Valery Martinez

Aerial Dance (also known as Aerial Silk, or aerial tissues) combines the expressiveness and creativity of modern dance with the impresive acrobatics and suspensions of Circus Arts.

Dancers perform aerialbatic acrobatics while hanging from a special frabric. Dancers climb the suspended fabric without the use of safety lines, relying only only on their skills to ensure safety. They use the fabric to wrap, suspend, fall, swing, and spiral their bodies into and out of various positions. The fabrics may be used to fly through the air while they strike poses and figures.

Aerial silks are an incredibly demanding art and require a high degree of strength, power, flexibility, courage, and grace to practice.

We are starting this workshop at Shanti Studio Puerto Vallarta on Saturdays at 9:00am starting next Saturday the 29th of September with a free class with teacher Valery Martinez. Book your free class by calling us (224-8170) or registering in our facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/204332236364467/

Techiques of Aerial Dance

Foot Lock

The three main techniques of Aerial Dance are the climbing tecnique, wraping tecnique and droping techinque.

Climbs:
Climbs employed by aerial dancers range from purely practical and efficient, such as the French climb, to athletic and elegant tricks of their own, such as the straddle climb.

Wraps:
Wraps are static poses where aerialists wrap the silks around one or more parts of their body. In general, the more complicated the wrap, the stronger the force of friction and the less effort required to hold oneself up. Some wraps, such as the straddle-back-balance, actually allow performers to completely release their hands. Foot locks are a sub-category of wraps where the silks are wrapped around one or both feet.

Drops:
In a drop, performers wrap themselves up high on the silks before falling to a lower position. Drops can combine aspects of free fall, rolling or otherwise rotating oneself before landing in a new pose. Preparation for a drop can make for a pretty wrap, but the ultimate goal is the fall rather than the pose. Of the three trick types, drops require the most strength, and are also the most potentially dangerous. Rosin (dry or mixed with rubbing alcohol) is employed to help performers maintain their grip.

Fabric types for an Aerial Dance Class

The fabrics used for Aerial Dance are very strong with some give and flexibility. The fabric is 2-way stretch polyester lycra. The width varies depending on the routine and the acrobat. The fabric is usually quite long, as it is doubled for rigging, giving the acrobat two strips of fabric to work with as the dancer performs.

Stretch
Low stretch fabrics: Low stretch fabrics are primarily used by beginners who have not yet developed proper climbing technique.
Medium stretch fabrics: Medium stretch fabrics are the principle choice of professional aerialists and graduates of professional training programs.

Width.
Fabric width is mostly a personal choice. The thickness of the fabric when gathered is also influenced by the "denier", or technical thickness of the fabrics weave. 40 denier is a common choice. The following applies to 40 denier nylon fabric:
60" - Narrow when open, thin when gathered. Fairly common simply because the fabric is widely available.
72-84” - Average for adult performers
96" or wider - Wide when open, thick when gathered. Best for adults with large hands.

Length
Length is a function of the height of the space available.
For beginners, it is beneficial if the fabric comes down past the ground, allowing them to practice wraps at a lower level where they can be spotted.
For intermediate users and above, it is sufficient if the fabrics to come down to the ground.