I took aerial dance classes formally for 4 years, this is the story and my experience with them. I hope it can somehow help.
I really do not like going to the gym to lift weights to tone my body, it is really boring for me. Although I do not deny that I have used them when I had no other choice. So I decided to climb on the gym wall. Climbing is an excellent exercise that helps tone your whole body without going to the gym. The first time I tried it, it was not easy, since I am not very coordinated, but I also realized that I was much more afraid of heights than I thought. I spent approximately 2 years in that activity and it was very beneficial to help me with confidence in my body and with my fear of heights.
Later, the aerial dance classes for adults were started at my gym. I decided to take them because it was an extremely beautiful sport for me, in addition to that I always liked gymnastics classes as a girl. The first classes I had were a fiasco, I couldn’t step on the fabric, and I couldn’t make any figures. ?. The classes did not last long so I went back to climbing. The main component of failure is that the classes did not have an adequate organization or order that would help me to perform the figures properly and my lack of coordination and fear of heights or risky figures did not help.
Later the aerial dance teacher resigned and a new teacher arrived, so I tried again. By then I was in my early 30’s. Most of my classmates were in their 20s or even teenagers. Alex, the teacher, to whom I am immensely grateful, made all the difference as she had a specific method of class progression, in which everyone learned at their own pace. Not only that, but my teacher gave you the confidence that anyone, no matter your age, or your body type, or your ability can make the required figures in aerial dance. My rhythm was slow, like a little turtle, but constant. It took me about 1 month to be able to step on the fabric and some figures were so complicated that it took me 2 months to perform them, partly because as I said I am not very skilled. There were other classmates, who are much more skillful and stepped on their first day on the fabric and achieved figures that were very difficult for me in 1 or 2 classes. The teacher did not care how fast or slow you progressed because it depended on each one, I even had colleagues who were older than me, so age is not a limitation for this sport. Unless you really didn’t like the class, there was no excuse for not making progress in the class, as long as you followed the correct method and order.
I think having a good teacher is the key if you decide to took an aerial dance class. Another very important thing that we always, always took into account was security. No girl fell under his tutelage while monitoring several girls at the same time. Safety is super important and always comes first. We learned from some other class at some other club where students reported as normal falling from the fabric. It is not normal under any circumstances! We must know well what our limits are and how far we can go before we continue and risk falling or making a figure on top on the fabric. In order to prevent that we rehearsed the figures at low altitude first.
The classes helped me a lot to increase the little flexibility I have, exercise my whole body and locate it well spatially. Also know and overcome my limits step by step and obviously helped me with my fear of heights. An important part of making it so hard to progress in class is precisely that fear, although having climbed helped me a lot (imagine my case), in climbing you have a rope that ties you in case you fall. In aerial dance you have nothing but your own hands, you do not have a wall in front of you, but only the fabric and you. There were figures that caused me more fear than others, so that was decisive in my progress. Some of my classmates advanced way more, not only because of their skill, but because their confidence with the heights.
Another thing that made the difference for me is that I slipped a lot on the fabric, both feet and hands. There was classmates who did not have that problem. I did. Using the tar to make it easier to stick to the fabric helped me a lot.
Activities like this help a lot in other aspects of life. Once I wanted to ride a horse and I remember being very scared, but I managed to do it more or less. On a trip, I had to get on a camel, this time, I did it without fear, and enjoying the ride, trusting my hands and legs this time making all the difference. Camels are taller than horses, I noticed when the camel passed a sedan car, that the camel was twice the car’s height. At that moment I saw how much my classes had served me and how much they had been worth.
After 4 years I had to leave my classes because I moved. Having learned the sport for all that time, I felt free to be able to perform it safely on my own, so I made sure I had a cloth at home. It is the sport that I like the most, I keep reviewing what I have learned and making new figures with the tools I got. Safety is first if you want to install your own fabric.
Do not say I can’t, try it, find the right teacher so you can advance properly, whose classes are structured, and who put safety first. Like any activity, it carries its risks, but if everything is in order, go ahead. And don’t try to do the exercises alone if you are a beginner. Find qualified teachers first.
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