Quantifying Recovery: Do I REALLY Need that Rest Day?!

Yep, that’s right. ANOTHER post about recovery. I can hear the collective groans and hisses from circus artists all over the world. Really, I can. Bear with me, friends, I think you’re going to like this one! This is the post in which I teach you how to ACTUALLY QUANTIFY recovery, and your body’s readiness […]

The Hyperextension Dilemma

“Would you LOOK at those lines?! Her KNEES! Beautiful!!” Lines…a HOT topic in the circus world, and something we ALL care about! If your knees don’t straighten all the way, or are just barely straight, you are likely on an ENDLESS quest to kill the microbend. But what about those of us who’s knees go…past […]

TELL ME HOW YOU *REALLY* FEEL

Featuring Janelle Dinosaurs OUCH. ​Imagine this familiar moment:  you’re in an aerial/stretching/acrobatics class, and a student is trying a new skill. “Ow!” they say, “that hurts!” ​ This scene is the root of a series of several articles Janelle Dinosaurs and I are writing together to address the spectrum from “discomfort” to “full blown injury” as […]

TO SQUEEZE OR NOT TO SQUEEZE: WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR GLUTES IN A BACKBEND

  Featuring Catie Brier, contortionist and contortion coach ​There are a few super hot topics in circus/yoga/performing arts, and this is one of them…what should your glutes be doing in a backbend? Should they be engaged, or should they be relaxed?     There are a lot of strong opinions out there on this topic…and I, too, am […]

EVERYTHING HURTS AND I’M DYING: HOW MUCH SORENESS IS TOO MUCH?

Featuring Lindsay Culbert-Olds (@lco91), Photo by Warren Zelman What does current performing arts culture tell us about muscle soreness? Aches and pains? Bruises, burns, and rope rash?  “CIRCUS HURTS.” “Train through it.” “Tears are for home, not circus” “Here, have some circus candy (advil/ibuprofen).”  These are all common “circus-isms” that I’ve heard, and I want to talk a […]

RETHINKING SHOULDER POSITION IN CIRCUS ARTS

Featuring Lindsay Culbert-Olds and Kia-Melinda Eastman (www.KLTrapeze.com), photo byYolanta Birkhāne ​“ARMS UP! NOW, DRAW YOUR SHOULDER BLADES DOWN AND BACK! ENGAGE YOUR SHOULDER MUSCLES!” How many times have you heard this verbal cue in the context of circus arts, yoga, pilates, or dance? I hear this all the time, across multiple movement disciplines. Most of the time, […]