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Aerial Dance Festival 20th Anniversary

Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance hosted the 2018 Aerial Dance Festival (ADF), July 30th through August 10th, in Boulder, Colorado. This year marked the 20th anniversary of the festival coordinated by the artistic director of Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance, Nancy Smith. In celebration of the history of aerial dance, the festival offered training for aerialists of generations new and old. Attendees from all over the country came with a variety of backgrounds in dance, circus, theater, entertainment, and acrobatics. The training brought the opportunity for students to learn from master instructors and explore new ways of expressing themselves through the art of movement.

The festival offered three-hour long immersion courses, as well as, ninety-minute classes, available Monday through Friday each week. Workshops included Thai Massage, led by Yuki Tsuji, with focus on mobility for the shoulders and thoracic spine, and remedy for hips and low back. Jill Scott provided a workshop entitled, Make-up Fundamentals for the Performer. The wide array of ADF classes had varied focuses of aerial choreography, sequencing, conditioning and injury prevention, partnering, aerial improvisation and exploration, technique, emotion, vocabulary, and artistry. Mixed apparatus work, rope, sling, fabric, trapeze, bungee, lyra, aerial yoga, and handstands provided differing means of training. Big questions being asked within the aerial community were pondered amidst the physical training. What does it mean to be an aerial performer? How can you, as an artist, create personal work and yet still connect to an audience? What do spectators of the aerial arts look for in a performance? Topics such as the longevity of a performer, and how to honor the history of aerial dance, were discussed.

Three showcase performances were presented at the Dairy Arts Center, leading into the second week of the ADF. The showcase featured group pieces, choreographed and performed by Frequent Flyers staff and students. The guest instructors were also given the opportunity to perform solo pieces that would reflect their work, and for some, the content that they would be teaching in classes. Students were encouraged to attend an event called, Intimate Encounters, on the first evening of classes. The gathering gave the opportunity for students to listen to each of the instructors/performers processes in creating the choreography for their performance pieces. The instructors/performers shared details about their artistic background, education, and experience in the aerial arts, as well as, previous instructors they studied under, which were for many the inspiration of their work. Each piece of work was unique and original to the performer, while they still came together to create a spectacular show reflecting the heart of humanity.

As an attendee of the 2018 festival, I acquired invaluable insight into the aerial arts, gained through each activity practiced within classes. At large, group learning was practiced; however, individual and small group exercises, made training feel intimate. The structure of the festival, in addition to the education received, provided the perfect opportunity for networking and creating connections between studios and individual performers within the aerial community. The aerial dance festival experience is one that every aspiring aerialist should consider adding to their training. ADF will stand in my memory as a growing experience that inspired and compelled me to further explore my career as an aerialist.

Brittany Royce is an aerialist based out of Springfield, Missouri. Her passion for acrobatics started at three years old when she first discovered gymnastics. She was a competitive gymnast for ten years and coached gymnastics for seven years. She discovered Aerial Arts in 2013 while living in San Diego and hasn’t stopped learning since. It is an art form that enables her to express her faith and continue pursuing acrobatics in her adult life. She has recently joined the team at Springfield Aerial Fitness as an instructor for trapeze, tumbling, handstands, and youth classes.

Whiplash Dangers of Drops

Written by McKell Anderson

While receiving a lovely massage that my husband gifted to me for Valentine’s Day, my therapist began asking me the usual questions:

“Do you have any problem areas?”

“What areas would you like me to focus on most?”

“How do you like your pressure?”

My answer: “Please destroy my shoulders with all the force an invading finger army can deliver.”

So far, pretty normal experience for most aerialists getting a massage. During the massage, the therapist moved to my chronically tight neck and she was surprised with how tense it was.

Masseuse: “Have you been in a car accident recently?”

Me: “No, my neck is usually tight like this.”

Masseuse: “Your neck feels like people I work with that have had whiplash.”

The wheels in my head began to turn with that statement. I was in a car accident when I was seventeen but that was fifteen years ago and I did not experience any severe whiplash from it. However, I commonly let my body gracefully–and sometimes not so gracefully–fall towards the ground until a piece of fabric halts my descent in a rather abrupt manner. The curiosity seed was planted: Can aerial drops give someone a whiplash injury? Has it given me whiplash?

Now, let me start by saying that I’m a firm believer that correlation does not equal causation. Just because things seem to relate, does not mean that it is truth. You should know that despite my supplications to the oracle that is Google, my canoodling on aerial forums asking around, or my general inquiries to my aerial role models, I couldn’t find any existing data on the idea.

Aerial is still a young industry, so having scientific data collected on many practitioners is highly unlikely. Data not existing doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t a correlation; it could just be a sign that no one has researched it yet. For the remainder of this post, we will go over what information we DO have on whiplash injuries and aerial drops separately, then compile the information into some helpful guidelines for safe dropping. If you ever come across any research on this topic, I’d love to be the first one you share it with! Much appreciated.

A Crash Course on Whiplash (no pun intended)

“Whiplash is a mechanism of injury due to forceful, rapid back-and-forth movement of the neck, like the cracking of a whip. The energy transfer of the rapid acceleration and deceleration forces to the neck can result in damage to the soft tissue structures of the neck.” -Dr. Emily Scherb

Most of the observations made about whiplash relate very specifically to car accidents. Whiplash injuries are kind of a fickle thing and vary by individual. Some people experience a little pain for a few days but make a full recovery with very little side effects in a short time. Others do not notice any symptoms until many weeks after the accident. The unfortunate thing is that the longer the symptoms persist, the more likely that the damage will become permanent.

Symptoms following a whiplash injury may not be what you would normally anticipate. When you think of whiplash, the normal expectation of symptoms would be tender muscles, limited neck mobility, headaches, and upper back pain. Other symptoms can be a bit sneakier like shoulder pain, anxiety, fatigue, sensitivity to noise, impaired concentration, or temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD/TMJ) resulting in jaw pain.

I’ve observed (and that doesn’t make this a fact) that TMJ pain is more pervasive in the aerial communities I’ve been in than any other groups I’ve associated with. Could be a coincidence but might not be. Only time and data will tell. There are various factors that can increase the likelihood of getting whiplash in an accident. Some of these facts I found interesting when analyzing them with aerial in mind.

The threshold for soft tissue injury is five miles an hour. Vehicles do NOT need to be going fast to cause the most severe kinds of whiplash.
Rear end collisions can be the most severe because the torso is the most secured by the seat belt and the neck can move freely. So instead of the entire back being able to absorb the force, most of the energy is transferred to the neck alone.
Position of the head during the collision is also a critical element for injury severity. If the neck is not in a neutral position, say while you have your head slightly turned to adjust the radio, then the available range of motion is greatly diminished. This will result in the force of the collision being localized to one side of the spine.
Awareness of impending impact is also a factor. If an individual can brace themselves for the collision then their ability to effectively stabilize during the accident increases. Studies have shown that passengers experience greater whiplash injury than the driver, often because they are less aware of the situation.

Aside from all the potential factors DURING an accident, there are even MORE chances to impact whiplash with the human body. Since no two bodies are identical, here are some of the physical considerations in assessing whiplash risk.

Muscles, ligaments, and other tissues help absorb shock to the body without causing injury. Individuals that are physically fit and in a good health condition will be more efficient in stabilizing severe forces to the body.
Strength needs to be balanced on both sides of the body. Uneven muscle development in the back can result in the spine being in a less ideal posture during collisions or unable to stabilize evenly during an accident.
Body type can put certain individuals at risk. Those that have smaller frames, longer necks, and less supporting muscle mass have an increased risk for whiplash. Women are statistically twice as likely to be injured than their male counterparts.
Small children can also have a proportionally larger skull in comparison to their neck and less muscle mass to compensate for it, making them prone to injury.
Older populations also have a great injury risk due to the natural degeneration of human body as it ages. “Ligaments become less pliable, muscles less flexible, and the bones, joins and discs less able to absorb impact without injury.”
Good body mechanics is also helpful. Individuals that train to have coordinated control over muscles and joints, engaging in the right order with the right tension, will be able to stabilize their body with less mechanical stress and pain.

Drop Mechanics

There seems to be a time in a lot of aerialists’ lives where drops are “the end all, be all” of their hearts desires. While I don’t think this is true myself, my entire third year of practicing aerial was spent consuming all the drops I could get my greedy little hands on. So, I’ve BEEN there and I understand the draw. If drops are what you want, then I hope this will help you understand what to anticipate and make the process as pain free as possible.

First thing to address, drops cause force! Lots of it. While you might be an aerialist somewhere between 100-200lbs, with the additional forces we add by embracing gravity abruptly, the true force (or shock load) can end up being around 1,000 pounds. A general rule of thumb is that 1,800 pounds of force can cause a person to black out and bleed internally. This should be avoided! HOWEVER, that’s not to say that injuries cannot occur to our persons with less force than that. Let’s look at the shock load formula to help further our discussion:

W = Weight of Aerialist

Df = Distance Falling

Ds = Distance Stopping

In this formula, the most important relationship to pay attention to is the falling and the stopping distance. Since it is a fraction, everything you solve for begins here and SHOULD likewise be what you notice when learning drops. (Who says math and real life don’t intermingle?) If you are falling a large distance and stopping abruptly, you will create larger amounts of force. In aerial, we very often choose to fall large distances on purpose, but if we want to reduce the impact to our bodies we need to pay attention to how we can increase stopping distances to help provide a physical reprieve.

Stopping distance is a hard thing, here are factors that can impact the stopping distance:

The Type of Drop Chosen.

I know, duh. Some drops have more freefall time that happens and others are more of gravity guided unwrapping, think slack drops versus star drops. Drops can also vary on how many wraps will tighten at the end to help slow us down more gradually.

Equipment Choices.

Depending on the apparatus, there are choices an aerialist can make to help the equipment absorb more shock by stretching during impact. Think of high stretch or low stretch aerial silks, bungee packs added to the top of rigging, or ropes with stretch used for pulley systems.

What Part of the Body the Drop Culminates On.

I don’t know about you, but my thigh has a lot more “squish” available than my ankle does. Dropping to meaty regions versus boney regions will have different comfort levels and stopping distances.

FORM!

If you have been waiting for the moment where we address the physical capabilities needed, now is the (first) moment. The human body is made up of muscles, ligaments, and tendons that are great at absorbing shock and impact. This ONLY happens when proper strength and engagement are available. MORE ON THIS LATER!

There are specific instruments that can measure shock load (dynamometer) and these often show the calculated estimation to be higher than reality. Why the discrepancy? Many of the above factors are very dependent on the human body and are not the same from individual to individual. Even in one person, your day-to-day ability to absorb the shock of drops will not be the same. Muscle soreness and stiffness will inhibit your body’s abilities to absorb the shock load of drops.

How to Drop it like it’s Hot (Safely)

From the discussion so far, we know that whiplash is caused by a rapid extension and flexion. We know that it often happens in accidents of low speeds. We know aerial drops can create a lot of force on the human body. I’m going to go out on a limb and conclude that whiplash in aerial is a real possibility. How often or how severe? I couldn’t accurately guess, but it IS something we need to be mindful of in our practice.

“Incorrectly wrapped or executed drops can result in sprains, whiplash, burns, and broken necks. You don’t get to be cavalier about them. Respect the risk, respect the work, respect the process, respect the community.” – Laura Witwer

Most importantly, based on reviewing this information, I feel that there are easy practices to put in place to help mitigate the risk for whiplash or other injuries while performing drops. Check out the list and let me know if there are more things you would recommend:

1: Strength First, Drops Second

There is a terrible habit in aerial of attempting drops before the body is strong enough to support it. Having the appropriate strength along the spine is a key element in the body being able to execute drops safely and gracefully.

“With any particular drop, an untrained artist would be more likely to have a whiplash type injury than someone who has trained up to that level because the trained performer has more strength and control in their paraspinal musculature and can withstand more force and load.” -Dr. Emily Scherb

Flailing form is usually the result of an aerialist attempting something they aren’t strong enough for and flailing is how we get injured. The lovely and eloquent blogger, Laura Witwer, just wrote a wonderful blog about assessing the readiness of an individual for drops (link at the bottom). Use discernment when deciding to learn aggressive drops and ESPECIALLY when to teach them to others, specifically children with their proportionally large developing domes. They aren’t party tricks friends!

2: Neck Engagement – Embrace the Jabba Chin

One of the factors with whiplash was related to seatbelts restricting torso mobility which resulted in the neck taking more force than desired. If you are engaged in your core for a drop, but your head is loose like a bobble head doll, then your neck is in danger! When executing drops, it is important to have your neck engaged along with the rest of you.

The Jabba Chin is the practice of engaging your neck so that your chin drops and pulls in just enough to feel a little bit of pressure on your windpipe. Your jaw should not be clenched. Don’t give yourself a genuine double or triple chin, because we will still want to look sexy while we do things. Keep your neck position neutral during the drop and wait to fully extend or arch until the end.

3: Train Both Sides

Your bodies ability to absorb shock appropriately depends a lot on having a balanced muscular system. If you constantly only train one side, then your body will lose its ability to evenly react to force and will make you prone to injury during those critical moments. I know some people do not drop on their offside for safety, which is not the point I want to make here. Aerialists need to be able to climb on both sides, invert on both sides, hip key on both sides, meat hook on both side… All your aerial foundations should be as ambidextrous as possible so your body is balanced.

4: Coordinated Engagement Practice

The key to good execution isn’t just tensing all your muscles at once. We need to make sure we are engaging muscles in the correct order and with the right amount of tension, because if we do not it will increase mechanical stress and pain of what we are trying to accomplish. Aerial is hard enough, no need to make it harder by over engaging, like with clenching your jaw for any reason or being too tight when attempting beats.

There could also be a different type of engagement needed for certain things. For some drops, it is important to engage the abdominals by ‘pushing out’ to protect the ribs instead of ‘pulling in’. Practicing drills like scorpion/sacrum falls will give the body a chance to learn how to fall and engage in the appropriate order to make bigger drops easier and more intuitive.

5: When in Doubt, Walk it Out

Pro Tip: The first time you do a drop you should always have doubt. Meaning that the first time you try a drop you need to walk through the exit/drop instead of just going for it. Your body has never done the trick and cannot understand what will happen. Having a method to walk out of a drop is important because it teaches the body what to expect. Being able to anticipate what will happen helps the body engage in the correct way to protect itself. Much like the driver of the car being able to prepare for impact better than the passenger, you need to understand what is coming before you do a drop “full out”. You don’t want to do a drop as a passenger, you need to be the driver. This is even more important if you are attempting a drop that has a direction change, lest your head channel its inner pinball machine.

6: Avoid Drops When Sore

Another way the body will lose its ability to absorb shock is when it is fatigued. If you have been overtraining and are sore, then your muscles will not be able to support you like they would on days where you feel like a spry young pup. Save your drops training for the days that your body can handle it safely.

7: Designated Drop Equipment

Where possible, try to have a rigging point set up with equipment that is drop friendly. Put a stretchy fabric up or have a point that has a bungee pack on it. When learning any skill, repetition is key to mastery, but repeating aggressive drops can be daunting and painful. Having a set piece of equipment that helps mitigate the stress when practicing is helpful on the body.

8: Learn Drops with Coaches

While this is not a conclusion being made from the analysis on the whiplash data, this is of equal importance. Recently Brandon Scott, an accomplished aerialist, published a rant on the dangers of learning from Instagram. I really loved what he had to say:

“Drops are the flashiest part of aerial. They are dynamic and exciting, their impact makes them almost necessary for the climax of an act, and when they are done right, they are just plain fun to do!!”

But did you catch that caveat? ‘When they are done RIGHT’. There is a large range of how difficult or technical drops can be. But at any level, drops are part of what makes aerial dangerous. While ‘death defying’ may be used as a descriptor to pull in an audience, we as aerialists need not consider death, let alone defy it, if we have all the information and preparation for safe execution.” -Brandon Scott

Preach Brandon, preach!

Good aerial instructors will give students the information they need to successfully execute a drop without injury. A lot of times success is achieved through a series of progressions that aren’t ever shown during a performance or on an Instagram video.

Drops will forever be a huge part of aerial and they are a wonderful tool, but aerialists need to take the time to learn them safely and appropriately. Hopefully the content of this blog will help you in your endeavors to gain more information and help you do amazing things more safely!

Congratulations! You made it to the end! Share your thoughts below!

Resources:

https://treatmentforwhiplash.com
https://www.lifemark.ca/blog-post/understanding-whiplash
http://www.laurawitwer.com/2018/04/11/pardon-sir-madam-not-ready-drop/

Aerial Retreat Reflections: Costa Rica

As aerial grows, more and more options for training are cropping up. For those of us addicted to our air time, this is EXCELLENT news! Dozens of aerial retreats have cropped up, and while we might want to attend all of them, our pocketbook can get in the way. At Born to Fly, we want to start gathering information from retreat attendees to help students to identify what retreats are available and the best fit for their goals. This first review we have is on the Dances in the Air Costa Rican Aerial Dance Retreat written by Salt Lake City aerialist Morgan Sjoblom.

What was the focus of the retreat? What was the kind of content covered?
The apparatus focus was on fabrics (some low stretch and some medium stretch) and trapeze (mostly static with one dance trapeze). Every day of the retreat there was a 2.5 hour class of trapeze and a 2.5 hour class of silks. Intermittently throughout the week, there were also other movement classes such as juggling, hoop, yoga, and meditation.

There was a large focus on movement and exploration in the air and on the ground. The exploration wasn’t particularly on skills but on everything as a whole. Considering the ground, the apparatus, your emotions, the emotions of the songs, changing/breaking movement patterns, and not holding yourself to what you think should be done. Each class incorporated these aspects as well as learning skills. The week of classes all built up to a sequence for each apparatus.

What type of professionals were brought in to teach?
Dance in Air is owned by Melissa Coffey who is an aerial performer, trainer, and producer. During the week she taught the upper-level trapeze classes and the lower level fabric classes. Also there teaching was Amber Monson, who is also an aerial performer, trainer, and studio owner of Sky Gym in Atlanta. Amber taught the upper-level fabric classes and lower level trapeze classes.

Photo Credit: Brandon Ross

What was included in the cost of the retreat?

About 20 hours of aerial training
All but two meals during the week (2 meals self-paid during excursions)
All transportation outside of airfare (there was a lot of driving, and this was amazing that it was provided)
One surf lesson
Movement classes such as juggling, hoop, yoga, and meditation
Double occupancy lodging accommodations
Excursion to Montezuma
Waterfall hike and photoshoot
Photography that was shot during the week by the designated photographer

What information can be provided about the location of the retreat?
Melissa did a really great job finding a location that was secluded and yet close to the nearby town. It was amazing to be in a remote location and still have access to everything you needed. Part of the training took place at the resort where lodging was, and part of the training was at another location in the nearby town about 10 minutes away. The resort was really a small oasis that had wonderful bungalow style rooms, an outdoor dining area (where all the meals were served), beautiful plants and animals everywhere, a pool, and within walking distance to the beach. It was a safe location with many locals and many cute fluff balls (dogs) running around that all wanted loves.

Photo Credit: Brandon Ross

Did the retreat have multiple skill levels or focus on a single skill range?
There was a large variety of skill levels present. There were many people who had never done aerials and many who were at higher levels. There was a great mix and the lessons were catered to everyone there. It was great to be there with mixed levels and watch everyone progress throughout the week.

How customizable were the class options?
During the retreat, I shared my thoughts about wishing that there was more dense skill coverage. After I did, there was a whole lesson planned just focusing on skills. The trainers really wanted to provide what the students were looking for and were open to ideas and suggestions. I enjoy working with all types of movements but when I’m with a new instructor I also want to pick their brain and learn all the skills I can.

Photo Credit: Brandon Ross

What was the social ambiance of the retreat? Inclusive or segregated? Social activities in addition to training?
This retreat is hosted by trainers who live in Atlanta, GA. So, by proxy, there were many people there who knew each other from that area. That being said, the retreat was run in a way that fostered connections and communication. During the non-training times of going to the beach, out on excursions, and hanging out at the pool it was relatively easy to meet someone new and connect with them.

Photo Credit: Brandon Ross

Did the retreat include destination excursions?
Going to Montezuma for the day was one of the biggest excursions. Included with that day was travel as well as hiking to a nearby waterfall. There was time to go shopping, go to the beach, eat dinner, and zip-lining! Which I did! There was also a morning that we went surfing, a morning free for horseback riding, and daily walks to the nearby beach.

Photo Credit: Brandon Ross

What was the balance of training and rest?
The day to Montezuma was meant to be a rest day. Although most of us chose to do as much there as we could. Go figure, a bunch of aerialists taking advantage of every opportunity! The general theme of the retreat was going at your own pace. There were a ton of class options and you could do as much or as little as you wanted. No one was pressuring you to do everything and no one was stopping you from doing everything either. It was up to you to use accurate self-assessment and go at a pace that was right for you.

What was your favorite highlight of the retreat?
I loved the experience of training outdoors for a week and training with brand new people. I also went on the retreat with my Mom which was the biggest highlight. I took her to an aerial class two years ago and now we are going on aerial retreats together!

It was also amazing that the place we were training silks at had rigged a silk at the beach while we were there. It made for a beautiful beach photo shoot, one of my aerial dreams. That part wasn’t even a planned event. Which often was the beauty of this retreat. It was planned but not over planned. There was room to do what you wanted and flexibility to take opportunities as they arose.

Photo Credit: Brandon Ross

Any areas of improvement?
I really feel like this was about as well rounded of a retreat that you could get. The only aspect I would mention is that if you are looking for an all training focused retreat this may not be for you. This was one aspect I was a little bummed about, at first. But like I said before, once I mentioned this to the trainers a lesson plan was made the next day focusing on the things I had asked for. I wanted to train harder and when I mentioned it, it was delivered! This retreat was focused not only on aerial training but also enjoying the location and all it had to offer, which was a lot! So if you’re looking for an aerial training and retreat, this is a perfect option.

Final Comments:
I loved this retreat and I will definitely focus on being able to go again. Melissa is always looking into more locations to hold retreats and has a list of great locations for aerial retreats. She is really great at communication and was very helpful in the booking process leading up to the retreat and then answering questions while there. She really figures out all aspects of a retreat that aerialists specifically need, like good healthy food and rest in addition to training.

About Morgan Sjoblom

Morgan’s journey into aerials started in 2011 while attending Georgia State University. She only dabbled at first because of time constraints with school. In 2013 she finished with a BFA in Graphic Design and shortly after moved back home to Utah and started taking every aerial class she could.

In 2015 Morgan started assisting aerial and AcroYoga classes. Focusing on proper spotting techniques and learning all she could from all of the Aerial Arts of Utah staff. From 2016-2017 Morgan completed three Aerial Instructor Training Programs (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) from aerial instructor and performer Elizabeth Stitch. From 2015-2016 Morgan studied and trained AcroYoga with Kimberly Preston, certified both as an AcroYoga International Teacher and Yoga Instructor with over 1,000 hours of Hatha and Vinyasa teacher experience.

Morgan started teaching on her own in 2016 and has loved all of the moments and learning experiences she has experienced. Along with her foundational training in aerials and AcroYoga, Morgan’s training in fine arts greatly influences her passion for silks, trapeze, lyra, and AcroYoga. She loves finding balance in the shapes, expressions, and movements on an aerial apparatus. Morgan has an everlasting fascination with the endless possibilities of creation. She finds inspiration from all areas of her life and loves sharing aerials with her students, friends, and community.