Page 42 of Wicked Dance
“I’ll leave you all to it,” Jenica says. She turns to count the ballerina back in.
Blitz, Bex, and I head to the corner where the fall of blue silk flutters.
“We have a good setup here,” Bex says. “It isn’t easy to find a space with room for aerial work.”
“The ceiling is really high,” I say.
“Yes,” Bex says. “And there is enough room for these giant mats.” She pats the cushioned stairs, each one at least two feet high, that rise above our head. “It’s really important to be able to get the height you need when it’s time to learn drops.”
I look up to see how high I would be for a drop, and my belly rolls over. This seems very different from the small maneuvers I did from the canopy of the bed.
“So, the basics,” Bex says. “It takes a special kind of fabric for this work.” She holds out the black cloth in her hand. “It can’t stretch, and either it must have some texture for your grip, or you need to use rosin to give you some stickiness.”
I touch her fabric. It feels a lot like the one I bought.
She sets it down and leads us over to the lengths that hang from a bar attached to the rafters. “Here we have a swivel, but sometimes you simply work with a single piece of cloth tossed over a bar.” She shrugs. “It doesn’t matter from a grip and hold standpoint, but if you can spin, it adds a lot to the drama. Most aerialists work on a swivel. Since we need two, we’ll just toss a second set over.”
Bex unfolds the fabric partway and tosses it over her shoulder. Then she deftly climbs the silks, wrapping her foot, standing up, and moving her foot up the silk. “This is called a French Climb,” she says, “or Basic Climb, to some.”
When she reaches the swivel at the top, she wraps the silks around her ankles and tosses the fabric over the rafter a few feet away.
“We will start easy,” she says, sliding down the silk like it’s a fireman’s pole. “Basic wrist lock, foot lock, box stand, and hip hold.” She lands on the floor mat next to us. “But first, we warm up.”
She takes us through push-ups, crunches, and stretches to make sure our arms, core, and legs are ready for the work. I’ve been trying to build up my arm strength, but as I gaze up the length of the silks, I wonder if I have done enough.
Bex leads us over to the silks. “We’re going to start with a climb so I get a feel for your strength and agility as we get started.”
She shows us how to wrap the silk around our ankles and how to hold the fabric. Then she jumps down.
“Let’s see what you can do.”
Blitz wraps his black silk and starts up, his arm muscles bulging as he moves.
I swallow hard. I can do this. It was my idea. I just never climbed the silk before, since I had so little room. My hands grasp the blue silk and I turn my foot around the tail end.
“Remember to flex your feet for now,” Bex says. “Later, when we do extensions and poses, you might point like in ballet, but for now, flexing is for safety and to keep the silk where you want it.”
I nod to acknowledge her instruction and push up. This first one is easy, so I hang on to the silk as I unwrap the fabric and bend my leg to wrap it again higher up.
Blitz has already mastered it and is halfway to the top. “Now this is cool,” he says, looking down at me.
“If you feel fatigue, come on down,” she says. “You can slide or just climb in reverse.”
I pull myself up a second time. I feel like I’ve gotten nowhere, still only a few feet above the ground. I swing precariously for a second, and struggle to keep my hold as my feet move out from under me.
Bex grabs me and steadies me back in an upright position. “Use your core,” she says. “Keep it tight so you stay straight. Try not to bend your arms. Keep your wrapped foot flexed.”
Too many things!
I reach higher, release my leg, then wrap it again, trying to stay flexed. I can already feel my arms getting tired. I place my free foot on top of the wrapped one, and stand up. I’m a little farther up now.
Again, reach up, lift legs, and stand again. I’m figuring out how to do it without stressing my arms so much. After a couple more climbs, I’m also halfway up. I look over at Blitz’s silks.
He’s reached the top and is standing on the silk. He waves at me. “This is off the hook,” he says.
I want to be at the top with him, but I make the mistake of looking down. I instantly lose my balance, my foot swinging out again. I clutch the silks, but my arms start to shake right away since I’m clinging rather than standing.
And Bex is too far below to steady me.
