Game Management – Aerials in Barcelona

Coaching aerial workshops is much like refereeing fútbol or soccer, for my American friends. You must be constantly aware of the players, the flow, anticipate their movements, and pay attention to your crew, your fellow teacher(s). After the parkour influenced warmup, the class begins with the rules. Think of it as the captain conference in the middle of the field, except everyone is responsible for themself and their classmates. 1. The flier’s safety comes first. 2. Communication is important. Don’t get ahead of the teachers. Make sure you, the flier, and your spotters agree to what you will do next whether prepping or “going over. Fliers can say “no”.

Then the teaching begins. We start with basing technique, trust exercises, jumping and landing technique. Once the aerials begin, we start off small, moving as slow or fast as we need, giving everyone time for repetitive movements, giving the couples lots of personal attention. Gradually, as aerials get more complex, we use spotters for the up preps and going overs. Oftentimes, we used Pol of Spank the Baby. Otherwise, we used volunteer couples to spot us or we spotted them. It’s a hands-on experience.

From there, you need to trust the students to take care of each other. Hopefully, they’ve paid attention to your techniques, instruction, and visual examples. Then it’s a matter of scanning the room, anticipating who needs special attention, and listening for questions. Sometimes I’ll see an error, but I see the students making an analysis of it or self-correcting. Play on. Other times, class must be stopped, advice handed out through generalities or gently pointing out corrections to specific partnerships that apply to others. I want you to learn and be successful, but most importantly, I want the students to achieve these aerials safely.

Aerials are fun and accessible. Aerial workshops are great because they have a way of making the hard seem easier. Aerials are rarely easy, but through the right training, outside support (exercise, fitness training), attention to detail, you can make them more effortless looking. It’s a different level of teamwork and partnership.

 Special thanks to Daniela de Zabaleta and Pol Prats Ferrer of Spank the Baby for having me teach at their studio, Sara Planas for teaching with me, and 23 Skidoo for helping me develop as an aerialist specialist.

New Beginnings – Madrid, Spain

I’m in Madrid and having fun. I arrived Tuesday, November 6 and promptly starting training and preparing classes with Alba Mengual. There’s nothing like staying active to stave off jet lag. We are teaching 3 beginner lindy classes, 1 intermediate lindy, 1 advanced lindy, 1 advanced balboa, 1 beginner blues each week at various studios in Madrid. For more information, you can click here. There will be a website soon. Until then, stay abreast through Facebook.

Someone asked me if I was staying busy. I think 35+ dance hours during my first 7 days counts as busy. We’re practicing, designing class syllabi, djing, planning upcoming and recently happened workshops (balboa), dancing, and more. Nearly each class that Alba has promoted is completely filled. The above picture is from our packed drop-in class before Saturday’s big party. There were about 50 people attending the lesson. Later, I DJ’ed 3.5 hours. We heard that dancers really enjoyed the music and this was one of the most well attended swing dances in all Madrid. We’re off to a good start.

While I’m visiting Madrid, each month will feature a different workshop topic. This month’s topic was Balboa. Day 1, featured above, was 4 hours Improver Level. Day 2 was Intermediate Advanced for 4 hours. Each day started with us grounding the students with pure bal basics, weight changes, and enhanced connection technique. Then we looked at appropriate out and in material for the levels. Finally, we finished with throwouts and lollies for improvers, and throwout variations and fun material for intermediate/advanced. Want to watch, learn, or satisfy your curiosity? Click here for the playlist.

And while I’m here, I’ll continue being a food tourist. 🙂 Cheers!