A! Magazine for the Arts

Participants worked with low-flying trapeze (single point) and with colorful aerial silks (fabric).

Participants worked with low-flying trapeze (single point) and with colorful aerial silks (fabric).

Aerial Dance Workshop

July 22, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- An Aerial Dance Workshop was held recently at East Tennessee State University.

Participants worked with low-flying trapeze (single point) and with colorful aerial silks (fabric). They learned different climbing techniques ? while being suspended as high as 15 feet in the air ? as well as specific "aerial vocabulary" terms, like foot locks, hip keys, inversions, knee hang, lion in the tree, pendulum and angel.

The two master teachers, Jayne (Janie) Bernasconi and Ann Beherends, and their assistant, Nina Charity, hail from Maryland. The ETSU workshop organizer is Dr. Delbert Hall, theatre division, who specializes in theatrical flying techniques and stage rigging and apparatus.

The workshop concluded with a demonstration performance by the participants. The professional aerial dance instructors are preparing for an upcoming performance in Denver.

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