We are Lily (2003) and Melody (1998), two handstand artists, acrobats and sisters born in the US, and together we form Nolanders.
Nolanders started as a family project more than a decade ago, when we first began performing circus together as kids alongside our younger sister and parents. Later on, we each moved from California to attend Codarts Circus Arts in Rotterdam, developing our own practices. Now we are reuniting more than a decade after our previous collaboration to create The Kettle is Always On.
In our work, we take a physical approach to human questions, always searching for the unlikely within the mundane. We are fueled by a common fascination with the improbable abilities of the human body and want to share this with our audience. Embracing the contrast of the often static discipline of handstands with the momentum and dynamics of acrobatics, we bring ourselves and each other into motion. The result is both poetic and absurd while remaining rooted in acrobatic skill.
We each came to know TENT individually, including taking part in TENT’s Back to Base evenings in 2023 and 2024. In 2025-2026, TENT will produce our debut show which will premiere in January 2026 at This is not a circus in Amstelveen.
THEIR PRESENTATION
The Kettle is Always On
