Actor's Gym - Aerial Day 3

Oh my goodness.  We started silk knot today.

Ever since seeing the production of The Magnificents at the House Theatre during my first Chicago trip last winter, I have been dying to learn how to do silks.  The routine was so exciting for me I forgot to breathe.  Now the fact that I can say that I know how to do it makes me want to jump up and down like a kindergartner.  Chris was making fun of my excited face when I was watching the instructor show us how to start.

A basic silks routine has two silks hanging side by side from the ceiling.  Silk Knot is where you tie a knot at the bottom of the silks so they stay together.  This is what silk knot looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugO2W4wvPFM

It's been interesting to look at Chris' strengths and weaknesses and compare them to my own.  Chris' upper body strength gives him an upper hand and things like trapeze and backwards rolls, where my dance background makes silks and Spanish Web much easier.  Oddly enough, it seems like Chris' happens to be more interested in things like trapeze and tumbling and I in Web and silks, even before we started taking classes.  Lucky for us, I guess.  We're both having so much fun.

Here is Chris doing silk knot today in class.  Couldn't get a good video of me today, but I should have one in a couple of weeks.  This shows most of the moves we learned in class today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnw8ILa572w&feature=share

In other news, I saw my second production at the House Theatre this weekend.  Death and Harry Houdini, a magic show and a play combined, just like The Magnificents.  Their aren't words that can fully describe my experience watching the show, but to keep it short and sweet, I was blown away.  For the longest time, I haven't been sure about where I belong in the theatre world, and that scares me, but I have never been happier watching a play than during those two shows at the House.  The Magnificents was a play with magic and circus arts and Houdini was a play with music and dancing and singing and magic and circus arts.  I want to do theatre like this.  I am so glad I decided to take classes at the Actor's Gymnasium because now I at least know that I'm headed in the right direction.