What the Bubble Knows. Spherical Poetry is a ten-minute duet by MissBubblebliss and Sterling Johnson (The Bubblesmith), created for POP! The Gala Show at Haymarket Theatre in Basingstoke, United Kingdom, in March 2026.
Duets are still relatively rare within the specialised field of bubble performance. The piece brought together two bubble artists with distinct artistic backgrounds: MissBubblebliss from Austria, and Sterling Johnson (The Bubblesmith), a California-based bubble artist and master of hand-blown bubbles.
Developed remotely between Thailand and Mexico through weekly online sessions, the work grew through separate tool building and choreography, with individual sequences brought together in shared practice when the artists met in the UK shortly before the performance. The English-language poetry was created specifically for the piece.
The performance moves between alternating sections and shared action, culminating in a four-handed soap bubble created jointly by both artists. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 provided the musical framework, with its melody becoming another element to play with through movement, rhythm and bubbles.
Through spoken poetry, music and soap bubbles, the work creates a dialogue between two performers. The poetry invited reflection, while the fleeting movements of the bubbles created a visual language that unfolded alongside it. Creating the work together across continents and finally performing it side by side was a great joy, and hopefully we will have another opportunity to perform together.
Video credit: Martin Cattani Dorelo