Actor's Gym - Aerial Day 1

Chris and I got into Chicago on Sunday and have been using the past couple of days to settle in and explore.  We have both been to the city before, but it is a little different being on our own.  Chris got lucky with the location of his apartment; he is just down the street from the Actor's Gymnasium.  I am living two "L" trains away, so that has been a lot of fun learning how the transportation system works.

Chris and I met up before our first class today and stretched a little.  Once the instructor came, we all shuffled inside and sat in a circle for introductions.  The space is incredible.  There are only about fifteen students and the space is rather small, but this allows for a lot of individual instruction (which I was relieved to discover).  After introductions, we did a group stretch to get our bodies engaged, then the instructor, Nate, and his assistant brought down four trapezes.  We learned the basics: hang from the trapeze, swing your legs up and through, hang by just your knees, swing legs up and sit on top.  I thought that for the first day we would just stick to these basic moves.  NOPE.  This was the first of three combinations that we were to learn for the day.  As the class went on, the moves became increasingly challenging and increasingly exciting.  It is a major workout for your arms, shoulders, and core, but I have never had so much fun while enduring so much pain.  I definitely made the right choice for my summer.

I can't wait for tomorrow, the first day of Circus Arts I.  Supposedly, I have a lot of conditioning in that class to look forward to, which is great to hear.  I feel like a lot of the basic technique required for these tasks is already in my body from my 15 years of dance experience, but what is missing is the upper body strength required for doing these "dance" moves while suspended in the air.  The conditioning in class, along with my workouts outside of class, will hopefully make it easier to hold up my body weight in order to do these tricks with ease.  That is my main goal for the summer - get strong.  As actors/dancers/performers, we know how important it is to keep our instrument in tip-top working condition.  I spent a lot of time on my voice last year, and now it's time to work the rest of my body into my training.

I cannot wait for tomorrow.