Intro to Aerial Arts
Intro to Aerial Arts at THE SPACE is designed to acquaint new students with the facility, equipment, and apparatus. Students will learn about the different types of apparatus as well as safety protocols. The goal of an Intro class is to ensure students can safely and confidently mount and dismount the three apparatus introduced in this class: fabric, trapeze, and lyra. Rope and Straps are more advanced apparatus and have more specific pre-requisites. Pole has its own Intro to Pole class.
Your first class at THE SPACE will begin with a group led warm up. You will then work on fabric, trapeze, and lyra learning how to mount the apparatus as well as learn some fundamental poses and simple inversions. Your instructor will also lead you through some conditioning exercises and stretches that you can work on at home or during Open Studio.
Aerial Arts Program
Once you have successfully completed an Intro to Aerial Arts class at THE SPACE you will be able to attend Beginner Fabric I, Beginner Trapeze, or Beginner Lyra classes. Rope and Straps classes are a bit more advanced and thus have individual pre-requisites that you will be able to meet by attending other aerial classes or taking private lessons. For all pre-requisites please read about the specific apparatus below. Additionally, once you have completed Intro to Aerial, you will be able to attend Open Studio at THE SPACE in order to practice the skills you have learned in class.
At THE SPACE we offer a wide variety of aerial arts classes, workshops, and private lessons for more specialized training. We offer fabric, trapeze, lyra, rope, pole, and sling classes. The aim of our curriculum is to be a balance of skill based and creative curriculum. Each class begins with a group warm up, followed by some review of previously learned skills. The bulk of a class will be either working on new skills, refining technique, or using learned skills to develop sequences and work on creative exercises.
Fabric
Aerial Fabric, also known as aerial silks or tissu, is a favorite apparatus among many students, performers, and audience members alike. Silks are a special type of fabric blend that are rigged or hung in a way that gives them two legs, often called tails, or poles. We offer aerial classes for Beginners to Advanced students.
Sling Dance Vocabulary
Pre-Requisites: Must take Intro to Aerial Arts at THE SPACE and receive permission from the Intro instructor to move on. Alternatively receive permission from the sling instructor: must be able to safely mount and dismout a sling.
Sling Vocabulary is a class designed for students that have taken Intro to Aerial and are able to safely mount and dismount a low sling. In this course students will learn the fundamental vocabulary as well as standard series and series in order to start to get creative and build sequences on their own with guidance.
Beginner Fabric I
Pre-Requisite: Must take Intro to Aerial Arts at THE SPACE and receive permission from the Intro instructor to move on.
The aim of Beginner Fabric I is to develop students' strength and confidence by acquiring the fundamental tools in order to get off the ground. Students will learn to stand on vertical apparatus through wraps and knots, as well as climb and be able to hold their body weight in their hands. Students will be working primarily on foot lock skills.
Beginner Fabric II
Pre-Requisites: Must be proficient in French climbs, know how to tie figure 8 foot locks (at least from the ground), able to perform a tuck inversion from the ground, and able to hold a bent and a straight arm hang (> 10 seconds).
The goal of Beginner Fabric II is for students to develop stamina and a safe ability of working in the air above head height. When students are working above spotting height, particularly in wraps and transitions, it is imperative that they can do so safely. Two useful skills for this are the ability to pull oneself up and the ability to tie a foot lock in the air. Once a student can do these two things they can rescue themselves from many tricky situations that can be encountered moving on to more complex wraps.
Intermediate Fabric I
Pre-Requisites: Beginner I + II pre-requisites, proficient in russian and big russian (russian flirt) climbs, able to invert in the air and double crochet, able to tie a foot lock in the air, know OS and SS hooks and understand climbing over into hip lock or tourniquet (hip key or thigh lock), able to perform a clean and safe crossback straddle)
A primary goal of Intermediate Fabric I is for students to have the strength and stamina to climb to the full height required to perform drops. Students will be introduced to wrapped drops in this course. Students will also begin to create their own, yet guided, sequences.
Intermediate Fabric II
Pre-Requisites: Beginner I + II and Intermediate I pre-requisites, able to complete OS and SS wraps (closed wrap and catchers hang), able to crochet climb, able to demo a clean and safe single star.
The aim of Intermediate Fabric II is to ensure that students gain a solid understanding of drop and rotation directionality (i.e. when the pole is "here" in relation to me, my body will go "this way"). Students will also be introduced to the idea of tempo by learning fundamental beats and introductory momentum pathways. A great focus of Intermediate Fabric II shall be to ensure students become proficient in developing their own sequences for practice.
Advanced Fabric
Pre-Requisites: Beginner I + II and Intermediate I + II pre-requisites, able to perform OS ans SS hook climbs (x4 in a row or to height) with straddle downs, know 2 exits from double crochet, able to invert with straight legs, know 2 entries into crossback straddle, know 2 methods of entering an S-wrap, demo 1 double crochet, demo a clean and safe double star.
Advanced Fabric is taught in series format. During the course of these series students will develop a clear understanding of drop theory: directionality, body positions, stacking, and creating their own combinations. Students will dissect wraps in order to develop a clear understanding of them and discover new entries, exits, and transitions. In advanced fabric students will apply principles of momentum. An advanced fabric student shall have the strength, stamina, and confidence in their skill to develop their own complete acts. The class will have many creative exercises, puzzles, and challenges to stimulate students and inspire them to create.
Trapeze
At THE SPACE, we have static and dance trapeze. A trapeze is a bar made of metal or carbon fiber depending on the type with cotton ropes. Our static trapezes are steel with cotton ropes that are cored with steel cable or am-steel. The bars are quite heavy and there is no stretch in the ropes so they are ideal for dynamic movement. The dance trapeze is carbon fiber with cotton ropes, so they are quite stretchy, and they come to a single point which is ideal for spinning moves and low flying dance like movement.
Beginner Trapeze
Pre-Requisites: must take Intro to Aerial at THE SPACE and receive permission from the Intro Instructor to move on. Alternatively one may receive permission from the Trapeze instructor: must be able to safely mount and dismount the bar.
This is a course geared toward students that have taken Intro to Aerial Arts and are able to comfortably and safely mount and dismount a trapeze bar. Students will learn a variety of additional mounts and dismounts as well as learn how to work on the bar. In this course students will learn the fundamental trapeze skills required to build small sequences as well as develop the stamina to do so.
Mixed Level Trapeze (Advanced Beginners and Intermediate Students)
Pre-Requisites: Beginner pre-requisites, able to hold a bent arm tuck in the ropes (>10 seconds), able to perform an unassisted tuck under, straddle up, and pull over mount, comfortable with knee beats and pike beats, comfortable in catchers, back balance, gazelle, and straddle back on bar, able to invert in the ropes.
In Mixedc Level Trapeze students will continue to familiarize themselves with the bar and the fundamentals of trapeze. Students will develop the skill set and comfort to work in sequences.
Lyra
Lyra, which is also called aerial hoop, aerial ring, cerceau, or cerceaux is a circular apparatus that you can work within, underneath, or above. At THE SPACE we have both single tab as well as double tabbed lyra, which means they are attached from one point on the hoop or from two. Our lyra are all steel and equipped on swivels so they can be used static or spinning.
Beginner Lyra
Pre-Requisites: must take Intro to Aerial at THE SPACE and receive permission from the Intro instructor to move on. Alternately one can receive permission from the lyra instructor: must be able to safely mount and dismount the hoop.
This class is designed for students that are able to safely mount and dismount a lyra and have taken Intro to Aerial Arts. The objective of this course is to build upper body strength and confidence in the air. Students will gain the ability to hold their body weight, supported by the hoop, in one hand as well as learn how to invert to the top of the hoop from within the hoop.
Intermediate Lyra
Pre-Requisites: Beginner Lyra pre-requisites, able to pull over on to the bottom bar, able to perform at least 1 pull up, comfortable in press support positions (e.g. dragonfly, amazon, etc.), able to cleanly invert inside the hoop (from bottom to top bar), comfortable with knee beats, comfortable holding supported weight in one arm.
The overarching theme of this class is that students will develop a greater understanding of momentum inside the hoop. Students will begin to build their own sequences in this course. Strength will also be further developed as students begin to invert with straight arms and hang on a single arm in order to spin. Students will also be able to understand and apply fundamental momentum techniques in skills throughout this course.
Rope
Covered Rope (or Corde Lisse, Cuerda Lisa, or Rope) is a vertically rigged cotton rope that is encased in a sheath, that presents itself to a variety of skills that translate from aerial fabric, as well as entirely new possibilities. In this rope classes we will explore moves that translate from fabric such as climbs and foot locks and learn quintessential rope moves such as toe climbs. We will also explore moves that we all can bring to class from other apparatus as individuals.
Rope I - Foundations
Pre-Requisites: Must be proficient in French and Russian climbs and able to invert (at least from the ground). Equivalent of Beginner Fabric II or above.
Rope II - Fundamentals
Pre-Requisites: Rope I pre-requisites, able to invert in the air, perform a toe climb, understand inside (SS) and outside (OS hooks and climbing over into locks, know how to tie a foot lock in the air (any kind - half lock preferred)
Rope III - Principles
Pre-Requisites: Rope I + II pre-requisites, able to invert in the air with straight legs, able to comfortably wheel down and unwrap above the ground, perform any front salto, comfortable with basic tmpo (bell, straddle, pike, flat body beats), comfotable in catchers, hip lock, tourniquet, and s-wrap.
Rope IV - Purpose (Private Lessons Only)
Pre-Requisites: Rope I, II, + III pre-requisties, able to invert with straight legs and arms, proficient in beats, comfortable in back balance, basic understanding of hip hop/break beats, comfortable with basic roll ups (hip lock and brazillian/no side), able to hip lock climb, comfortable with meat hooks.
