Weekend Classes 2024
WORKSHOPS
Untangled – Self-esteem and Body Image
/ with Emma Poole (2024)
Untangling the thoughts and stories about ourselves and our bodies. This workshop is for aerialists who are interested in learning more about self-esteem and body image, and how this impacts us in this unique aerial world. Emma will share her psychological research on this topic and explore ways of helping you feel better in your own skin. It will include discussions, journal prompts, and tools to help build a better relationship with your body and yourself.
All you need is pen and paper. We are not going in the air for this one.
Vertical Dance Doubles
/ with Roel Seeber (2024)
Roel Seeber will explore partner work on the wall. Only for people with a reasonable amount of experience in vertical dance who are confident moving on the wall.
When the Rope Frays: Burnout and Compassion Fatigue
/ with Janelle Peters @cirque_psych (2024)
Formerly thought to only impact first responders and direct care providers, Burnout and Compassion Fatigue actually threaten the mental health of people across many fields.
Circus professionals, due to our deep commitment and care for our work, our students, and our communities, are especially vulnerable, and rarely trained in how to identify and work with Burnout or Compassion Fatigue. This workshop provides an opportunity for reflection and self-assessment, as well as tools and frameworks to help prevent, mitigate, and heal from Burnout and Compassion Fatigue in our work as circus humans.
Vertical Dance
/ with Amelia Rudolph (2024)
Amelia Rudolph, founder of BANDALOOP, will lead a 3.5 hour vertical dance workshop (with 30 min break). Only for people with a reasonable amount of experience in vertical dance who are confident moving on the wall.
Getting Your Shit Together
/ with Rachel Strickland (2024)
This workshop is for emerging and already working artists. It is designed to arm you with the best practices for a career as a professional physical performer, and how to succeed once you get there.
Extend to Bend: Contortion Technique
/ with Janelle Peters (Janelle Dinosaurs) (2024)
In this workshop, participants will learn some of the main concepts of contortion technique, and dig into a wealth of drills and exercises to find extension, support, breath, and control in end range movement. Since it’s the Irish AERIAL Dance Festival, special attention will be paid to finding mobility in shoulders, upper back, and hips – places where aerial and contortion priorities often differ. We’ll discuss (while training) ways to safely incorporate deep bends into aerial choreography. Please bring socks, and dress in layers. Backwarmers are welcome, but not required.
CLASSES
Aerial Burlesque
/ with Emma D’Lemma (2024)
The art of the tease— in the air!
We will go over some beginner-intermediate friendly movements on silks, sling, and lyra and how to make them burlesque. There will also be a short talk about performance, stage presence, is it funny or sexy or both, and some history.
Be sure to wear a comfortable under layer that you will keep on, and feel free to bring any thigh high socks/ stockings, undies, bras, or anything you deem easy to remove to this class! I will also bring some things to share.
Prerequisites: some aerial experience preferred
Spin Cycle
/ with Ess Hödlmoser (2024)
Join me for this 90-minute spinning lab on aerial straps! If you don’t love spinning, but you want to love spinning (or, you already love it but want to work on your technique!), we’ll spend this time talking about how we condition our vestibular systems (for those who struggle with spinning faster and longer); and increasing speed and endurance for 1-arm and 2-arm spinning. Time permitting, we’ll explore some accessible straps vocabulary that requires fast, strong spins (starting from flares as a foundation, up to inverted 1-arm positions).
Folks taking this workshop should be comfortable being weight-bearing on straps (on one arm or two arms) for at least thirty seconds or so!
Unique Wraps on Cocoon
/ with Kylin Trussell (2024)
Unique sequencing on cocoon. Expect to go on a journey of stacking and playing in different wraps to find personalized shapes while working towards flowing through transitions.
Chains
/ with Alec Stoddard (2024)
Participants should be comfortable inverting and pulling up repeatedly, as well as have some spin tolerance already developed. This is not because the course is that demanding, but rather, the chains themselves can be! Knowing your baseline aerial conditioning is solid will help you focus on new chain-specific sensations!
This class will be a taster of what it’s like to work on chains.
Suggested equipment:
-Layers for hips, thighs, ankles, shins, elbows
-Trapeze boots or gaiters if you own some!
-Plain rock rosin
-Ginger candies or Sea Bands for dizziness
-Arnica gel for bruising!
Dance Bungee
/ with Kat Doherty (2024)
This will be a simple dance bungee class, mainly aimed at those who have not tried it before, but more advanced also welcome.
Dynamic Cocoon
/ with Kylin Trussell (2024)
This workshop is great for those beginning to explore more dynamic movement. It will cover beats and how to use them for interesting transitions and more advanced skills, as well as a break-down of some drops that require decent air awareness.
Rope
/ with Lily Rubin-Miller (2024)
Expect the Unexpected
This workshop is all about taking our familiar habits on rope and expanding them to discover new entrances, exits, movement opportunities, and transitions. Take sequences and moves that feel comfortable and make them new, inspire yourself to create different pathways, do the unexpected.
Prerequisite: comfortable with at least a few sequences on rope
Hoops Spins & Flares
/ with Kat Doherty (2024)
This hoop class does exactly what it says on the tin: spinning and flares.
Silks (But It’s Straps)
/ with Emma D’Lemma (2024)
It’s exactly what it sounds like! We’re taking straps things and silkifying them to create new sequencing pathways, sneaky transitions, and just fun tricks!
If you’re a silks aficionado this class will scratch a brainy itch. If you’re a straps lover then just letting you know you have two whole tails to work with now too and that’s where the fun begins!
Prerequisites: good grip strength and an open mind