Try Number Two - January 11, 2009

January 11th was my first full day as an 18 year old, legal adult and what better way to celebrate it than by going to the studio for my second class.

Today began like the previous class. We did the same warm up as last weeks’ class, climbing with each foot and doing the jumping jacks and push ups. Knowing what was to come for the rope climbing did not make it any easier this time. I was terrified and still felt as weak as last time. I wanted to climb to the top, eventually, but the sweaty palms and cold sweat that broke out all over my body prevented that from happening.

Today we learned another very back move that all aerialists need to know, the foot block. The foot block is a way of tying the foot (or feet if on the silks) so that your foot is literally locked in the rope to prevent you from going anywhere. The rope wraps once around your ankle, starting and ending in between your legs. You then hold onto the rope with your hands and lean back to provide slack. You push the rope with the top of your non-rope foot, across the top of the rope bound foot, and under so that it comes back up on the arch side. We first tried it sitting on the ground. Having partially mastered that, we tried it by holding onto the rope and jumping into the air to try to tie it off the ground. Needless to say I hopelessly tied myself up in knots and had to be untangled several times by my instructors. It was fairly painful, but everyone has to start somewhere.

After we had enough of that, we tried our upside-down descent moves off the ground (and from the air for the stronger set). Just as last class went, I was a hopeless mess. I admit, I had improved a bit from watching everyone and I was able to get up without the help of an instructor, but my lack of strength was extremely apparent.

Upon more than proving our incompetence at basic corde lisse moves, our instructors shuffled us over to the static trapeze. We began with a simple review of yesterdays’ lesson of the rock and roll mount onto the trapeze. It turned out to be just as challenging as it was last time, and I still needed Mary Kelly to give my butt a little boost. Once the review session was over, we learned three very simple moves. The first was stag. For the stag, you stand up on the trapeze, and reach and grab the ropes far above your head. You then draw one leg up into a tuck position, perpendicular to your body, but still bent (or straight if you want, but it is much less pretty). With one leg tucked and one foot still straight legged on the trapeze bar, arch your back, tilt your head back like you’re trying to look at a spot on the wall behind you and lean forward. It’s simple, but the first time you do it, it is a little nerve wracking because you can’t see where you are going.

The next move we learned is called the birds nest. This move was not scary for me at all, but I could tell some people were nervous performing it. You start in a pike position under the trapeze bar, holding onto it with just your hands. You then push yourself into a handstand position but arching your back until your body is straight up and down, with your back resting against the bar that your hands are holding onto. You then straddle your legs and hook each ankle around each rope. Variations on this move are whether you choose to bend your legs or keep them straight while in the correct position. I guess some of it as to do with abdominal and back flexibility, but they both look pretty when done right.

The last move we learned was even simpler, the mermaid. The mermaid is the first move in a seven move sequence called the Mermaid Sequence. The mermaid starts the same way the birds nest starts, but instead of straddling the legs, both ankles hook around one rope on one side of the trapeze. You slide your ankles down the rope until they are touching the actual trapeze bar and are tucked into the right angle where the rope and bar meet. You then let go with hand trapped uncomfortably behind your back and make your body into a slightly curved line, holding on with your ankles on one side and one hand on the other.

We ended the lesson with the same toughening and strengthening moves that we had learned last time, but this time, we did 8 pull-ups, 10 tuck-ups and 10 sit-ups. After all, we need to be getting stronger, not stagnant.

I felt like this lesson had been more successful than the last. I still felt weak, but the goals seemed attainable and I had made some minor improvements since the last class. I was curious what we were going to learn the next class and definitely more excited to continue.