Open Aerial Session

At my trapeze lesson place, they offer open aerial sessions where you can come and practice for an hour and a half at various times during the week for $10. It's drop in, so no need to register or anything. You can just show up at as many or as few as you want. I realize that I have a LOT of work to do in order to get this routine to a performable state by December.

The open session was awesome! I did about 10-15 minutes of stretching and warming up. Then, I went right into my routine. I actually did all of the tricks (minus the shoulder stand) in sequence. Granted, it looked quite rough, but it's getting better. I've decided to take the amazon trick out. I don't feel comfortable enough to practice it on my own, and honestly, I don't think it adds all that much to the performance.

Then, the instructor on duty (who is the pilates instructor) was doing a pilates warm up with one of the people there. Another girl joined in, so I joined in, too. So, I got about 15 minutes worth of a pilates workout, which was very cool. Then, I did my entire routine (minus the shoulder stand) again. It wasn't as good as the first time. I struggled more on the Thread the Needle, and especially on the seahorse (the pulling up part, which requires strength). But, still, I was able to get through the whole thing.

After a brief rest (which I spent stretching a bit more), I went for a 3rd round. I did not get through the whole thing. I got all the way to the seahorse and was unable to pull up and over. I also skipped the standing tricks and skipped to the Straddle back balance. All in all, though, not bad. After that, I did 20 v-crunches, a little extra stretching, and then I left. I stayed a bit over an hour.

I have a strategy for getting the confidence to do the shoulder stand. I'm going to do the egg trick (which involved standing on the bar, then pulling up into a tuck so that you're holding your entire body weight in your hands on the rope). Hopefully this will give me the confidence to work up to the shoulder stand. Otherwise I'll need to come up with some other transition. I think I can do it, though. I'll just have to see. I feel quite a bit stronger already than when I started.

So, here's my routine:

Split under the bar
Mermaid under the bar
1 knee hang
1 knee roll-up
Layback Style (both sides)
Fetal balance
Free handed hammock
Double arm flag
Seahorse
Flag
Air Split
Thread the Needle
Iron Cross
Shoulder Stand (or some transition from stand to sit)
Straddle Back Balance
Birds Nest
Angel Sequence

Oh, and there's one part of the trapeze that I didn't miss at all that has returned - the bruises! My poor legs look so bad, especially this one near my right knee. Amazingly enough my hands haven't torn up like they did at the City Museum. I think it's a difference in the trapezes that she has here.