, the narrators, and the audience on a journey of self-discovery and self-determination that includes structured playtime with the actors on the farmyard playground set. The play is performed in Sign Language, Spoken English, and with animated captions to be fully accessible.
Production History:
2018 development at Sheffield Theaters
2019 London premiere and inaugural UK tour
2020 development at New Victory LabWorks
UK tour forthcoming
Adapted from the book Mathilda and the Orange Balloon © 2010
Photos from 2019 DH Ensemble Production. Featuring Mia Ward, Hermon Berhane, and Adam Jay Price. Photos by David Monteith-Hodge.
Orange headphones on an industrial stand in the foreground with a bathroom tap behind a teal wall.
Assemble
2020 premiere Exponential Festival; 2021 Flying Leap production
ASSEMBLE is a guerrilla, choose-your-own-adventure performance that transforms the mundane spaces of a well-known store in Brooklyn into a series of worlds, fantasies and meditations. Join Jane as she considers the cost of her choices. A series of choices and tasks prompt the listener to navigate and interact with the store. The resulting experience is part immersive theatre, part audio tour and an entirely unique experience for each person.
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Flying Leap LLC is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas - support our work with a tax-deductible contribution today!
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info@flying-leap.com
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