Hello, we are
Drifters Company
Drifters Company is a multi-generational ensemble of acrobats, storytellers, and caregivers residing on unceded Cherokee lands colonially known as Asheville, NC. Our intrepid crew includes alumni of Cirque Du Soleil and Broadway shows, healthcare heroes, ecology experts, and our children.In the wake of Hurricane Helene devastating our home community, we are intent on using our artistic gifts to amplify stories from the Blue Ridge that are at risk of being washed away by the mainstream.We create devised works of circus-theatre that deny definition while defying gravity. As an LGBTQ+ led ensemble, we're dedicated to “queering” the dominant aesthetics of circus, releasing preciousness to make room for authenticity.The name “Drifters” pays homage to the literal and spiritual currents that brought us together, and references a song of the same title on acclaimed musician Mel Hsu’s album A Prayer for Broken Glass, which inspires and scores our first full-length devised work, currently in process.Drifters Company stewards artistic vessels full of heart, grit, grief, and hope, in service of showing that we can rebuild, heal, and make our dreams real, together.
About our next project
A Prayer for Broken Glass
Inspired and scored by an album of the same name from Barrymore Award-winning Mel Hsu, A Prayer for Broken Glass follows a multi-generational cast of 16 acrobats, storytellers, and earth-tenders as they recount their experiences of surviving the catastrophic Hurricane Helene.Set in the Appalachian mountain town that the cast calls home, audiences ride the waves of tragedy, heartbreak, resilience, and hope that swept away any sense of normalcy, and swept in a new world 300 miles from shore.As the terror of climate disaster looms heavy over our lives, how can we find a sense of power in a world that feels so out of our control? As tensions rise, can we use them to propel us into a better future before we break? If we fail, can we rebuild? What does it take, at the site of so much pain, to keep showing up anyway?
Play with us!
Asheville Acro
Our company members offer weekly, all-levels acro classes through Asheville Acro. DM us to be added to our Whatsapp group for updates!Interested in using acro to heal and strengthen community? Trans Acro offers monthly workshops at Firestorm Books!Ready to take your training or coaching to the next level? Check out Progressive Partner Acrobatics for seasonal intensives.