The Desire

To Fly

1. Trapeze

2. Silks

3. Robe

4. Hoop

5. Mixed

This is a documentation of the process of learning

a new skill through a 5-week programme of

mixed aerial classes, such as: trapeze, silks,

robe and hoop. During each session the purpose

is to learn the basics and give you a chance to

practice one aerial each week; in the last class

we will get the chance to try all of them at once.

This is to give us a better understanding of the

requirements and to show your abilities as each

week something different will be expected. This

is all about my new experience and learning

a new skill in my interested subject. This

publication forms part of a final outcome for my

chosen theme ‘Circus’.

About

5 weeks

£30

Sundays

1hr

3:00pm

Kingswood

Kingswood

Foundation,

Britannia Road,

Kingswood,

Bristol, BS15 8DB

UNITED KINGDOM

Flying High

A circus is a company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats,

trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers,

jugglers, unicyclists and other object manipulation and stunt-oriented

artists. The term ‘circus’ also describes the performance which has followed

various formats through its 150 year modern history. Philip Astley is credited

with being the ‘father’ of the modern circus when he opened the first circus

in 1768 in England. Early circuses were almost exclusively demonstrations

of equestrian skills with a few other types of acts to link the horsemanship

performances. Performances developed significantly through the next fifty

years, with large scale theatrical battle reenactments becoming a significant

feature.

The ‘traditional’ format, whereby a ringmaster introduces a varied

selection of acts that mostly perform choreographed acts to traditional

music, developed in the latter part of 19th century and continued almost

universally to be the main style of circus up until 1970s.

About Circus

My interest for learning an aerial skill derived from the research and

development process for my chosen theme ‘Circus’. So for those who wish

to know more about it, below is a brief history to give you an introduction

to my topic.

Contemporary circus has been credited with reviving the circus tradition

since 1980s when a number of groups introduced circus based almost solely

on human skills and which drew from other performing art skills and styles.

As styles of performance have changed since the time of Astley, so too have

the types of venues where these circuses have performed.

The earliest modern circuses were performed in open air structures with

limited covered seating. From the late 18th to late 19th century bespoke

circus buildings (often wooden) were built with various types of seating, a

centre ring and sometimes a stage.

The ‘traditional’ large tents, commonly known as ‘Big Tops’ were introduced

in the mid 19th century as touring circuses superseded static venues. These

tents eventually became the most common venue and remain so to the

present day.

Contemporary circuses perform in a variety of venues including tents,

theatres and casinos. Many circus performances are still held in a ring

usually 13 m (42 ft) in diameter. This dimension was adopted by Philip

Astley in the late 18th century as the minimum diameter that enabled an

acrobatic horse rider to stand upright on a cantering horse to perform their

tricks.

Balance is the

key, and practice

makes perfect.

Balance is the

key, and practice

makes perfect.

The anticipation to get started was killing me.

I was so nervous; putting my self in a new

environment. Not knowing who to expect,

questioning if I had the strength and what the

first class was going to be like. On the day, you

might not be shocked but I couldn’t stop thinking

about what to wear. Would leggings and a top be

all right, what shoes would be appropriate?

The classes are in Kingswood, which is a

30-minute journey from City Centre on the no.6

(First Bus). As it was the first time I was going,

I asked my boyfriend to come with to make my

life easier. We didn’t get lost but it took us a lot

longer to get there that we expected. Feeling

stressed about walking there fast enough from

the Kingswood Centre to get there with enough

time to spare; made me forget about what was

the right thing to wear.

Mixed Aerial – Beginners

A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by

ropes or metal straps from a support. It is an

aerial apparatus commonly found in circus

performances. Trapeze acts may be static,

swinging or flying, and may be performed solo,

double, triple or as a group act.

Static trapeze refers to a trapeze act in which

the performer moves around the bar and ropes,

performing a wide range of movements including

balances, drops, hangs while the bar itself stays

mostly in place. The difficulty on a static trapeze

is making every move look effortless. It is like

dance, in that most people of a reasonable level

of strength can get onto the bar for the first time

and do the tricks but an experienced artist will

do them with much more grace and style.

About Trapeze

Week 1. Trapeze As I walked from the bus stop to Britannia Road,

I was full of anticipation for the first lesson of

many more to come. Normally it’s Alex who

teaches this class but for the first lesson we had

a lovely aerialist substitute tutor called Rebecca

Mayfield. She was a great tutor who at the end of

the class agreed to have a quick (recorded) chat

about her interests/carrier (Next Few Pages).

Everyone in the class has never had any

experience related to any of the aerials, apart

from one girl who is more active as she’s¬¬ a

dancer. This makes the environment in the group

more relaxed and confortable as we are all at a

similar skill level. Though I have to say, there is

an older woman in the class who seems to stand

out; she looks in very good shape and is always

keen to do the moves and learn more.

There is a routine to started and end the class by

stretching out, warming up through a series of

exercises. A lot of the time it’s spent stretching

as we are using muscles that we don’t normally

use.

Interview with Rebecca Mayfield

Substitute Tutor – Week 1.Trapeze

My name is Rebecca Mayfield

What do you do?

Hey again, what’s your name?

I do lots of different things; I’m an aerialist,

so I do trapeze aerial rope and silks.

What made you go into this job, have you wanted to do it since you were younger?

No actually, I ended up doing it by accident

haha. I started off learning fire; I was self-

taught, so fire spinning and fire eating;

which I still do now.

Ah okay

Then I got my brother to make me a set of stilts, and then I started stilt walking.

Haha, what an adventurer!

Haha yes, then a friend of mine was learning

trapeze in Barcelona; it’s actually a big

circus city, with a big school so there’s a big

circus scene over there. So I started doing

static trapeze over there; which is what we

did today. From there I moved from Spain

back to England and came to circle media

and did a full time course at circle media.

How long was that?

At the time it was a one year course, it’s

now a two year course. It was amazing; we

got to obviously learn a lot of different skills

but also we learned a lot about performance.

They got us involved with some quite big

shows in theatres and big tops. So that was

some very good experience.

That’s great, so which do you like best?

Ooh swinging trapeze! Yeah?

It’s very addictive, once you start doing

swinging trapeze it takes over your brain.

You dream about it and think about it all

the time; but it’s such a nice feeling, the

swinging motion and the falling off then

catching.

Whats the biggest audience you’ve

performed for?

Erm wow I really don’t know! What a question. You know what, I really don’t know.Yeah! I’m guessing it’s a lot?

Yeah, well it’s quite a few I suppose. I’ve performed at festivals, circus tours in sort of more traditional circuses.

No problem, see you soon!

So what are the names of the moves we learned today?

Well you learned how to get on and to

standing, you learned the Hox position;

which is hangning from the knees and you

also learned the Bird’s nest; which is when

you do the arch.

Thank you, that’s great.

Hox position

This was such a good first class; trapeze was a

great aerial to start with. Only just met Rebecca

and I feel like I’m going to miss her already,

hopefully I will see her in the near future in a

Trapeze class. Lets not get ahead of our self, as

there are other aerials to explore. I really enjoyed

the first lesson and it’s a shame that I won’t

be able to go to the next one, as I have tickets

book to see ‘The Weekend’ in Manchester. These

tickets have been booked for over 8 months

but I’m still gutted to be missing a class. So for

week 2, I will be gathering information from the

Internet about the next aerial.

What’s next?

Would you be able to use the fabric to wrap, suspend, fall, swing, and spiral your body into and out of various positions?

Would you be able to use the fabric to wrap, suspend, fall, swing, and spiral your body into and out of various positions?

Aerial silk (also known as aerial contortion, aerial

ribbons, aerial silks, aerial tissues, fabric, ribbon,

or tissu, depending on regional preference) is a

type of performance in which one or more artists

perform aerial acrobatics while hanging from a

special fabric. Performers climb the suspended

fabric without the use of safety lines, and rely

only on their training and skill to ensure safety.

Aerial silks may be used to fly through the air,

striking poses and figures while flying. Some

performers use dried or spray rosin on their

hands and feet to increase the friction and grip

on the fabric.

About Aerial Silk

The three main categories of tricks are climbs, wraps and drops. Climbs

employed by aerialists range from purely practical and efficient, such as the

French climb, to athletic and elegant tricks of their own, such as the straddle

climb. Wraps are static poses where aerialists wrap the silks around one or

more parts of their body.

In general, the more complicated the wrap, the stronger the force of friction

and the less effort required to hold oneself up. Some wraps, such as the

straddle-back-balance, actually allow performers to completely release their

hands. Foot locks are a sub-category of wraps where the silks are wrapped

around one or both feet.

In a drop, performers wrap themselves up high on the silks before falling to

a lower position. Drops can combine aspects of free fall, rolling or otherwise

rotating oneself before landing in a new pose. Preparation for a drop can

make for a pretty wrap, but the ultimate goal is the fall rather than the pose.

Of the three trick types, drops require the most strength, and are also the

most potentially dangerous. Rosin (dry or mixed with rubbing alcohol)

is employed to help performers maintain their grip. Aerial silks are an

incredibly demanding art and require a high degree of strength, power,

flexibility, courage, and grace to practice.

2.SILK

The fabrics used as silks are very strong with

some give and flexibility. The fabric is 2-way

stretch polyester lycra. The width varies

depending on the routine and the acrobat.

The fabric is usually quite long, as it is doubled

for rigging, giving the acrobat two strips of

fabric to work with as he or she performs.Low

stretch fabrics. Low stretch fabrics are primarily

used by beginners who have not yet developed

proper climbing technique. Medium stretch

fabrics. Medium stretch fabrics are the principal

choice of professional aerialists and graduates

of professional training programs such as École

nationale de cirque.

Length is a function of the height of the space

available. For beginners, it is beneficial if the

fabric comes down past the ground, allowing

them to practice wraps at a lower level where

they can be spotted.

For intermediate users and above, it is sufficient

if the fabrics to come down to the ground.

For all users, the space required is usually

between 20 and 30 ft. There are a great many

tricks that can be done on a 12-to-15-foot (3.7 to

4.6 m) aerial fabric and a few drops require more

than 30 feet, but for the most part 20 to 30 feet (6

to 9 m) is best.

Fabric

Lenght

Stretch

Space

3.ROPE

Today was probably the one that I was least

looking forward to because as I mentioned

before my arms are weaker than my legs. As I

arrived to the class I was keen to know what

did I had missed the previous week. I wasn’t

impressed when I heard it was ‘Silk’ as I was

looking forward to this aerial the most. Why

didn’t they do rope last week? I asked myself.

To be honest I did better than I was expecting, I

could pull my own weight and hold on for a few

seconds whilst doing the different moves. This

process feels rough as your hands and feet start

to hurt or burn against the rope. This explains

why the rope is the one aerial that I’m sure I

won’t be carrying on after the completion of the

mixed aerial classes.

Rope Burn – 4 days

after the class

What is also known as the lyra, aerial ring or cerceau?

What is also known as the lyra, aerial ring or cerceau?

The aerial hoop is a circular steel apparatus

(resembling a hula hoop) suspended from the

ceiling, on which circus artists may perform

aerial acrobatics. The hoop sometimes has a

hand loop and a bar across the top. It can be used

static, spinning, or swinging.

Single tab hoop with handloop, tabs are the

connection points where the aerial hoop attaches

to the rigging. Most aerial hoops connect at

either one point (single tab configuration) or two

points (double tab configuration).

About Hoop

4.HOOP

This week I was very excited and anxious, as I

love the HOOP, of course it was nothing like I

remember as these are hanging from the sealing

instead of around the waist.

As usual I got lost on my way there, as I never

know when to get off the bus. I think I have the

hang of it now but I will let you know next week.

Last week the rope left my hand with callus, and

the mark from the rope is still on my left foot.

This week it felt better as you can relax once you

are on the hoop but with the robe you always

feel under pressure to securely hold-on. Of

course, otherwise you might fall.

Today we learnt 3 key moves/ positions called:

Secretary Seat, Giselle and Mermaid.

Mixed

Aerial

Last but not least this was the session where

we had the chance to re-cap everything we had

learnt so far; Trapeze, Silk, Robe and Hoop.

Fortunately this gave me the opportunity to try

the ‘Silks’ as this was the session I previously

missed in week 2. Silk is definitely the most

elegant aerial; the vibrant colours add a touch

of energy to the mood. As well as the ‘Rope’ the

upper body strength is a must to support your

body weight; in comparison the silk has a soft

texture makes it more confortable on your hands

and feet.

This was the most exciting session as it gave me a

chance to try all of them in one session and make

up my mind about which aerial I will take part

in after the New Year. My new years resolution

for this project will be to carry on with classes

to broaden my knowledge on circus skills and

develop my personal fitness; learning a new

creative skill that is making me stronger and

more flexible every week; Win, win situation!

To make the decision 2 key factors have to be

considered: preferred aerial VS location.

Week 5.

Mixed Aerial

Most of the people in my class were leaning

towards the ‘Silk’ classes, which made me think

twice about my choice. In my opinion ‘Silk’ is

a beautiful performance but I thought ‘Trapeze’

and ‘Hoop’ were more interesting to engage

with. On the plus side you can relax (have a

break) once you are in a confortable position in

comparison the ‘Rope’ and ‘Silk’ where I always

feel on edge and tired.

Making a decision is so much harder than it

needs to be sometimes. After the last session

it felt upsetting that time flew by and now we

had to start all over again. In a different group

with a more focused aim to improve or learn

more about a specific aerial, this can be divided

between Trapeze and Hoop or Silks and Robe.

So to help me make up the decision I decided

to have a brose on the ‘Circomedia’ website for

availability after Christmas.

What’s next?

After giving it some thought, I decided to go

online and book the Beginners’ Silks and Rope

with Alex Hofgartner. This is because there

would be some people from the ‘Mixed Aerial’

class would be joining this class and it would

also be with the same tutor. Another reason for

my decision was that this class was based in the

St. Paul’s Church instead of Kingswood. This

being a great advantage as I live in Stokes Croft

(7 minutes walk) and every week it was taking

me 2hrs there and back. So when I went to book

the class the January 5-week block had been

sold out. ‘We are sorry but this event has sold

out.’ My other option was ‘Beginners’ Trapeze’

Mondays 7pm - 9pm, taught by Sarah Latham.

About

Doubles Trapeze

5 weeks

£65

Sundays

10:30 – 12:30

St. Paul’s

St Paul’s Church,

Portland Square,

Bristol

BS2 8SJ

The downside to this was the location, thinking

ahead I wouldn’t want to be travelling to

Kingswood every Monday evening. I wouldn’t

feel safe because to be honest the bus does go

around some dodgy areas of Bristol. I don’t want

to sound like a girl but I am, plus it would be in

the cold, dark winter.

So this is when I came across ‘Sundays

Doubles Trapeze with Jono Ayres’. This will

be a completely different environment with a

mixture of abilities on the Trapeze. It’s every

Sunday from the 12th January - 9th February, at

10:30 – 12:30. I’m expecting most people to go

with a partner but on the description it specifies

that you don’t have to be a duo. After asking

my boyfriend to come with me, we came to an

agreement. If I didn’t find an adequate partner

in the 1st classes he would start coming. To

be honest I don’t think it would be his kind of

hobby but I hope I can find a partner with the

same level of skills or someone willing to take it

at my pace.

In this class you will learn the basics of

Duo Trapeze. Newcomers will build strong

foundations and a firm knowledge to apply

to more advanced moves later on. Those with

some experience already will tighten up basic

skills, and then look at further challenging and

dynamic tricks.

The class is geared towards the needs of each

individual student, with a relaxed, informal

atmosphere. Jono will push where appropriate

in order to allow students to reach their full

potential. Just because it’s doubles, it does NOT

mean that you have to already have a doubles

partner. However, if you do come with a friend,

working with a specific partner will allow

you the pleasure of zoning into one person’s

particular rhythm and technique. However Jono

the teacher can always fill in as a base, and there

are normally enough flyers to go around. Five

week course: £65 for a course consisting of five

two-hour lessons.

Description

To conclude I would like to add how interesting

and eye opening this great experience has been.

I feel inspired to carry on with the classes as my

New Year’s Resolution. Started from a ‘Mixed

Aerial’ class that now is going to develop into

a further enjoyment of the Trapeze. Who knows,

after that I could go on to the Beginners’ Silk

(Sun 9th Feb - Sunday 16th March), Intermediate

Aerial with Lyn Routledge (Monday 10th

February - Monday 17th March) or even

Intermediate/ Advance Trapeze with Jacky

(Tuesday 11th February - Tuesday 11th March).

In preparation for the ‘Double Trapeze’ I’m

planning to set my self an excise routine to keep

me in shape through Christmas. As I want to

strengthen my arm I need to start doing push-

ups every second da; at the moment I can’t even

do one but I’m curious to know how many I

could do by the 1st week of February.

Conclusion

To be continued....

To be continued....

Patricia Eijkemans

Graphic Designer

Flying High