We are Rhea Slootweg (1998, NL) and Aylish Bik (1996, NL), graduates of Circus and Performance Art at Fontys in Tilburg. We share both a friendship and a stage, and from that connection we create work rooted in radical honesty. Aylish works with hand balancing and, with support from the Keep an Eye Foundation, developed a solo in which she combines movement with audio and a ‘herd’ of diabolos. Rhea moves between disciplines such as pole dancing, partnering, and social science, connecting her physical practice to broader questions, as seen in The Human Factor by the collective Hot Lines. In 2026, we are Maker for a Week at TENT. Previously, Aylish collaborated with TENT as part of Back to Base #17 and as a sparringpartner for A Day at the Circus 2026. Rhea worked in 2023 with Lily & Janick during their Maker for a Week trajectory.

Research question:
How can we let anger explode constructively in order to build collective resilience?

If you ask us where our anger comes from, a flood of answers follows. We feel frustrated because anger is often pushed aside and our right to exist seems to have to be earned again and again. Angry because we have learned to explain our emotions rather than feel them. While Aylish finds it difficult to allow the sadness beneath her anger, Rhea experiences the opposite: through her tears, anger often remains unspoken. In that difference, we find sisterhood. In our work, we use circus as a physical language to create space for what lives inside. What simmers but is not allowed to be visible takes shape - sometimes powerful, sometimes soft, sometimes humorous. By taking up space ourselves, we invite the audience to do the same, opening up a culture of suppression or explosion.

MAKER FOR 
A WEEK

 rhea.slootweg • aylish_balancing_