Act Eleven – March 15, 2009

This was the third class, but I was still feeling very behind the other students. I was obviously learning, and I was happy that we were doing things at a much faster rate than the Beginner A class, but sometimes I do wish that we would slow down a bit and take the time to practice a little more instead of just rushing through the list so that we can say that we learned 298 moves. Today, the gym was very hot, because for some reason the heater had gone bizerk. I was sweating the whole time (I was wearing long thick cotton spandex to protect against rope burn), and at one point thought I was going to pass out.

As usual (after the warm-up) we began the true lesson on the corde lisse. We continued to review the “waist block”, but now that I was trying it in the air instead of off the ground, I was having much more difficulty with the move. Hopefully, I’ll master it soon.

We then learned two new moves, derived from the “upside-down descent”. Climbing up a few climbs, I managed (albeit a little messy) to get into my “upside-down descent” position. From there, instead of bending my knee around the rope, I twisted my leg around the rope above my body and used my ankle as an anchor. I then brought my arms away from my body into a T position. Because of its likeness to the letter T, this move is called the “upside-down T”.

The last move we learned on the corde lisse is the “frog”. It is another move named for its appearance, because when done at least semi-properly, you look like an upside down frog. Starting in the “upside-down descent”, the free legs should be bent, and with your free hand, wind the corde lisse that is usually wrapped around your bottom arm, once around the free leg under the knee. Finally, let go. (example shown on fabric)

Meanwhile on the trapeze, we reviewed the “gazelle”, “front balance” and “up and over”. We also learned some new and exciting moves: the “stripper” (which is similar to the “flag” and “double flag”), the “birds nest between the ropes”, “splits between the ropes”, “forward roll” and “backwards roll”.

The “stripper” is done by sitting with straight legs and holding onto one rope of the trapeze. You then swing your legs toward the opposite rope for momentum and swing around the rope that you are holding onto with your legs in a tucked position, landing by sitting back down on the trapeze. Obviously, I would get tangled, but the most common issue aerialist have with this move is that they get stuck midway thru and have to jump of the trapeze because they have no way back.

The “birds nest between the ropes” is done the same way that it is performed on the fabric, but you start by standing on the trapeze. The other between the ropes moves is the “splits between the ropes”. This is done by standing, and doing a tuck between the ropes, and then twisting your body and letting each foot touch a rope, and lowering yourself into a split. I had trouble with this one not due to my lack of flexibility, but because I couldn’t figure out how to keep my feet high enough before the split occurred so that they wouldn’t slide.

The “forward roll” and “backward roll” are done from standing (or from a crouch if you are nervous or feel insecure). You must position your hands under your armpits (wrists are positioned in different directions based on which move you are trying). For the “forward roll”, you lean forward and rotate that direction and have to readjust your hands so that you do not fall. For the “backward roll”, if you are not strong enough to flat out lift your body, like me, you jump backwards a little bit to perform the rotation. For some reason, the wrists do not get tangled in this one and no readjustment is necessary.

I again managed only one pull up by myself, but this time, I was able to do all 10 tuck-ups/tuck-thrus without much spot at all. I was pretty proud of my accomplishments and the fact that I didn’t need much spotting at all on that strengthening move showed just how far I had come.