Moving from Tension to Expression

In this discussion, we are going to think about aerial circus training as three phases, Tension, Exploration, and Expression.  As a brand new aerialist, it is common to experience each new phase in a linear way, but as an aerialist advances these phases become more like training tools in an ever-expanding toolbox to be used as needed. Another way of thinking about it is, you don’t graduate from one phase and move to the next, aerialists are always shifting their focus between these phases as they continue to learn new skills and challenge themselves.

This first phase is the TENSION phase.

Don’t worry, it is not as ominous and jaw-clenching as it sounds (well maybe it is a little bit). This is a period of time at the start of a student’s aerial circus training when instructors emphasize strength and conditioning and DRILL the concept of tension in the muscles...repeatedly.  Your coach will probably tell you to “Tighten this” or “Squeeze that” over and over again until holding your body tight becomes second nature. This tension allows aerialists to climb, invert, and hold static shapes in a safe and stable way while building the muscle strength and endurance needed to stay up in the air. 

This tension phase is demanding and energy intensive. As a student learning a brand new skill, you will probably spend most of your energy trying not to fall into a tangled “wet noodle” puddle on the floor. Either that or your brain hurts trying to keep all the steps and directions straight to get from point A to point Z in the new skill you’re learning. It can be exhausting and frustrating which is why this phase also requires so much mental discipline, resolve, and strength of will, especially if you are also dealing with pesky negative self-talk gremlins in your head.

So if you are in the tension phase (whether you are a beginner, or just focusing on learning new skills), you absolutely deserve a standing ovation for your effort, dedication, hard work, and commitment to showing up week after week and being vulnerable enough to learn something new.  You are Awesome Sauce!

The great news is, this phase too shall pass…kind of…at least it won’t consume the entirety of your circus training forever. Staying tight gets easier. 

Once you feel comfortable with a few skills and can execute them with strength, confidence, and precision you can begin spending some of your time in phase two, EXPLORATION. 

This is where students begin to explore different types of movement. You have moved past the fingers crossed “Please Don’t fall” stage and you now have space in your brain to focus on other things. It is a great time to ask yourself; What body parts need to be tight and what parts can you soften and allow to flow? When do you need to move quickly or explosively and when can you slow way down? Do you really need to death grip your apparatus the entire time, or can you fine-tune how hard you grip? Maybe the skill even allows you to release your grip to explore how your arm can move from shoulder, elbow, wrist, or fingers.

The exploration phase is so exciting because you can do one skill (or a short repertoire of skills) in an infinite number of ways, which also benefits you by building endurance! You can also combine a sequence of two or more skills in many ways, playing with transitions and showing off your strengths while also displaying a variety of shapes or movement styles.

PRO TIP: This is a great time to film yourself! It helps you remember skills and allows you to see how your skill or sequence changes as you try out new shapes and ways of moving. 

Now for the DISCLAIMER: Try not to judge your explorations as “Good or Bad”, or “Pretty or Ugly” because, in the next phase, you will need all the different quality categories of movement. 

FINAL NOTE: The third phase is not for everyone because not every student has the same goals. Some students just want a different,  fun, and dynamic workout, others just want to learn new skills and work endurance, and that is totally fine! But if you are the student who listens to the same song on repeat in the car and daydreams about performing to it while sitting at red lights, this next phase is the phase you’ve been waiting for!

The third phase EXPRESSION is about musicality and performance. As a student who’s been training circus for a while now, you have a skill set that you can execute safely and confidently, and you have explored many different ways to move within and between those skills. This is usually the time when coaches begin to turn up the music during class and invite you to try unstructured play or flow. This is your chance to have some freedom to feel the music, feel your body moving, feel the emotion, and think about the “why” or intention behind your movement.  

In this stage, new questions come up. What sequence of skills do you want to put to music? How can you time those skills to the music so that your music emphasizes your movement or vice versa? When is the best time to add spinning, drops, or pauses? How can your transitions be smoothed out or made more interesting and less predictable?

The Expression phase can be really exciting and fun, and there is a soft underbelly that sometimes gets overlooked. Moving to music in a class setting can be uncomfortable or even scary feeling when you first try.  Your first attempts to “flow” might feel anxious or awkward. You might get tangled more than usual OR you might step up to your apparatus and suddenly forget everything you know when the music starts (that happens a lot!). On the one hand, it can be helpful to imagine that you are dancing alone in your kitchen and allow yourself to relax and have fun, but on the other, part of you knows you are not alone and then there is that slightly added difficulty of having an apparatus as a dance partner. 

So when your coach turns up the music in class and invites you to move and flow, just know that they understand that they are asking for you to take a big, open, vulnerable step. Let them know how you’re feeling and if you need additional support. OR, if you are not interested in musicality or performance, let your coach know and they can help you find something different to focus on.

In the end, your aerial journey is uniquely yours. Your goals are valid and awesome! Circus is a grand “choose your own adventure” journey where your goals and excitement determine how you grow and how your story unfolds. This is why circus is so rewarding and SO Much Fun!

See you in class!

RICS staff