Still Loving Silks

[ladysprite]

I've had two formal Aerial Silks classes so far, and I'm still as utterly besotted with the art as I was after my first sampler.

It helps that our class is small - 4 of us total, plus one teacher. 3 of us have never done any aerials at all before; one girl has been through the Level 1 class a few times but is still working on building strength and comfort with the form. So there's a lot of direct communication with the teacher, and we each have "our" silks, and we tend to play and move at our own pace.

The first class was mostly about getting comfortable with foot locks (wrapping the fabric around your foot in such a way that it'll stay put without any further attention, freeing up your other leg), and various ways to balance and pose once you're there. Yesterday's class went from there into inversions (hanging upside down in the silks) and hip keys (essentially, lying on your side in mid-air, parallel to the ground, with the silks wrapped around your inner thigh and hip, both hands and feet free). And I can't get enough of it.

The more I do, the more natural it feels - like somehow I'm just *supposed* to be upside down in mid-air wrapped in fabric. I know it sounds absurd, but I hate putting my feet back on the ground.

And I'm a bit worried at how easy it all is. I've done enough motion arts to know that easy can often be 'not getting your fundamentals right' - and there's something that seems off when three girls are falling and getting tangled and grunting and straining and I'm... rolling up into a pose and wondering what the trouble is. Unfortunately, since I'm not falling, the instructor is spending most of the time with the other students.

He's not ignoring me; I'm getting the occasional nod, or the reminder to point my foot out instead of keeping it parallel, or to curve my back instead of arching it. But I'm afraid that either I'm doing something basic wrong, or that I'm going to get overconfident and have an incredibly rude awakening very soon.

(The instructor did, at least, manage to find a conditioning exercise that kicked my butt after I finished the first two "too easily" - I have been introduced to the core torture that is hanging leg lifts, and damnit, I will master them if it kills me....)

Ultimately, this is heaven. It's in the air and upside down and dancing and using all of my body and my strength and I want to do it every day and I never want to stop....

Comments

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

This sounds like so much fun for you :-).

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

It sounds utterly lovely! I've looked at aerial silks, and I've thought it looked fun, too.

[elusiveat.livejournal.com]

Been taking classes at Esh for about a year now, and am up to Level 3 silks. I recommend not worrying too much about getting basics wrong at Level 1. You'll get plenty of refinements as you move to higher levels, and they're really good at accelerating students (or giving more time if needed) through the levels based on your current abilities.

Hope to see you there sometime, and have fun : )

[grum]

I loved the aerials class Tcepsa and I did a few years back, but it was 8 or 10 people and 2-4 trapezes or silks, so there was a LOT of standing around. Between the inefficient use of time, the 30 minute drive there, and the cost, we dropped it pretty quickly. But I'd love to have a setup at home to play on. Maybe someday.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you've found something that is a good match for you!

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

Silks look amazing, if they work for you, go for it :-)

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

This is really neat - it's wonderful that you've found something that's so much fun, such good exercise, and that fits you so well.