Hotter weather means fewer people in the warehouse, so Iām taking advantage of the extra space to explore orbits and spins. Spinning is still so strangeāsometimes I can go for a couple hours, and sometimes all it takes is a few rotations to make me go green. Tonight was the latter š„“
Reposting because the blurry filter on the first version was really bothering me. š
Iām super excited for the workshops coming up in June with blacktrapeze at @awoldance and need to get my C-shaping and back balances into form. Any tips/drills/cues for a tallish aerialist with a hypermobile lower back that wants to bend in half in a back balance?
Back to basics. Sometimes my practice feels like a lot of stop-start reacclimatingāto pain, to spins, to regularity, to all the physical and mental demands of trainingābetween long workweeks and injuries and sickness and burnout. Iām never in the air as much as I want to be or think I should be, and Iām hard on myself for what I see as a lack of progress and a constant feeling of being both late and left behind.
If I could move all day every day, I wouldābut that simply isnāt the hand I was dealt. I have student debt and need a job with healthcare. The COLA crisis in the US is getting worse by the day. Aerial is not cheap. Iām grateful for every hour I can squeeze in. And that I got here at all.
But thereās a grief in that gratitude, too. About who and what I could be if I could make art the center of my life instead of what I do with whatever energy I have left after 6 pm. Which is often not much. I donāt have a tidy uplifting aphorism to end this with, but I suspect Iām hardly alone in feeling this way. š¤
I have like two years of photographic backlog rotting on my phone because spending any amount of time on this app is like mainlining Chapter Black (iykyk) and I instantly lose the will to share snapshots of life as though anything is normal. But I tell you this: If there exists an antidote to the crushing nihilism of late-stage capitalism in America, itās spending nights and weekends making weird performance art with the girl of your dreams. Weāre still here, and weāre up to stuff.
Saturday was @ashallencomedy ās birthday, and if youāre in Portland, you can (should) celebrate (honor!) her by coming to see her solo show March 27/28/29. Tickets in my bio.
Stay soft, precious. I love you to Venus and back. š¶šŗš¹
Doggedly drilled this spin last night and itās getting there! š I am NOT a natural spinner, but Iām persevering. Am I obsessed with these albums? Yes! Did I wobble home and puke after training? Yes! But it felt like a rite of passage. š
Every time someone asks me, āHow do you not get sick?ā or āDoesnāt that hurt?ā ā¦ the answer is: we do, and it does. Iām not interested in running a ācontentāaccount that pretends this stuff is just pretty and effortless. But drill a skill enough and the body adjusts, and fine-tuning technique matters a lot. And the only way to do that? Persistent repetition, deep attention and body awareness, a positive puzzle-solving attitude, and curiosity for what-ifs and what shows up. For me, that process is the best part. ā¤ļøāš„
Catching myself up on new skills from class a couple weeks ago. I havenāt had much time to train this month, and boy did I need it.š®āšØ
I love the twisty ankle hang at the end of this sequence and am determined to make the knee hook transition hands-free, but my single knee hangs arenāt quite strong enough yet. Send me your favorite hamstring drills? š¤
Revisiting this sequence from the Arcana finale last summer. That piece came together so fast that there wasnāt much time to clean, but I still really like this and want to work more with it. Good motivation for me to condition spinning right in addition to left! š„“
