First Aerial Choreography Class

I had my first aerial choreography class yesterday. It was good, but I have a lot of work to do. This was very different from my previous trapeze classes. For one thing, we didn't receive any spot the entire class. That limited the tricks we could practice to ones that we felt we wouldn't fall while doing. I was still able to practice quite a lot, though.

We started with introductions - there were about 6 ladies in the class total. 4 were going to be doing trapeze, 1 the rope, and 1 silks. We talked about what we hoped to get from the class, and then Joelle talked about different aspects of choreography, and posed numerous questions for us to think about regarding our routines. I realized that I'm ahead of the game in terms of my mental preparation regarding my routine. I know my character, theme, a basic order of tricks, music, and even costume. My physical preparation, though, I'm behind the rest of the students. They all have a lot more strength than I do. And, they seem more confident on their apparatus. I felt so thankful that I had done the private lesson last weekend. Otherwise, I would have been very uncomfortable.

After about 30 minutes of discussion, we did a brief warm-up and stretching. I was the only one who had the full split on both sides (and Joelle noticed and complimented me - yay). Not bad for a week or 2 of stretching. I still have a bit more to go with that, but I'm confident my flexibility will be more than sufficient by December. My strength/endurance... Not so sure about that. I was pleased that I didn't visibly look out of place. I think I appeared to be in the same fitness league as the other women. But, they did have a lot more strength.

After that, we each chose a trapeze/rope/silk, and Joelle played some music while we improvised. We were supposed to "play" and try to do something that fit the music. I did that a little bit, but I focused on practicing some of my tricks in sequence. I did some feet movements that seemed to fit (and Joelle even noticed and complimented some of that - yay me). But, mainly I was just trying not to look scared up there.

So, I started with this sequence:
Split Under the Bar
Mermaid
1 knee hang
1 knee roll-up
Lay back style (both sides)

Then, my sequence should have been fetal balance and free handed hammock, but I had no spot. I figured it was better not to chance it, so I did Double Arm Flag and then Flag and Air Split.

We did this kind of thing a couple of times. I also practiced my ending sequence - Straddle Back Balance, Bird's Nest, Angel Sequence. I practiced Flag and Double Arm Flag several times.

Then, at the end, we each had to choose 3 tricks and perform individually with everyone watching. The goal was to perform to some random music, and intersperse choreography. I originally chose Seahorse, Amazon, and Thread the Needle. But, when I got up there, I didn't feel confident about Amazon, so I did Iron Cross after Thread the Needle instead. I made a lot of progress with the Thread the Needle. I got it on my first attempt this time (although it was still quite cludgy). But, that was much better than last weekend. With the Iron Cross, I was able to do some feet things to the music, which Joelle liked. And, I was impressed that I was able to get the Seahorse on my own (although I have some work to do with it, too). I volunteered to go first, which I think was a good call. By going first, it seemed like everyone thought I did well. But, I think I was either the weakest or the 2nd to weakest. So, going first was definitely to my advantage. After each performance, everyone offered comments as to what they liked about it. I made sure to comment about something for everyone. I got a lot of good comments, too, so that was good.

We ran a bit late, so I had to rush out to get home. But, other than it being a rush to get there and a rush to leave, the actual class was pretty good. I was able to practice almost all of my tricks. I didn't do Amazon, Shoulder Stand, or Fetal Balance/Free Handed Hammock. But, not bad overall.

I'm going to need to go to some of the open aerial sessions, at least one per week in addition to my class if I'm going to want to be able to not look like a fool. The performance is tentatively Sat Dec 18th at 6pm.