Merry Christmas!

artist: Bill Ballantine, 1951 | source Circus Historical Society

Wishing you and your family a joyous Christmas!

2015 Flying Trapeze Recap Looking Towards 2016

As another year comes to a close, it's another opportunity to review the previous 12 months and plan for the upcoming 12. I ended my flying year yesterday with such a fun and relaxing day in the air. I'm so fortunate for every opportunity to fly and my heart bursts with joy every time I get to share it with people I love. 

This was quite an interesting year for me in many ways, but this post will focus on my flying trapeze progress in particular. I only had four months of weekly flying this year. The rest of the year consisted of 1-2 fly sessions a month. But that being said, the intensive nature of my summer in California really helped me progress quickly in a few areas. 

I began the year with four main flying trapeze goals: swinging/returning (this is really two goals in one), layout, cutaway, layout full. Well, I have yet to begin working on the full, but I did start working uprise/forward over, which was unexpected. So with 2016 just around the corner, let's check-in with my 2015 flying trapeze progress.

Goal #1 - Swinging and Returning 

Swinging is a lifelong journey as they say, but I did gain some real traction with my swing by the end of the summer. I was pleased with the height I was building and the strength I felt after 10 weeks of serious flying.

Running Springs, CA

Now, after a few months off, I'm feeling somewhat sluggish and have regressed a bit, but in general I have a better idea of what I need to do (getting my body to cooperate every time, well that's another story). After chatting with a friend after our most recent fly session together, I realized that I need to think about really squeezing my butt tight (think about trying not to drop that $100 bill haha). Other areas that still remain a focus/challenge are getting my hips up on my force out and forward in my seven (squeeze butt!) as well as lifting the bar up with me in my seven. There's plenty of room for improvement but overall, I'm pleased with my progress this year on my swing. 

Returning...well that's another story. As a matter of fact, there has been quite a regression on this over the course of the year. The times when I did return, I was returning quite high, so that was an interesting adjustment. haha But in general, I found myself off-time in-hands, killing our swing by rushing and then doing something weird on the press pulling me towards the catcher. I had some interesting returns to the bar, including hanging by an armpit and one hand where most of my fingers were underneath the bar. So needless to say, this one is still a work in-progress. I did start working an angel return and it went better than the first time I worked on it, so that was encouraging. We just worked on it the one time, so there's not much to report, but I'm looking forward to working more on it in the future.

Utah Flying Trapeze - SLC, UT

Goal #2 - Layout

For the Seinfeld fans out there, the layout is my Newman, we're frenemies at best. Some days are better than others, but mainly this trick has been the bane of my (flying trapeze) existence. I had the goal this year to get it out of lines. And it technically is OOL, but it needs so much attention, that I put it back in lines all the time so I can work on it without added pressure. I've come a long way with the form of my body, but I'm struggling with closing at the shoulders. I've received some good coaching about ways to work through that, but I'm still navigating through what makes the most sense to me. I'm also releasing too early (that pesky rushing thing again). Patience!! One of my coaches recently told me to just think about the break and then let the trick happen. That was a big ah-ha moment for me, so I'm really going to focus on that, as well as my handstand to the sky. I think part of what causes me to close my shoulders is that I'm scared of peeling off the bar on the drive, which totally won't happen, but it causes me to overgrip as well as force the flip to happen. Anyone else dealing with that?

I wanted to have my layout on my own timing, but it's a long way off, so that particular goal will roll into 2016. This is not an excuse, but rather just something worth mentioning, I did not spend much time working on my layout this year. I probably should have given it more priority because it is such a fundamental skill and will do so in the new year.

Utah Flying Trapeze - SLC, UT

Goal #3 - Cutaway/Cutaway Half

The cutaway remains un-halved at this time. I did catch my cutaway multiple times, but it has a long way to go before it will be OOL or a cutaway half. I have been told I look like a fainting goat sometimes upon my release...whenever I do something weird off the bar, I stiffen up just like a scared fainting goat. It's funny because I know I do it. I had this awful tendency to force the trick to happen (at least I'm consistent), which resulted in bending in half. I've worked through through the urge to bend in half and now release from the bar in a nice flat position (usually). This is another trick that I need to relax and let the trick happen. It's been quite a while since I've thrown one, but they were coming along nicely for the most part. I would like to work on this one again soon. One time I did a split return on the cutaway stick, that was fun/ny. haha

Running Springs, CA

Goal #4 - Layout Full Twist

HA...HA HA... um, let's just say this will be a 2016 goal.

Added Bonus(es)

One random day right before the summer ended, I started working on uprises for fun. After one practice of doing uprise shoot, I moved onto uprise forward over. And Oh.My.GAWD, that day, I fell head over heels IN LOVE with the forward over. That trick came so natural to me, I had been so long since I had experienced something on the trapeze that felt so effortless...the last time must have been a set trick haha. Catching this trick was a wonderful way to end my summer and big run of flying trapeze.

Running Springs, CA

Also, just for fun, I threw a couple doubles. They are not even close to catchable and double back tucks are not a trick I am actively working on, but it was so much fun to play.

Gaona's Trapeze Workshop - LA, CA

2016 Flying Trapeze Goal Planning

I'm somewhat hesitant to actively plan additional goals at the moment since I already have so much I'm working on. So for the foreseeable future, I really want to focus on the tricks I'm currently doing and get them all solid and OOL. I want a beautiful, consistent, FLOATING layout, cutaway ---> cutaway half with force out turn around and tucked set position, forward over with a solid uprise and a straight-legged kip that rises UP off the bar. The journey of swinging and returning will continue as well as the search for a graceful take off and remount. 

The most important thing I will focus on this year is remembering to have fun. I take my training pretty seriously, but sometimes I can allow an off day on the rig to really get to me. I need to remind myself to never forget the reason why I do trapeze in the first place: I do flying trapeze because I love it and it brings me joy. So if I achieve only one goal this year, it should be to never lose sight of that happy place.