THE LAST 3 WEEKS Pt. 3

Since assessment day, our weeks have generally been like this.

Monday morning: Running class with Jim (let's pretend that never happened, it was a 2 week only thing), Jamie conditioning class, where she gives us fun stretching, and circuit training to make us STRONG LIKE BULL. Then we split into half of us going to dance class and half of us staying with Jamie for more stretching and conditioning.

Wednesday morning: Hour with Jamie, more fun circuit training (20 different strength exercises each one done as many times as you can during a minute, wait 20 seconds then switch to the next one).
After Jamie hour, we have Physical Theater for 2 hours (love it, though I feel sometimes as if I'm in Freshman year of Temple all over again, but whatever, I can shut up and learn).

Every afternoon, for 2-3 hours, there is Member's Only Training, which is time for just the Intensive and Protrack students to use the entire circus school to work on our training and practice things we're learning, and solidify things in class.
Also, once a week each person gets a private lesson. In September, all our private lessons were with Jamie so she could get to know us (she's our program director), and see what we need as a circus artist. With me, Jamie and I started doing some aerials, but we both kind of felt like I will get enough aerial for now on my own time and in my aerial classes, so we really worked on stretching my less flexible joints.

Jamie has become slightly intrigued by my particular flexibilities. Apparently, the flexibilities that I have naturally contradict her generalizations about people, so she has fun inspecting me. I have never really had to work that hard for my straddle split, it's just always mostly there, and I just need to wake it up. My lower back has always been flexible, and all the bends that I put in my back quickly migrate to my lower back, cause my upper back doesn't want to bend. This makes certain balance tricks in aerials place higher on my back than most aerialists. Which is fine cause it's my back's balance point, but she has fun playing with it.
Mostly in our privates, she has been getting my splits deeper, and opening up my hip flexors for my pike. Right now, if i sit with my legs straight out in front of me, and try to grab my feet, i can hunch over and barely grab my feet, eventually the goal is the have a flat back and be complete folded at the hips so my torso is flat against my legs. This is by far the hardest stretch for me, and my body's panic reflex while stretching this has has some angry moments. I started crying in my private last week, just as a reflex of my body panicking while stretching. Jamie has faith in me somehow, I'm already getting better at letting go as she pushes me into the pike stretch.

Also, I have Hoop/Sling class Monday nights, Advanced Fabric Tuesday nights and Inversions Wednesday nights.
Right now, Inversions is my favorite class, even though it's the hardest class for me. It deals mostly with back bends and all the very acrobatic work involving back bends, My back has really opened up in the last 3 weeks, and I now can be in a bridge, and kick my legs over my hands into a standing position (video to come).

Also, me and Christi keep each other honest and we make sure we go to the fitness gym almost every day to either do weights or cardio. She and I have become a weird little fabulous team.

As October is coming up soon, we were allowed to start asking for privates (now that we aren't just by default with Jamie doing personal investigations). In October, I will have a handstand private with Aimee (she's a goddess, I'm so excited to finally work with her), a hoop private with Deena (which I'm probably gonna ask to switch to trap so we can just nail down some momentum tricks), a contortion private with Bill (basically, he manhandles you way past where you can stretch yourself, and you get more bendy), and a double trapeze private with this LOVELY LOVELY woman Eileen who's in the Intensives program with me. She's an actor in NY who's sooo hillarious, she founded an aerial theater group in NYC, and we make each other laugh way too often. We thought that we might work together well, so even though I have no positive experiences with doubles trap, I'm willing to give it a try with her.

Ok, well that's pretty much we're I am at now, circus in the morning, circus in the afternoon, cardio/weights in the afternoon, and more circus at night...and repeat.

Now, the pictures/videos, blogging should become more of a regular thing now that I have my laptop.