There are a lot of misconceptions about aerialists out there. In this article, we’ll delve into three of the most widespread misunderstandings regarding aerialists. We’ll debunk them and explain the truth instead.
Most people are introduced to aerial by seeing an amazing performance, or an impressive video online. Aerial looks incredibly thrilling and, when you’re in the air it often feels thrilling too, BUT this does not mean that aerialists are thrill seekers. The truth is that aerialists who do this for any length of time are actually much closer to being control freaks.
The stakes of a mistake in aerial are very high. Imagine falling from 30 feet in the air (or even from just 5 or 10 feet in the air) and you can imagine that if you did that poorly even once you might never do aerial again. So, aerialists have a mindset of minimizing risk.
The anecdote we often tell people is, imagine we’re at height and we are about to let go of our apparatus and then catch it again. It will need to be in the same place 100% of the time, not just some of the time or even most of the time. That means we need to be in full control of ourself and our apparatus at all times.
When beginners come into our studio for the first time they are often terrified to think of themselves climbing up to the ceiling. They are usually very relieved when we tell them they’re not going to do that on day one. We explain that we always teach everything low to the ground first, because that’s where we learn the control that’s so important to keep ourselves safe up in the air.
One of our first aerial teachers told us that aerial should be safer than driving, and that message has stuck with us over the years. When you’re driving you can be as safe as possible for yourself, but you can’t ever control the other people on the road. An aerialist, on the other hand, should be in control of every part of their experience, including their own body, their apparatus, their rigging, their surroundings, the content they’re working on, and so much more.
Take-away: Aerialists are not thrill seekers, we are control freaks!
This misconception is usually based on what people think they see when they watch aerialists perform. It is true that aerial takes strength and mobility, but it is not true that aerial requires a certain body type. And, it is also not true that you need strength or mobility to start an aerial practice! In fact, you gain so much strength and mobility just by doing aerial that it makes sense just to start right where you are.
New students sometimes ask us what we do to stay in shape for aerial. Our answer, of course, is that we do aerial! Aerial is so creative, fun, and low impact that there is always something to do. It doesn’t matter how much or how little strength, mobility, strength to weight ratio, etc, that someone has.
Here is what you DON’T need to succeed at aerial:
Here is what you DO need to succeed at aerial:
Students who lack any of those mental qualities tend to not last long in aerial. Students who come in with those qualities often become the best aerialists no matter what level of skills they are doing.
Take-away: Any body can do aerial, but it does take a certain type of mindset.
Aerial has some unique and powerful sensations. When else do you get wrapped up in a rope? Or driving your hip flexors into a steel bar? A lot of the things we do have a lot of sensation, and sometimes that can be interpreted as meaning that circus is supposed to hurt.
The truth is that any aerial apparatus that you settle your weight into has the potential to squeeze, rub, chafe, or bite you. These sensations are common in aerial, but pain is your body’s warning signal that something is wrong. Pressure from the apparatus that is painful is usually a sign that someone is doing too much too fast and their body is resisting. We prefer in that case to take things back a step and work up to the sensation more slowly so that it doesn’t hurt.
Pain in a joint is never something that is supposed to happen in circus. If it does, again we need to back things up and figure out what’s wrong. Bodies are so different, but pain is never something we strive for or even want to tolerate in aerial. In fact, pain is something we really want to avoid.
Another version of this misconception is that things hurt until we deaden nerves. Even if this were true, it would be pretty horrible. Nobody wants to damage their nerves so they don’t feel anything. There are a lot of things that happen to make a skill hurt more or less, and a lot of reasons why those who have mastered the skill no longer feel pain. When we learn new skills, especially hard or scary skills, our bodies are on high alert and reporting all sensations as priority information, but once we are familiar with a skill our bodies and minds are much calmer.
Aerialist who have also taken the time to master skills have perfected the nuances, strengths, and mobilities needed to do the skill efficiently and are able to find the sweet spot pathway that is perfect for their own bodies.
Take-away: Circus can be always fun and enjoyable, no pain is needed to progress in aerial.
We know there are many other misconceptions about aerial that are out there, but these three are big common ones we think it’s important to debunk. Let us know what we’ve missed in the comments below!
And, if you’re someone wondering what it takes to set up an aerial space for yourself, check out our new resource. This is our primer on risk management for aerialists who are interested in setting up their own training space, and the thought that needs to go into it right from the beginning.
