Yes! Immediacy + potential for danger = a very engaged audience.The Great Kaplan was so immediate at last night's performance that he made a small child cry (he apologized), and I know more than one person gasped in astonishment when he levitated a bowling ball. I've never heard anyone gasp during similar feats at movies or at highly produced extravaganzas like Cirque de Soleil. When there are millions of dollars worth of production values behind a performer, seeing someone spin 12 plates at a time on wooden dowels isn't particularly impressive, but when a real person is doing it 30 feet away from you, you get invested in the well-being of those plates. You don't want them to fall down, or maybe you do ... either way, it can be surprisingly emotional experience.

There was also a memorable aerialist at last night's show, Laura Stokes. I love watching aerialists and have mad admiration for their strength and skill, but after a while their routines can start to look alike: ascend, writhe, pose, pause for applause, repeat writhing and posing and pausing several times, descend, bow. They look beautiful and sensual, which is no small thing and very enjoyable, but I've never thought of them as performers with something to say. But Laura Stokes' performance was different. She started with an invocation of the pledge of allegiance, which was surprising because aerialists rarely speak. When the music started, it wasn't the typical dreamy, sexy lady-in-the-air music, it was Woody Guthrie singing "This Land Is Your Land". It unexpected and wonderful.