The performer

   We've been hammering away at endurance, line, and technique but never on performance. Finally dug in and blasted the music today for a mini rope/tissue improv.  How in the world do you move with grace when you're lifting your body over and over again, twisting, dropping, sweating, and flying.  On top of it, I'm usually on the production/visual end so performing feels completely awkward.
  So, I'm pondering performance and those I've had the pleasure of photographing over the years.   Dancers especially capture my heart; surrendered, ruthless, fierce, sweet, and in the moment.
I can easily end up with 8 gigs from a short shoot because I start dancing too.... following thier breath with the shutter, aching to click everything into permanence but also wanting to preserve the ephemeral. 

You inspire me. 
   
Circo Zero
photo: Luiza Silva

Dandelion Dancetheater
photo & set: Luiza Silva

Sideshow Physical Theatre
photo: Luiza Silva

balance play

   Class today was packed with a tribe of strong, amazing women; fascinating to see the diversity in who is drawn to circus. Somehow a few of us ended up with a bit of extra energy and went on to do a little flexibility and hand balance workout.  Several classes back, we started working on a balance that really captured my imagination. Ideally the body bends upward on one hand in a sort of diagonal, arched moon shape.  At this point I can balance for a moment before I fall out to avoid a face plant.

  
 Going.....

  















going.....

 

gone....  complete with laughing baby bird fetal position.

1 step forward, 2 steps back

After a long spell of fever, chills, and other sickie symptoms I'm back to training this past week.
It's amazing how much I lost in terms of endurance during the down time.  Today was especially difficult, but looking back over the past 5 days I see why.... I've trained and/or taken 8 hours total of class (9 by the end of today). *whew*  I'm at my goal of 10 climbs per class, but by the last climb my forearms are in knots.
We went back to the ankle hang today, and I managed to actually hang instead of just plopping on the mats. As you can tell, I'm still super tense, trying to brace against the discomfort of all my weight pulling around my ankle. The silly thing is, the rest of my body actually feels released and relaxed upside down, it's just the squeezing around my ankle that makes it seem otherwise.
Another tiny life lesson in this practice. We spend so much energy struggling to brace against discomfort rather than sinking in and just being present. Often the discomfort is nothing more than a single point, but with all the flailing &tension it seems like much more.  


Trying single ankle hang... eep.

pull over.. muuuch less painful.. I'll even smile.

learning to fly

   Winter is here, and it's unusually cold for the bay area.  So, we've all been showing up to the Center wrapped in sweaters, hats, and other furry layers. But, turns out you can work up a nice sweat with a few climbs or some handbalance.  It's so peaceful to turn my creaky cold body into a warm working machine.
  Now that the classes are full of regulars, it's fascinating to see practice carving arcs.
The progression is so visual, and clearly non-linear.  Getting an idea to settle (or unsettle) in a body is a strange process. On that note, with a sneaky trick from Jaron, I managed to mostly straddle up into a handstand an balance. Wheeee!!!!

 A good daily thought for yoga, aerial and life....

 Ashtanga yoga founder, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois:

“Do your practice and all is coming.”                                                                                                      

                                                       








flight.

 Wrapping.

Handbalance class,  working on the bench.

Hand balance class.  More on the bench.                                                                                                                                

meathook.

Tried a meathook for the first time. It looks deceptively easy but turned out to be one of the deepest ab workouts I've ever experienced; muscles I didn't even know were there are sore. 
We also went after my endurance goal; on top of the usual workout ..7 full climbs.
No grace in shaking and sweating all the way down, but a certain satisfying deep tug at the muscles down to the bone.

meathook

play

 15 seconds of fame: Hardcore CrossFit rockstar Max Lewin & crew came to play.  They had no problem at all climbing and getting right into the swing of things, trapeze and all. 

 Playing at Kinetic Arts in an attempt to get into headstand with no hands.  A bit arched, but a fun experiment.

Chinese pole

  The center is putting up Chinese poles, we got a chance to experiment after class this week and it was a blast.  Can't wait for the class to be officially up and running!!
   Otherwise, started learning a one leg hang of sorts... beautiful but also feels like my ankle is going to be sliced off by the rope, even halfway off the ground.
Tricks aside, climbing is really starting to click physically. It's still hard work, but my body understands it to the point that I'm not gripping, or struggling. 
The next step is definitely endurance.
3 month goal: 10 climbs per class (at 4-5 right now).

Climbing the pole:

Monkey mouth, seeing exactly how much core strength is in there!

Getting a hang of the.. er.. hang on the ground first. Yep, it hurts.