{"id":854,"date":"2016-04-16T17:03:19","date_gmt":"2016-04-16T17:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/?p=854"},"modified":"2016-04-30T21:00:14","modified_gmt":"2016-04-30T21:00:14","slug":"featuring-erin-ball-an-overcomer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aerialdancing.com\/blog\/featuring-erin-ball-an-overcomer\/","title":{"rendered":"Featuring Erin Ball: An Overcomer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erin Ball has been a member of AerialDancing.com since January 2012. (She is one of our original members!) At that point in time, Erin was like any other aerialist-you know-has all limbs, practices on a variety of aerial apparatuses as well as performs grounded work with yoga and acro partnering. She still does all these things minus the “has all limbs” part, but who needs those anyway?\u00a0\u00a0In this article, Ryah Cooley has captured the inspiring story of overcoming.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Written by Ryah Cooley<\/p>\n

Most people would consider aerial dance to be a full body activity. A\u00a0strained muscle or even a fabric burn in a sensitive place can put aerialists out of\u00a0commission for a few days, but Erin Ball doesn\u2019t subscribe to that kind of limiting.<\/p>\n

About two years ago, Ball lost her legs from below the knee down to\u00a0severe frostbite inflicted on her body while in the harshly cold Canadian woods.\u00a0She may have lost her limbs, but she wasn\u2019t going to loose her career and her\u00a0passion of the aerial arts. Ball begun to reteach herself everything she knew about\u00a0moving on aerial silks, the trapeze, the hoop, and with partner acrobatics.<\/p>\n

\"_DSC2771-02<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s been an incredibly challenging journey,\u201d Ball, who works as an aerial\u00a0performer and teacher at Kingston Circus Arts in Ontario, Canada, said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0been a huge learning process. I have had to relearn everything and often in\u00a0different ways than I was doing it before but it\u2019s been a fun and interesting time.\u201d<\/p>\n

After her lower legs were amputated, Ball learned to adapt aerial\u00a0movement and the rest of her world to life with prosthetic legs, sockets and feet.\u00a0When at home, Ball gets around\u00a0by wheelchair to give her legs a break from the prosthetic legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a lot of struggle and pain, cuts, bruising, nerve pain,\u00a0swelling and feelings of my legs being squished,\u201d Ball said of moving with\u00a0prosthetic parts. \u201cBut it has come a long way and the main thing is that I can still\u00a0do circus arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michele Frances, a physical therapist and aerial teacher based in Texas,\u00a0started working with Ball remotely to help her improve her range of aerial\u00a0movement options with and without the prosthetic legs.<\/p>\n

\"erin<\/a>\u201cThe physics are very different as her prosthetics weigh a bit more than\u00a0organic legs, the sockets limit how much her knees bend, and the ankles do not\u00a0articulate,\u201d Frances said. \u201cThis makes some skills harder and some actually\u00a0easier depending on the movement, range of motion required, and balance\u00a0points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frances showed Ball an aerial fabric sequence\u00a0progression that featured a double knee hang. Ball was able to execute the knee\u00a0hang without using her prosthetics for the first time since her lower legs were\u00a0amputated.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had not been able to do it again up until that point and her\u00a0excitement brought tears to my eyes,\u201d Frances said. \u201cThis has been some of the\u00a0most rewarding work of my career.”<\/p>\n

Ball works a lot on the silks these days. The forgiving, flexible nature of\u00a0aerial fabric affords her more movement.<\/p>\n

\"erin<\/a>\u201cMy favorite apparatus right now is fabric,\u201d Ball said. \u201cIt seems like I have\u00a0the most options with it. And I am discovering some things that I can do without\u00a0my legs on that I couldn\u2019t do if I had legs. Static trapeze used to be my favorite\u00a0but I can\u2019t wrap my legs around it the way that I used to be able to.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Ball has overcome many obstacles, life with prosthetics does bring\u00a0discomfort and challenges. Right now her eyes are set on taking another step\u00a0towards normalcy in movement: an osseointegration surgery that would allow\u00a0Ball to walk on her bone structure instead of walking on soft tissue. At $125,000,\u00a0it\u2019s a pricey operation. So far about $21,000 has been raised. Donations are being accepted now at her fundraiser site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"erin<\/a>\u201cI feel like I am constantly discovering new things that I thought I would\u00a0not be able to do but I am able to,\u201d Ball said. \u201cI am always looking forward to\u00a0taking the prosthetics off but I am so grateful that I have the ability to use them.\u00a0They give me a good mix of challenges and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through the struggle, Ball manages to keep up a good sense of humor. Here are some lines that Ball never thought she would hear\/say:<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to go pick up my legs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are machines! You a bit more than me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have a foot to put in your mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is a video featuring Erin Ball and her incredible journey:
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