It’s hard to believe that this was my last class in February. I’d already been working on my aerial moves for two months. In fact, it was my last class as an Aerial Beginner A student, since the session was only 8 weeks long. I felt like I had come such a far way, but I was still concerned about moving up to Beginner Aerials B. So I asked my instructor Jackie about what she thought about me moving up. She told me that as long as I felt comfortable climbing up and down the silks/corde lisse , could get on and off the trapeze easily and had a basic understanding of the basic moves and felt comfortable performing them, then I should definitely move up. She did caution me that I would encounter stronger and more flexible aerialists at the Beginner B level. But putting my anxiety aside, I told her that I thought I was ready for it, and that I was doing it for the sake of my project, so that I might actually be able to do some cool stuff by the time senior project officially started.
Today began and ended like every other class, with the warm up and stretching and push ups and climbing, and strengthening and toughening exercises. Since it was our last class, Jackie and Mary Kelly told us that we could choose an apparatus and do pretty much whatever we wanted to review. We combined our class with the teen aerials class and then some of us went with Jackie on the corde lisse, some went with Mary Kelly on the Trapeze, and I and some others went to the silks with Niff, the instructor for the teen aerials class. (I’m pretty sure my instructor on the aerial silks was Niff). There we did a review of the “between the silks” moves: “birds nest”, “1-leg between” (from birds nest), “inverted hang”, “inverted splits”; the “foot block” and its moves: the “arch thru”, “stag thru”, “split down”, and the “aerial dance foot lock” move “splits”. The only new move was the “squat”, a “foot block” move. It is exactly the same as the “squat” on the corde lisse.
Not wanting us to miss out on anything on our last class, Jackie and Mary Kelly lead a short tutorial on the lyra or spinning hoop. We learned different ways to mount and how to speed up or slow down a spin. We learned the “trapezius angel” (picture in the March 8th post), “½ moon” and “man on the moon”, which are both done by sitting inside the lyra and putting your legs above your head. The difference between the “½ moon” and “man on the moon” lies in how high your legs and how low your butt sits on the lyra. (“man on the moon” being the more extreme, with your weight mainly resting on your shoulders). Instead of doing our situps on the trapeze, we did them on the lyra. It hurt worse than it did on the trapeze because instead of a wooden or plastic bar wrapped in tape, this was a straight up metal hoop.
With the conclusion of my first Aerial Acrobatic class, I realized that when I talked about it, I would have to be careful about what I said. It was funny trying to explain the class to my friends, because if I said that I took a circus class, they would all look at me and laugh and make jokes that I was juggling and tightrope walking and unicycling. I of course corrected them that I was doing aerial acrobatics, but I realized that no one took what I was doing seriously unless I explained it as cirque du soleil type stuff, and refered to my class not as my circus class but as my aerial acrobatics class. Everyone acts a whole lot more impressed when you explain it that way. Before I began this class, the last time I had gotten any exercise (apart from an occasional bimonthly two or three day stint at the gym), was by walking up and down the hills at camp. I began out of shape, and I am slowly pulling myself out of that rut. My jeans didn’t fit so well anymore. But when I started the class, I realized that I didn’t have to spend hours working on cardio and fitness at a gym, I could get back in shape the fun way. Instead of doing jumpies and pull-ups and weights at a gym, I was supporting my own body weight and throwing it around quite a bit in mid air. This was so much better than some smelly gym. I left class excited to start my new Beginner Aerials B class the very next week.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Lucky Number Seven – February 15, 2009
As I was beginning to learn, all the classes began with the same or similar warm-ups and ended the same way. Even on the apparatuses, we usually began with a review of previously learned moves before learning new ones. It’s never boring, but sometimes I do wish we would spend more time learning new things. Since I’m clearly no expert on aerial acrobatics, I’ll leave that for my instructors to decide.
So after our warm ups, we did a slightly different climb. Jackie and Mary Kelly wanted us to climb to the top of the corde lisse, WHICH I FINALLY MADE IT!!!!, and then come back down in the “upside-down descent”. Well, I still hadn’t master the “upside-down descent” from the air, so I slide down the corde lisse like normal, and then did a descent from jumping off the ground. But hey, you do what you can physically do.
After climbing on the corde lisse, we headed over to the fabric. There, we reviewed the “ballon lady” 1 and 2, “arch thru” and “stag thru”. We learned three new moves, the “roll around/layana”, the “aerial dance foot lock” and “split” beginning in the “aerial dance foot lock”. First, we learned the “aerial dance foot lock”, which is the “foot block” but on each foot. You do this by wrapping one silk around one foot two times, and then creating slack by pulling your body up and placing your foot in the stirrup like slack fold that was the first loop. Repeat for the other foot or do it at the same time. (this is clearly not of me, but she starts the wrap for an “aerial dance foot lock” around 2:10). Just like the girl in the video, I struggled with the wrap for the “aerial dance foot lock”. For the “splits”, you simply hold onto the fabric above you, and split your legs. The last “aerial dance foot lock” move we learned was the “roll around/layana”. From the split position, you hold onto the fabric with your front leg wraped in and pull that leg around. The girl in the video does a good job of showing all three in succession, so I’m not going to try and confuse you with any more explanations.
On the trapeze today, we learned no new moves, simply reviewed the “mermaid”, “½ angel”, “back angel”, “one-hand one-foot”, “one-knee one-elbow”, “dead hang” and “rajah”. So we had a pretty packed schedule in class today.
I was extremely proud of my accomplishments today. I climbed to the top of the rope which was one of my major goals for the class. Even though I clearly have some short comings, I am obviously doing better than I did on the first class. I was and continue to put in the effort, and slowly but surely I am seeing the fruits of my labor.
So after our warm ups, we did a slightly different climb. Jackie and Mary Kelly wanted us to climb to the top of the corde lisse, WHICH I FINALLY MADE IT!!!!, and then come back down in the “upside-down descent”. Well, I still hadn’t master the “upside-down descent” from the air, so I slide down the corde lisse like normal, and then did a descent from jumping off the ground. But hey, you do what you can physically do.
After climbing on the corde lisse, we headed over to the fabric. There, we reviewed the “ballon lady” 1 and 2, “arch thru” and “stag thru”. We learned three new moves, the “roll around/layana”, the “aerial dance foot lock” and “split” beginning in the “aerial dance foot lock”. First, we learned the “aerial dance foot lock”, which is the “foot block” but on each foot. You do this by wrapping one silk around one foot two times, and then creating slack by pulling your body up and placing your foot in the stirrup like slack fold that was the first loop. Repeat for the other foot or do it at the same time. (this is clearly not of me, but she starts the wrap for an “aerial dance foot lock” around 2:10). Just like the girl in the video, I struggled with the wrap for the “aerial dance foot lock”. For the “splits”, you simply hold onto the fabric above you, and split your legs. The last “aerial dance foot lock” move we learned was the “roll around/layana”. From the split position, you hold onto the fabric with your front leg wraped in and pull that leg around. The girl in the video does a good job of showing all three in succession, so I’m not going to try and confuse you with any more explanations.
On the trapeze today, we learned no new moves, simply reviewed the “mermaid”, “½ angel”, “back angel”, “one-hand one-foot”, “one-knee one-elbow”, “dead hang” and “rajah”. So we had a pretty packed schedule in class today.
I was extremely proud of my accomplishments today. I climbed to the top of the rope which was one of my major goals for the class. Even though I clearly have some short comings, I am obviously doing better than I did on the first class. I was and continue to put in the effort, and slowly but surely I am seeing the fruits of my labor.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The Breakfast Club Six – February 8, 2009
Today’s lesson began like all the others, the same warm-up and over zealous hello from Mary Kelly. Thankfully, we began on the silks once again instead of the corde lisse.
After climbing on the silks, we reviewed the “between the silks birds nest [and] 1-leg between”, the “foot block”, “arch thru”, “stag thru” and “squat down. We learned a new move, the “balloon lady”. Starting in the “foot block”, you split the silks and run one up your back, pushing the other in front of you, put your free leg up so that it runs perpendicular to your body. Finally, you let go with your arms and add some stylistic flair. The other “balloon lady” is the exact opposite of the first one. First you spit the silks, then you run one side up the front of your body, and pull your free leg up behind you, and rest your ankle on the opposite silks and push it out, letting go with your hands and stylizing as you please. Because you are balancing your weight on one foot all while letting go with your hands in what could be a very demanding position (depending on flexibility, balance, and strength), it can be one of those nerve wracking moves. I was shaking the whole time, but it was still exhilarating.
After the brief review and learning the two new moves, we moved on to the trapeze. There, we tried the “mermaid”, “½ angel”, “back angel”, and “one-hand one-foot” and learned two new moves. The first, the “legs around (dead hang)” was one of those moves that looked much more complicated than it was. From standing, you pull your legs around the ropes and thru the space between your body and the trapeze. Then you squeeze your legs together and pull your legs and chest thru the space above your legs. Position your arms however you want for some added flair. The last new move we learned, the “legs around (rajah)” was as hard as it looked. It begins the same way as the “dead hang”, but instead of straightening out your legs, you keep them above and in front of the trapeze, and cross your ankles nice and tight. You then let go with your arms and hang there. To me, it seems like the names are backwards, like the hanging position would be the “dead hang” and the “rajah” would be the cool upright one. But what do I know about naming moves?
The class ended the same way as it always does with the strengthening and toughening exercises.
Obviously I am a beginner and not a professional, so I make many mistakes due to my lack of coordination, strength and flexibility. I think that I take criticism about my moves fairly well. It’s nothing personal, if I’m doing something wrong, I’d rather Jackie or Shana tell me that it looked like crap and to do it again than to let me keep doing it wrong or messy. Sometimes it’s frustrating, when you put a lot of effort into a move and try it over an over again, and it’s still not working to their liking. But that’s why I continue to work hard in my classes. If I’m going to succeed and look pretty doing it, I need to be putting in the extra pushups and trying the moves on different feet. I hope that one day those criticisms will turn into compliments for my hard work.
After climbing on the silks, we reviewed the “between the silks birds nest [and] 1-leg between”, the “foot block”, “arch thru”, “stag thru” and “squat down. We learned a new move, the “balloon lady”. Starting in the “foot block”, you split the silks and run one up your back, pushing the other in front of you, put your free leg up so that it runs perpendicular to your body. Finally, you let go with your arms and add some stylistic flair. The other “balloon lady” is the exact opposite of the first one. First you spit the silks, then you run one side up the front of your body, and pull your free leg up behind you, and rest your ankle on the opposite silks and push it out, letting go with your hands and stylizing as you please. Because you are balancing your weight on one foot all while letting go with your hands in what could be a very demanding position (depending on flexibility, balance, and strength), it can be one of those nerve wracking moves. I was shaking the whole time, but it was still exhilarating.
After the brief review and learning the two new moves, we moved on to the trapeze. There, we tried the “mermaid”, “½ angel”, “back angel”, and “one-hand one-foot” and learned two new moves. The first, the “legs around (dead hang)” was one of those moves that looked much more complicated than it was. From standing, you pull your legs around the ropes and thru the space between your body and the trapeze. Then you squeeze your legs together and pull your legs and chest thru the space above your legs. Position your arms however you want for some added flair. The last new move we learned, the “legs around (rajah)” was as hard as it looked. It begins the same way as the “dead hang”, but instead of straightening out your legs, you keep them above and in front of the trapeze, and cross your ankles nice and tight. You then let go with your arms and hang there. To me, it seems like the names are backwards, like the hanging position would be the “dead hang” and the “rajah” would be the cool upright one. But what do I know about naming moves?
The class ended the same way as it always does with the strengthening and toughening exercises.
Obviously I am a beginner and not a professional, so I make many mistakes due to my lack of coordination, strength and flexibility. I think that I take criticism about my moves fairly well. It’s nothing personal, if I’m doing something wrong, I’d rather Jackie or Shana tell me that it looked like crap and to do it again than to let me keep doing it wrong or messy. Sometimes it’s frustrating, when you put a lot of effort into a move and try it over an over again, and it’s still not working to their liking. But that’s why I continue to work hard in my classes. If I’m going to succeed and look pretty doing it, I need to be putting in the extra pushups and trying the moves on different feet. I hope that one day those criticisms will turn into compliments for my hard work.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Numero Cinco – February 1, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoLVWvqEwzs (play and read while listening to the music)
After four classes, and months of waiting, the moment had finally come. I walked into the studio to begin the warm-up and to stretch out. I busied myself preparing my mind and body for a workout climbing the corde lisse and maybe, just maybe this week I would be strong enough and brave enough to reach the top. That’s when Jackie looked at us, and told us that if we felt comfortable, we could try climbing the silks. It did not matter to her which we did, but she did want us to try climbing at least once on the silks to get used to holding and climbing that much fabric. We were to learn moves on the silks today instead of the corde lisse. I was so excited that I could hardly contain a squeal. Today was one of those days that where I learned many new and exciting moves.
We of course began by climbing with both legs. It definitely felt different than climbing on the rope. While the rope was course and a bit hard, the fabric was more flexible and slippery. It was more comfortable on the feet, and less rope burn occurred, but the slipperiness required me to pinch the fabric differently than I would hold onto the corde lisse.
Having successfully climbed the silks, we began to learn simple moves. First we tried the “inverted hang” and from there we went to the “birds nest” then the “birds nest, 1-leg between” and then “inverted hang splits”. The “inverted hang” is when you reach up, grab one hand onto each strip of fabric and flip upside down. Your body should be hollow (meaning back and legs are straight with pointed toes) and your arms are straight and held close to your sides. The “birds nest” is done the same way that it is on the trapeze, with one foot on each rope, but you get there from the inverted hang move. To do the “birds nest, 1-leg between”, you simply leg go with one leg. The “inverted splits” are in the same vein, starting the in the “inverted hang” position, split your legs. The inverted moves were not challenging, the only hard part was that my hands kept slipping since the fabric is much more slippery than the corde lisse. To fix this problem, there was some resin that made your hands sticky to grip the fabric better.
We finished our lesson on the fabric with some moves that we learned on the corde lisse. We did the “foot block”, “arch thru”, “stag thru”, and the “split down”. The “arch thru and “stag thru” can be equated with the “back arch” on the corde lisse, except you hold onto each piece of fabric with each hand. The “split down” is simply, holding onto the fabric very low, with one foot in the “foot block” and splitting the legs. It looks very elegant and shows off the strength and grace of those that do it. Something to mention about the “foot block” on the fabric…it is so much less painful. Instead of putting pressure on three points on your foot to hold all your weight like the corde lisse, the fabric wraps your foot, for the most part evening out the pressure points.
I wanted to spend all day on the fabric, but unfortunately for me, Jackie and Mary Kelly thought it would be valuable for us to finish learning the “mermaid sequence”. We did the moves we had already learned last week, the “mermaid”, “½ angel”, “back angel”, and “one-hand one-foot”. It was good review because I had clearly already forgotten how to do them. We then learned two more moves, the “one-knee one-elbow” and the “candlestick”. The “one-knee one-elbow” is similar to the “one-hand one-foot”, in that from the latter move, your pull yourself up and bend one knee and one elbow around the trapeze instead of just one foot and one hand. When done correctly, the move looks like you’re a shirt on a clothesline, just chillin out. For the “candlestick”, your simply bend the free knee over the knee bent around the trapeze and let go so that you are suspended only by your bent knees.
That position looked a lot scarier and unstable than it actually was.
We finished the lesson with the same “toughening” and “strengthening” exercises that we have been doing. One of the students, Anthony, who is training to become a professional ballerina, noticed that I was having an easy time with the sit-ups. So he suggested that I try them from an “ankle hang”. It was definitely more challenging and worked a different set of abdominal muscles. We got to talking, and we realized that we knew many of the same people. Shulie Shmaters, who goes to the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, and four other girls who are or were in the same dance company as him that I knew from school.
During today’s class, my mom decided to pop in for the end of it. She was beside herself by the time I was finished. She kept saying that she wanted someone under me to catch me if I fell. Right…like that would help when falling from the ceiling to the floor. Having my mom there however made the whole post-lesson explanation easier. Previously, I would come home and my parents would ask me what I did, and I would tell them that it’s very hard to explain and they would get very upset that I couldn’t tell them anything for all the money they were spending on the classes. So my mom agreeing with me when I needed to explain it to my dad made the whole thing easier.
After four classes, and months of waiting, the moment had finally come. I walked into the studio to begin the warm-up and to stretch out. I busied myself preparing my mind and body for a workout climbing the corde lisse and maybe, just maybe this week I would be strong enough and brave enough to reach the top. That’s when Jackie looked at us, and told us that if we felt comfortable, we could try climbing the silks. It did not matter to her which we did, but she did want us to try climbing at least once on the silks to get used to holding and climbing that much fabric. We were to learn moves on the silks today instead of the corde lisse. I was so excited that I could hardly contain a squeal. Today was one of those days that where I learned many new and exciting moves.
We of course began by climbing with both legs. It definitely felt different than climbing on the rope. While the rope was course and a bit hard, the fabric was more flexible and slippery. It was more comfortable on the feet, and less rope burn occurred, but the slipperiness required me to pinch the fabric differently than I would hold onto the corde lisse.
Having successfully climbed the silks, we began to learn simple moves. First we tried the “inverted hang” and from there we went to the “birds nest” then the “birds nest, 1-leg between” and then “inverted hang splits”. The “inverted hang” is when you reach up, grab one hand onto each strip of fabric and flip upside down. Your body should be hollow (meaning back and legs are straight with pointed toes) and your arms are straight and held close to your sides. The “birds nest” is done the same way that it is on the trapeze, with one foot on each rope, but you get there from the inverted hang move. To do the “birds nest, 1-leg between”, you simply leg go with one leg. The “inverted splits” are in the same vein, starting the in the “inverted hang” position, split your legs. The inverted moves were not challenging, the only hard part was that my hands kept slipping since the fabric is much more slippery than the corde lisse. To fix this problem, there was some resin that made your hands sticky to grip the fabric better.
We finished our lesson on the fabric with some moves that we learned on the corde lisse. We did the “foot block”, “arch thru”, “stag thru”, and the “split down”. The “arch thru and “stag thru” can be equated with the “back arch” on the corde lisse, except you hold onto each piece of fabric with each hand. The “split down” is simply, holding onto the fabric very low, with one foot in the “foot block” and splitting the legs. It looks very elegant and shows off the strength and grace of those that do it. Something to mention about the “foot block” on the fabric…it is so much less painful. Instead of putting pressure on three points on your foot to hold all your weight like the corde lisse, the fabric wraps your foot, for the most part evening out the pressure points.
I wanted to spend all day on the fabric, but unfortunately for me, Jackie and Mary Kelly thought it would be valuable for us to finish learning the “mermaid sequence”. We did the moves we had already learned last week, the “mermaid”, “½ angel”, “back angel”, and “one-hand one-foot”. It was good review because I had clearly already forgotten how to do them. We then learned two more moves, the “one-knee one-elbow” and the “candlestick”. The “one-knee one-elbow” is similar to the “one-hand one-foot”, in that from the latter move, your pull yourself up and bend one knee and one elbow around the trapeze instead of just one foot and one hand. When done correctly, the move looks like you’re a shirt on a clothesline, just chillin out. For the “candlestick”, your simply bend the free knee over the knee bent around the trapeze and let go so that you are suspended only by your bent knees.
That position looked a lot scarier and unstable than it actually was.We finished the lesson with the same “toughening” and “strengthening” exercises that we have been doing. One of the students, Anthony, who is training to become a professional ballerina, noticed that I was having an easy time with the sit-ups. So he suggested that I try them from an “ankle hang”. It was definitely more challenging and worked a different set of abdominal muscles. We got to talking, and we realized that we knew many of the same people. Shulie Shmaters, who goes to the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, and four other girls who are or were in the same dance company as him that I knew from school.
During today’s class, my mom decided to pop in for the end of it. She was beside herself by the time I was finished. She kept saying that she wanted someone under me to catch me if I fell. Right…like that would help when falling from the ceiling to the floor. Having my mom there however made the whole post-lesson explanation easier. Previously, I would come home and my parents would ask me what I did, and I would tell them that it’s very hard to explain and they would get very upset that I couldn’t tell them anything for all the money they were spending on the classes. So my mom agreeing with me when I needed to explain it to my dad made the whole thing easier.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
