Conversations with Amber Blais

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Blais.

Amber, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have always loved stories. I love the way they transport you into another set of shoes, or another way of living, or even another world. I’ve also always been someone that wanted to find a way to bring stories to life. In high school and college I did theater, but it kind of fell away as I entered the “real world.” The itch was always there though, so I started to do small things to let my creativity out. For my 21st birthday, I threw a masquerade pub crawl that I publicly advertised with over 100 masked people I didn’t know showing up or I’d create elaborate halloween parties every year with big sets and a huge maze of a bar built out of cardboard, but things didn’t really gain steam until about 15. years ago when I started circus training. I fell in love with the way it made me feel strong, with the community of people, and with the way it unleashed my imagination. My focus was on aerial dance, but I also had a theater and producing background so it wasn’t long before I started creating collaborations and small shows which then grew to bigger collaborations and bigger shows. In 2017 I founded Rainbow Militia and brought together 4 other women as partners and collaborators. We started doing shows all over Denver – one of our first was a massive collaboration between 60 artists in a cabaret style performance featuring live music and circus. shortly after we were one of the first aerial groups to perform at Levitt Pavilion and until the pandemic were invited back every year, and we had the most dreamy residency in the Invisible City space – an old Jewish temple off West Colfax. In 2019, I had what was codenamed “Amber’s Big Idea,” a multi-zone immersive folktale inspired by Russian Folklore. Co-written by myself, Jess Robblee, and Stephen Brackett and built by Tom Varani, the 90 minute experience, eventually entitled Zabiti, let audiences choose their own adventure to help a wolf and her human best friend try to lift the curse that had fallen on their forest. The tale was told through live music and circus performance and sold out over the 3 week run. During the summer of 2019, I also worked with artist Toni Baca and Tom Varani to curate a traveling circus wagon which we took to low income neighborhoods throughout Denver. Thanks to grants from Denver, we were able to bring free circus shows with live music to festivals and neighborhoods while offering free circus workshops and neighborhood talent shows.

An encore for Zabiti was planned for 2020 but.. the pandemic hit and our industry shut down.
Seeing my friends and colleagues hurting and struggling to pay rent was difficult for me, so I created a database of skills for performers outside of performance (such as administrative, marketing, etc) that I shared with local businesses who might be looking to hire. These databases were duplicated across 8 states. I also created a grant program to go to any artist in need, raising over $6,000. As the pandemic went on, my itch to create prompted me to put a post on facebook asking if any musicians wanted to make a collaborative video with me doing circus in my house, and them performing where they were. I was overwhelmed with the response of both musicians who wanted to do it and with circus performers who were interested as well. And so, the Rainbow Ruckus was born – a 3 part series that showcased artists making performances to local music in their backyards, kitchens, and even bathtubs. We sold tickets to the online video and were able to pay everyone a modest fee. From there, we continued to create – working in soon-to-be-demolished houses, brand new venues, and even on the 16th street mall.

In early 2021, my partners and I decided to go our separate ways and so Rainbow Militia was rebranded as Starry Night Productions under my sole ownership. I continued to create, getting to live out my lifelong dream of performing to a sold out audience at Red Rocks in 2022 and working in collaboration on other immersive shows including the incredible Zotto production with Japanese Arts Network and Theatre Artibus. In 2023, I was hired to work in collaboration with ownership to build the entertainment from the ground up for Casa Bonita. I was able to work with some truly amazing artists – an experience I will never forget. I am currently working on a Labyrinth themed Masquerade ball and a heartwarming holiday collaboration with Theatre Artibus.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not always been a smooth road. Being an artist is not an easy path. There is always uncertainty about what may be on the road ahead and no paycheck is guaranteed. You need to be vulnerable in ways that other professions would never ask, and you need to be ready to pivot and adapt and change. I have learned that this uncertainty can make people behave in various ways. You can gain a scarcity mindset and take from the community, or. you can embrace the variety and wonder that we have here, working together to grow something for everyone.

There have been moments of heartbreak where people I have looked up to as role models and who spoke grandly about collaboration and growing the arts by working together had shown themselves to be closed minded and small. There were performers who I respected greatly who ended up doing things and acting in ways that made me sadly step away from working with them.

But I have also met amazing artists who inspired me to grow and be a better version of myself. I’ve had the joy and blessing to collaborate with people who see the world so differently and that have allowed me to come on their journey with them. I’ve grown and continue to grow and I’ve created so much magic, and that is really what drives me.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Producer, aerialist, circus performer and oh so much more. I specialize in immersive theatrical circus shows, but love working in the immersive theater industry in general. I excel at producing, directing, and writing, and love collaborating with like minded artists.

I am proud of the collaborations and work with a variety of artists from musicians, visual artists, lighting designers, and oh so much more.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
Denver is vibrant and full of possibility. There are so many talented artists here and the potential for creation and collaboration are endless.

I dislike how expensive everything is getting and how difficult the city makes it to actually do site specific performance work. There aren’t many independent spaces left anymore (shout out to the Savoy which is my favorite locally owned venue, and to Immersive Denver which is doing its best to build community and support). This is causing a lot of my friends to leave. We need more support for the arts or the city will dry up.

Contact Info:

• Website: ostarrynight.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ostarrynite/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ostarrynight
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blaisa/

Image Credits
Nicholas Caputo Martha Wirth Photography