The Ringleader

A fearless fashion school dropout finds her niche at the center of an East Williamsburg circus.

Photos by Alison Brockhouse

Anya Sapoznikova first auditioned to perform at The Box, an exclusive club on the Lower East Side, four years ago. The Box offers its guests radical and sexually charged variety acts, and, unlike most clubs that host live shows, the venue auditions all acts before booking. So to heighten her appeal, the then-22-year-old Russian émigré replaced aerial silks—common to her performance act at the time—with towing chain. Soft fabrics, she felt, weren’t daring enough for the Box's judges.

“No girl does it,” Sapoznikova said of the chains. “[The Box] wants edgy, crazy.”

She got the job.

But performing at The Box is just a side gig for Sapozhnikova. Her main focus is running Lady Circus, a troupe of New York City-based women who perform regularly at the House of Yes, an old ice warehouse converted into a small, three-story theater. The unmarked space sits on quiet Maujer Street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with only a peeling 3-4-2 signaling its entrance. Once insid…