Hi! My name is Keira, and I am a flying trapeze instructor visiting from the USA. I’ve been doing and teaching flying trapeze for over almost 7 years across the US, but I still remember my very first class as if it were yesterday. I walked into a trapeze school in Boston with a mix of fear, excitement, and complete uncertainty about what to expect in the next two hours. If you are considering taking a class on the flying trapeze, read on because I will fill you in on what to expect if you come fly with us at TLCC!
Preparation
First off, plan to arrive for your class at least 5 minutes beforehand so you have time to meet your instructors and fellow students and fill out your waiver if you haven’t already completed this online. Make sure to bring water with you, wear trousers that cover the backs of your knees, and a shirt that covers your belly. Sunscreen is great to have on, but try to avoid having any on your forearms, hands, or backs of your knees!
Ground School
Once all of the students have arrived, we will put safety belts on everyone then start a brief warm-up and stretch while we go over the rules of flying trapeze and a few safety pointers. After we get those shoulders and legs loose, one of your three instructors will begin “ground school” with anyone who is brand new to trapeze. During ground school, your instructor will explain how to climb the ladder, how to take off the platform (with assistance from an instructor), and how to do your first trick: the knee hang and the backflip dismount. You’ll even get a chance to practice on the ground before you get up in the air. Ground school concludes with one of the instructors doing a demonstration of the knee hang and backflip up in the air so you get to see exactly what you are going to try to do!
First climb up the ladder
Now it’s your chance to try! We will hook you into a safety device and you will begin climbing the ladder. From the moment your feet leave the ground, until the moment you dismount the net and return the ground you will be attached to a safety device, so no need to be scared, you will be completely safe! When you safely arrive at the top of the platform, you will be greeted by one of your instructors who will attach you to your safety lines, and assist you with your takeoff. I highly recommend taking a minute to look around and enjoy the view while you are up there!
Take off
Once your instructor positions you for take-off, he or she will put the trapeze bar in your hands then say “Ready….hup” which means bend your knees and jump off the platform. Your first jump will be the most terrifying, exhilarating, awesome couple of seconds of your life! Before you know it you’re flying through the air with the greatest of ease!
First two flying trapeze tricks
Once you are in the air swinging back and forth, your instructor on the ground (who is holding on to your safety lines) will give you commands for when to do your two tricks. You will learn to hang upside-down by just your legs on the trapeze (knee hang), and how to do a backflip when you let go of the trapeze and fall to the net.
Catching!
If you learn the knee hang successfully in the first half of class, you will even have the opportunity to make a catch at the end of class with an instructor. That means, one of your instructors will hang upside down swinging on one trapeze, while you hang upside down swinging on the other, and your instructor tries to grab you by the wrists so you can leave your trapeze and swing with him/her. In my opinion, this is the most fun part of trapeze!
Before you know it, your two hour class will be over, and you will leave with a sense of accomplishment, lots of good photos/videos to prove you did flying trapeze, sore hands, and new friends! But the fun doesn’t have to end there…. If you come back for another class there are dozens of different tricks you can learn once you master the knee hang and backflip, so every class is different! Now you know everything you need to know, so go book your first flying trapeze class with us at www.TLCCtrapeze.com!
Keira Moore