Tag: europe

Ceiling height:   approximately 12 feet tall

Address:            Mikinon 11 & Μ. Alexandrou, Kerameikos

Cost:                  10 Euros for a 1.5 hour drop-in

E-mail:               circusdayz@gmail.com

Rigging:

Trapeze is wrapped around and silks are wrapped around the bar that is bolted to the ceiling.  The trapeze rope is closed with a carabiner.  Strongly recommend using a crash mat.  Crash mats are thin and are either purchased by Unicycle or custom made.  They are stacked on top of each other.  Space is about 2/3 the size of our studio.  There are about 2 bars that can hold about 5 trapezes and about 5 to 6 silks.  The bars are about 1 1/4 inch in diameter and are bolted to the ceiling.  I question about the longevity of the structure.  The silks need to be replaced as the edges are a bit frilly.  Based on how the trapeze was rigged, I chose the silks over the trapeze.

Review: 

When I booked this class via e-mail, the response was quick.  I took a group silks class. There were 6 students. (2 students per apparatus).  Instructors are well knowledge in intermediate level aerials in silks. Since it’s a mixed class and a drop-in set up, each group is working on something different.

The instructor can speak some English and will demonstrate if she can’t communicate.  The only concern is that she can be physical with the student (I.e. slapping and grabbing a person’s butt to engage the glutes).  She has no ill intentions and has a nice and caring personality.  However, this might rub some people off the wrong way or may encourage someone to squeeze the glutes.  I really like the idea of using a half-catcher to work on back balance. I learned a sequence from her that I liked.

From my knowledge, this is the only circus school in Greece.

In Italy, it was hard finding a school that will teach students in English.  I tried contacting the schools in Turin, but no one will reply to my e-mails.  It would still be nice to get a reply.  Finally, I got instructor referrals from other aerialists.  That worked like a charm.  

The main reason why it’s hard to find a circus school is the language barrier.  Google ‘circus school Italy’ and you may get one school.  Type the same words in Italian and you get a handful of schools.  Whether these schools can teach you in English, it’s doubtful as I’ve tried e-mailing to Turin and I did not hear back from them.  In addition, these schools may not be targeting students that want to do recreational circus.

I manage to get two instructors to teach me private sessions: one was in Pisa (see picture below) and the other was in Rome.  I won’t give the contact information for the two facilities because both facilities only speak Italian.   One of the facility wasn’t even officially open.  If you would like to get the contacts of the instructors from me, please send me an e-mail at info@calgarycircusstudio.com.  I don’t know if they will be in Pisa or Rome as they do perform in different places.  Perhaps, you will be able to meet them for a private session.

Ceiling height:   approximately 22 feet

Address:            Calle Calcio, 5, Seville, Spain

Cost:                   23 euros for 1 hour private session + 2 euros rent

Facebook:          Rebe Al Rebes

Rigging: 

The ceiling is vaulted and the building is made out of corrugated metal.  Some straps are wrapped in a basket, while others are wrapped around the beam a few times.  The beams are made of metal.

Review:

After going from one referral to another referral, I manage to reach Rebe Al Rebes.  I messaged her on Facebook and she was quick to respond, especially when it was a last-minute private session.    She usually sends facebook voice recording as it’s easy for her to communicate.  Please make sure your phone is able to allow you to hear voice messages.

Rebe had taken the performance training from Gravity Center and studied under Leo Hedman.  Later, she decided to teach more at this school.  If you reach her, I am sure you will more likely be able to find her in Seville.

Warm-up is done on your own time.   Please be careful with running as the laminated flooring is warped and uneven and may be a tripping hazard.  

It was really nice for Rebe to teach as she still had an injured arm that was still in a sling.  She was good with her verbal cues.  In an hour, we worked on side beats, two different kinds of climb (an outside spin and opp leg hook and inside spin), roll-ups and one arm hang variation.  The class ended by doing your own cool down in your own time.

Ceiling height:   N/A for acro yoga workshops

Address:            Different places every year in Spain

Cost:                  160 to 220 euros 

E-mail:               acroyogasurfestival@gmail.com

Review: 

I always wanted to try to go to a festival that had a language barrier.  I wanted to see if it is possible to attend a festival where you will be able to learn a circus skill without having to speak the language.

Since this festival was on when I was in Seville, I decided to take the chance.  This is the largest acro festival in Spain.  The festival was located in Espiel.  The journey was tricky as it took 1 hour by train, followed by 1 hour by bus to Espiel and would have been about an hour of walking if it wasn’t a nice local who gave me a ride.

There were about 200 people for this camping event.   If you do not have proper camping gear, I would recommend the deluxe package as it’s too cold to camp outside during this time of year.   Please bring waterproof items as there may be scattered showers and wet ground due to morning dew.  Meals are included in the package.  All the food provided are vegetarian and you only get one of each item.  Please bring snacks as there are no seconds.  Also, you might want to consider bringing other types of food for breakfast, as the people here eat bread w/ olive oil, salt and mushy tomatoes in the morning.   Unless, of course, you are a light eater and you can tolerate gluten and dairy.   

To my surprise, the participants were lovely and some were able to communicate in English.  Classes were good and instructions were clear. The level of the classes is from beginner to intermediate level.  Since the location was in a hostel, the classes for this festival were held in a basketball court, tennis court and inside the restaurant.  No need to pack a yoga mat as they offer rentals.

My highlights were:

1) Flamenco performance

2) Lovely locals

3) 200 people included myself sang an English impromptu song about love in a nice cosy room.  The vibe was amazing.

Ceiling height:   approximately 20 ft

Address:            Carrer d’Espronceda 326

Cost:                  45 euros for 1.5 hour private session 

E-mail:               infogentecolgada@gmail.com

Rigging: 

The ceiling is vaulted and the building is made out of wood.  Straps attached to the silks and ropes are wrapped in a basket.  The beams are made of wood and the equipment is attached to the support beam.

Review:

Kat runs Gente Colgada.  Like any one-woman show, she also does the admin and answered my e-mails and facebook messages.  It was refreshing to have someone outside of London to answer my e-mails quickly since I had a hard time gaining new connections in Europe.

Kat learned her rope from Emiliano Ron and Nacho Ricci.  Since I wasn’t able to take Emiliano’s workshop in Chicago, at least, I could learn a few moves from one of his students.

She instructed the warm-up and really took the time to work on the shoulders.  I learned some flex-band and weight exercises.  She was quite thorough about the foundations in inversions.  I had an amazing conversation with her.  It was a shame that my video camera was not functioning properly and I only manage to get half of the footage.

I admire the fact that Kat is still willing to do circus after an injury that took a few years to heal.  For the life of a circus artist, it can be a cycle of injury and healing.  It is definitely frustrating to be in a position where one has to heal for more than a few months.  For someone who is training back to the rope, she is moving quite well.

Overall, the private session was a really good session as I learned 2 different variations of straddle climb, one variation from front to back balance and a different entrance to back balance.  I was so immersed in geeking out aerials that I didn’t take a lot of time to cool down.  

One day, I hope that I can go back to Barcelona again.  

Ceiling height:   approx. 35 ft

Address:            Unit 7A, Mellish House, Harrington Way

Cost:                   70 pounds – 1 hour private session

Email:                 aircraftcircusdocs@gmail.com

Rigging: 

The building is made out of metal sidings.  Some straps are wrapped in a basket, while others are wrapped around the beam a few times.  The beams are made of metal.

Review:

I purchased a speciality aerial private session on their website (www.aircraftcircus.com) after I communicated with Aircraft Circus.  I wanted to make sure that there will be an instructor that will be able to teach me bungee trapeze when I was available.  

I had the pleasure to have Alex Frith (one of the directors of Aircraft Circus) as my instructor.  Note: Alex has since stepped down as a director.

Warm-up is done on your own time.   I came half an hour early to do my warm-up and it ended up being postponed until half an hour later as he needed time to set up the bungee.  What administration didn’t know is that bungee trapeze is a fickle apparatus.  

Once the bungee trapeze was set up, it still takes about an hour of tinkering due to my weight and the elasticity of the cords.  The bungee needed an extra cord on each side of the harness so that I can get to the trapeze bar (which was about 30 feet up in the air).  Instead of a 1-hour private session, it ended up more than double due to the set-up time.  Luckily, I had some time and was able to stay for the entire session.  The only thing about staying in a harness for that long is that you tend to start losing blood circulation and feel numb in the thighs.  It’s not a comfortable position to be wearing diaper-like contraptions for too long.  So, be wary of it.

The experience was exhilarating and scary at the same time.  Imagine sitting on a trapeze bar about 30 feet in the air and someone tells you to fall back into nothingness.  There’s a lot of heart palpitation and cold sweat involve.  After you succeed with the first step, you start working towards a short sequence of tumbling that needs to be done at the right time and order.  I didn’t do the sequence very well, but there’s always the next time.  

Ceiling height:   10 to 11 ft

Address:            25A Ferdinand St, Camden

Cost:                   15 pounds – 1 hour drop-in

Email:                 astra@skylabstudio.co.uk

Rigging: 

The studio is located on the top floor.  The wooden vaulted ceiling has a few metal A-frames that goes along the ceiling.  There are 2 steel scaffold bars that connect the A-frames.  These bars are the ones that the aerial apparatus are hooked onto.  The hoops are set up between 10 ft and 11 ft.

Review:

I purchased a drop-in from Sky Lab online (www.skylabstudio.co.uk).  Just picked the available class, followed the prompts and paid for the drop-in.  It was easy.

I made a surprise visit to an old friend of mine, Jackie Le.  We studied aerials together at the BTS project over a decade ago.  When she was a student, she picked up things really quickly.  It was amazing to watch her move.  It was fantastic to see her again as she is still on the aerial path.  To read more about her,  please check out this link.

I really enjoyed learning from her.  I was still suffering from jet lag and was burned out from organizing a previous aerial event.  So, I decided to take it slow.  The warm-up was done together as a group.  Then, the conditioning was done at each own’s pace.   Since this was an aerial taster class, the students worked on their own goals.  Mine was a single toe hang and a reverse meathook.  

It was really wonderful to have a different set of drills to work towards these moves.  Obviously, these are difficult moves and requires lots of patience and time.  Thankfully, Jackie gave personal attention to each of her students to make sure she (everyone in her class were women) has the corrections that she needed.  This is definitely how I would like to spend an evening with my friend.  Definitely my version of fun.

Ceiling height:   25 to 29 ft

Address:            Unit 61, Cromwell Industrial estate, Staffa Road, Leyton

 NOTE:  The studio is now closed, but they are running programs on different location

Cost:                   65 pounds – 1 hr private session

Email:                 welcometogravity@gmail.com

Rigging: 

The centre is located in a warehouse in the industrial area.  The rig structure is a quadralite truss system.  For more details about the space, please click here.  

Review:

I had contacted Yam via e-mail.  She was really good at answering my emails and made sure things went smoothly.   I was impressed that she even took the time to follow up after my private session.  Please note that it’s best to contact a week before the private session.  With so much activity going on in their space, it’s hard for them to know their schedule and space availability.

Unless you want to waste precious minutes in your private session, warm-up and cool down is done on your time.  I was able to come half an hour early to warm-up.  My private session was with Kevin Aaron.  He was such a sweetheart.  He had a terrible cold and still came to teach knowing that I was only in London for a short time.  Regardless of his health, he was still very strong.

We worked on climbs and rolls.  I have been fascinated in working towards rolling up the rope from a back balance.   With that goal in mind, we worked on drills related to rolling and even, a drill for scissor climb.    Bonus!