Varieties of aerial gymnastics. Aerial gymnastics

If you are bored with the usual gym with barbells and dumbbells, you can add aerial gymnastics to it, or even replace one with another. Of course, from the first time you are unlikely to succeed in a difficult and spectacular performance, like in a circus, but it is quite possible to tighten your figure and overcome your fear of heights.

Aerialists use fabric loops and canvases, metal hoops, trapezes and more to literally fly under the dome of the circus. All this is very interesting to look at, but it seems that it is completely impossible to do it yourself. This is partly true. A person who has not been doing anything since childhood, except for school physical education (and even then they were mainly forced to clean up the territory), is unlikely to learn to bend into a bagel and let go of his hands without fear to make a three-meter jump from a trapezoid. But it is quite possible to learn how to move beautifully, feel confident even when off the ground, and, of course, pump up muscles with the help of circus equipment. In addition, these aerial gymnastics classes bring great pleasure. Although we do not have wings, the feeling of flying is one of the most pleasant. Who in childhood did not swing on a swing or a bungee? Of course, letting go was scary, but it was a mixture of fear and real delight.

The benefits of aerial gymnastics

Air gymnastics requires good physical preparation, not only strength is important, but also stretching. It is better to come to classes if you are already into fitness - then you will not be disappointed at the very first lesson, finding that you cannot complete a single element. But further from gym you can refuse: to maintain a good shape, aerial gymnastics is more than enough. It is especially effective in strengthening the muscles of the arms, shoulders, abs and back. This is facilitated by static exercises, in which you need to balance in a certain position. Training on canvases and a ring is a way to get rid of unnecessary fears, learn to overcome yourself and develop willpower. This is especially facilitated by cliffs performed on air canvases. The first experience of free fall is never without screaming and panic. But at correct technique making cliffs and other stunts are not dangerous, and once you have a nerve-wracking experience, you will want to repeat it again and again.

Clothes for aerial gymnastics

Aerialists don't wear tight jumpsuits to performances just to look good on stage. It is necessary that the skin be as close as possible with clothing, then it will not “burn” from quickly sliding over the fabric of the canvas. Extra parts of clothing can wrap around the canvases or rings and at the most inopportune moment will interfere with the trick.

However, for the first lessons, it is not necessary to start a special jumpsuit; leggings and a long-sleeved T-shirt are quite suitable. At the same time, it is better to practice on canvases and loops barefoot: the toes, like the fingers, seriously help when trying to stay on these shells. But for the air ring, on the contrary, socks will come in handy. This projectile, unlike canvases and loops, is hard, and it has to be clamped with all the folds of the body, including the ankle. For the same reason, for training on the ring, you should choose the most dense clothing, otherwise bruises are inevitable. At first, the hands will quickly get tired, and calluses may appear on them. To prevent this from happening, you can use fingerless leather gloves. If your hands sweat a lot, magnesia will help (it is sold in sports stores in the climbing section).

Earrings, chains and rings must be removed before class. All hard objects on the body can injure you or scratch the projectile. Hair should be collected in a ponytail, braid or bun, and without using a metal or plastic hairpin.

It is best if you are trained by a circus school graduate with a diploma in aerial gymnastics. This will insure you against mistakes at the beginning of training. Moreover, if your physical training and dexterity is not yet at its best, the attention and insurance of a professional trainer will be especially useful for you.

However, if you are not ready to spend a lot of money and do not set yourself serious goals, but just want to try something new, you can do aerial gymnastics at one of the dance schools. Fitness clubs are just beginning to discover this direction, but the number of places where you can learn exercises on aerial sheets, loops and rings is steadily growing.

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Scenario of a thematic conversation for students elementary school"Let's talk about aerial gymnasts."

Event progress

Aerial gymnast in the 19th century

Jules Leotard

Jules Leotard

Boris Afanasyevich Eder

Akimov Sergey - belt aerialist

Zemskova Elmira - spiral aerialist

She is a representative of the circus dynasty of the well-known tightrope walkers Zemskovs. She has been working in the circus since the age of 13, since 1995, when she began performing in her parents' room. Prima Room exists since 1997. It uses the original device, specially designed for this number. Extraordinary tricks, originality of the production, plasticity and artistry made it possible to create several variants of the performance - from the eccentric "cosmic" to the lyrical and romantic.

Pukhova Diana - gymnast on the rings

Gymnast on the rings Diana Pukhova is a laureate of the international festival "Princess of the Circus", held in Stockholm, where the artist was dubbed the "Malaysian Princess". Many do not know that the same trick performed by a man and a woman is absolutely incommensurable in terms of the difficulty of preparation, the complexity of execution. Diana Poohova's number "Gymnast on the rings" made a splash, barely appearing in the repertoire of the Moscow Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. The audience was struck by a magnificent and charming girl, who appeared in a bright and memorable image of an oriental beauty. Diana works without insurance on her own grip - this is the main difficulty of the performance. The performer's hand is not fixed with a special loop, as is usually the case with the same gymnasts on belts. There is a small safety loop, but its function is more psychological calmness.

Two circus performers from Russia told Afisha Daily what it's like to perform acrobatic stunts at a height of 25 meters without insurance.

Elena Baranenko: “No matter what happens, I have to do at least 50 squats a day”

I have been serving in the Great Moscow State Circus for many years. My parents were circus performers. Since childhood, I took part in numbers, studied animal training, juggling, and when I became a little older, my parents sent me to a choreographic school. Therefore, I can do something in many genres. About seven years ago we were fooling around with a friend, an aerial gymnast, in the arena during a rehearsal, and she asked me to do some elements, I began to get a lot of things right off the bat, then we tried to do a couple of movements together and found out that I have a tendency to this genre. Since then, we began to train together and have been performing under the dome for six years now.

I remember the day of my first entry into the arena with an air number very well. An hour before going out, I accidentally shaved off my eyebrows and felt terrible. I was very worried that day, I could not find a place for myself in the dressing room. I thought that I need to cut them before the performance. Without approaching the mirror, she ran the machine over her eyebrows, and forgot to put on the nozzle. And then she went to the mirror and saw all the splendor. This incident relaxed me. I drew two lines for myself in the place where my eyebrows used to grow, and went to perform.

We work without insurance. Sometimes during a performance, fear takes such that horror! I'm trying to get over him. I am comforted by the thought that Olympic athletes more difficult than for us: they have wild pressure and responsibility many times more. When you're on top of the tightrope, you're having fun. But sometimes it is very scary.

I have a lot of superstitions about arena performances. Maybe it's because my mother died in the arena. She and her dad also worked in the genre of aerial gymnastics. Once, during a performance, both broke down, dad survived, and mom died. She was then 33 years old, I was 9. After the death of my mother, my father at first strictly forbade me to perform in the circus, for some time I obeyed. But you can’t come to the circus, fall in love and leave. Once you have been imbued with this life once, you will no longer be able to quit like this, on someone's orders.

I always check all the equipment, the suspension before a performance, I love safety. But you can't escape fate. After all, risk and death are also part of life, especially if we are talking about aerial gymnastics. When I perform with horses, before leaving, I always stroke the horse on the nose: it seems to me that it calms down. If something doesn’t work out for me several times, I do a pirouette, a sort of small ritual for good luck. Before numbers in the air, I always read "Our Father" and kiss my cross. When I arrive at a new circus, before the performance I send a kiss towards the arena. I also kiss the clubs I juggle with: I am grateful to my props and partner and try to create a positive atmosphere around. By the way, I have one more fad: no matter what happens, I have to do at least 50 squats a day.

It is important for me to be in good sportswear not because it's a fashion statement, but because my life depends on it. In addition, I need to look beautiful, I'm an artist. I'm interested in healthy eating. In the evening I brew ginger for myself, I drink it in the morning. Be sure to fill the chia seeds with kefir in the evening and put them in the refrigerator, in the morning I add flower pollen, pumpkin seeds, fruits. I also grind flax seeds for myself and drink spirulina. In the morning I still often use avocado oil, almond and walnut oil and eat a piece of bread with butter: it's good for the skin. I have low blood pressure, so I always drink coffee beans in the morning. I also recently read that tomatoes and cucumbers are not digested by the stomach, so now I try to avoid them. We have a very tasty dining room in the circus. I try to eat simple food, but high quality. For lunch I take soup, liver cutlets, carrot salad. By the end of the day I get very tired, so I go to the supermarket, buy washed grass, sprinkle olive oil there and eat with pleasure. I can afford wine in good company or even cognac in winter. However, I am a big opponent of smoking. I buy food at the weekend markets because everything is tasty and fresh there. I always take a hematogen with me to training, because at the right time it gives strength. As a snack, I can use an apple, coffee with bitter or milk chocolate. To be honest, I have a sweet tooth. If I see a brownie on my way home, I'll come home, I'll think about it, then I'll come back for it, buy it and eat it, and then I'll squat, try to get rid of those calories. I used to have anemia, so I often eat beef and lamb, besides, I really like them in taste, unlike other types of meat.

For the first time I entered the arena at the age of 14: I performed with a number where I juggled on a horse. Now, in addition to numbers in the air, I perform juggling with maces and trained parrots (these are my favorite birds). My dad and brother also work in the circus.

“Askold Zapashny comes up to me every day and says: “Stop eating”

Elena Petrikova

I went to the arena at the age of 5 in a reprise with clowns. And I started working in the genre of aerial gymnastics at the age of 14, although officially this can only be done from 18. But I did it painfully well, and therefore Mstislav Zapashny ensured that I was allowed to perform earlier than expected. I performed with a number on the rope (cord de parel) at a height of 15 meters - the first and only one at this age with absolutely no insurance.

I don’t know why I chose this genre: I’m very afraid of heights, I get sick on carousels, I can’t even look down from the balcony of the fifteenth floor. Initially, my dad and I did a couple in an acrobatic act, performed different racks. And one day we came to Vladivostok for a rally of amateur circuses - and I saw the performance of one girl who worked in the chord de parel genre, and she delighted me. I got my dad, he immediately went to the port, got me a rope from some ship. The girl at that performance performed her number so naturally that I thought it would not be difficult for me either. And so I grabbed the rope with my hands and feet and froze - I couldn’t pull myself up even once, let alone fly on it. I was so disappointed: I thought I would climb up and fly right away. As a result, I spent a year and a half and finally prepared an eight-minute number in the air.

At that time I was still in school. At 5 in the morning I came to a rehearsal at the circus, worked out another number with horses, then went to school, coming from it, rehearsed joint numbers with my dad, then again numbers with horses, then I definitely attended a ballet master class, because Mstislav Zapashny followed so that all the artists attended choreography classes, then there was a break and already at two o'clock in the morning by the light of a light bulb, when everyone went home, my dad and I were rehearsing my solo number with a rope. When I first time at 14 New Year's concert acted in the form of a seagull with this very number in the air, my wings were wrapped around a rope, I frantically tried to pull them out and not get out of the image, and when I was backstage, my knees simply bent from an overabundance of emotions and I fell. Dad even has a video cassette, which shows how I work out the number in the arena, and after the performance I go backstage and fall.

As a child, I worked in all equestrian genres, even climbed under the belly of horses when I was little. Circus kids are always trained in different genres. I remember when I was 7 years old, I was preparing an acrobatic number, where I had to run up and jump into the hands of the guys standing in front of me. I ran, jumped unsuccessfully, missed and drove my face across the carpet to the end of the arena (four meters). It was painful, disgusting, embarrassing, and I disliked acrobatics after that.

The specificity of aerial gymnastics is that it is very dangerous. We work without insurance, which means that if your hand opens and you drop a person, then that's it. Need to have very strong hands and feel like a partner. I'm used to working with a partner, we've been performing together for about seven years and we feel each other thoroughly. Recently, we took another gymnast into the room - and it is still very difficult to get used to it.

Sometimes, when you go on stage, it's very scary. I had a number in which it was necessary to make a sharp break. When it was too scary, I practiced the whole number, but I didn’t perform this particular element, instead I just made different movements, waiting for the music to pass. It happened to me, but only a few times. I perform at a height of 25 meters without insurance. It is impossible to get used to this fear, it just appears from time to time out of nowhere and also suddenly disappears. We recently had the premiere of the number, when we performed for the first time as a threesome, and not just two, and I was so scared from the feeling that I was not one hundred percent in control of the situation that my fingers were shaking. There was an internal panic, hysteria. I'm standing in the arena, my hands are shaking, I'm ashamed, and I don't know how to stop it. I think that there is a higher mind, sometimes when I tune in, I turn to it. Before the number, I close my eyes for two seconds and withdraw into myself. Maybe I'm a cynic, but when there are jugglers backstage before the performance, who will toss three maces, and pray and cross themselves, it looks comical.

My parents are also circus performers, so they do not panic during my performance. After the show, my mother can come up to me, scold me that somewhere I didn’t have such an expression on my face, I didn’t reach the sock. Dad stands on the winch (the machine that lifts us up) and monitors safety. We are okay with many things that an uncirculated person would take negatively. For example, as a child, I moved from city to city every month, changed schools due to the fact that my parents were constantly touring. You moved, entered new school, a month later he collected his belongings, moved to a new city - and everything is new. Now I also tour and often live in different cities. How old I am, I won't say. By circus standards, I am already a pensioner - we have 15 years of service. I am not married, I have no children. But I don’t need it now, I don’t feel like an adult woman who already needs all this, I’m still 17 years old in my soul.

I go to the fitness center three times a week. I can’t say that I am a fan of simulators, I can’t stand them, I walk through strength. At the arena every day we warm up and rehearse for 5 hours. During this time, I manage to rehearse the numbers with horses, then with dogs and my number in the air. Then, until the evening, I work as an assistant artistic director at the Great Moscow State Circus.

I love to eat, it's a tragedy for me. Especially now, with age. I get frustrated when I can't afford pasta and pizza. I try to eat vegetables, fish, chicken, of course, without bread and sweets, otherwise I immediately start to get better. Now I weigh 56 kilograms - and I am the second in the ranking of the fattest girls in our team. Everyone in the circus tells me that I'm very fat. Askold Zapashny comes up to me every day and says: "Stop eating." It really would not hurt me to lose two or three kilograms, but I can’t. It seems to me that I can only lose weight if I sit on the water, but I can’t do that, I need strength for training. In the morning, I always eat a piece of bread with butter to keep my skin moisturized. True, in the evening I can sometimes eat a slice of pizza or sushi. The body is accustomed to physical activity I don't lose weight from it.

I often dream of performances. More precisely, my music is already starting to play in the arena, and I am still sitting in the dressing room in everyday clothes. In fact, it is very scary, I wake up in a cold sweat after this. As far as I know, this dream haunts many circus performers.

I have many friends who are not from the circus. I'm friends with rockers, bikers, photographers, writers. After performing in the circus, at 11 pm I can go to the club to relieve stress or just go home to sleep. We often gather in my friend's cottage by the fireplace and arrange viewings of Tarkovsky, Fellini, then discuss what we have seen.

When I'm at the height under the dome, I don't think about anything. I listen to music, keep the image, there are no thoughts at all, everything turns off for me, and I work. It's scarier in rehearsals than in performances, because in rehearsals you look down and you see that you are very high, and when you are in the arena, a bright light blinds you and you cannot see what is below.

Last year, my partner and I became bronze medalists in Monte Carlo. As in the world of cinema, the main award is to receive an Oscar, so we get the Clown, we got it. Without insurance, I held my partner with one hand by the leg, and she hung head down at a height of 28 meters. Once we almost broke, the partner held me by the waist, and everything worked out. Our salaries are decent, but not huge. We are definitely not working for money.

The artist is very sensitive to praise. For me, applause is drugs. If you think about it, it's stupid. But if I receive a storm of applause, then I come to an indescribable delight, I want to break into pieces with happiness. It is important to be able to adjust to the mood of the audience, to understand who to play for. Even when you are at a height of 26 meters, you need to continue to play the role, to smile. It is a mistake to think that when you are there, the viewer does not see you. Everything is visible: an unpainted nail, a torn off glitter, an arrow on tights, fear on the face.

Not so long ago, I graduated from the directing department of GITIS with honors and recently received another specialty - an organization management manager. I understand that I will not fly under the dome forever. Even when I cannot be a circus performer, I will remain in it in a different role. I dream of becoming a circus director someday, so now I am getting the maximum knowledge.

When we were in Monaco last year, we had to compete in a sawdust arena, which tends to lose shape. I performed on a horse, at some point she threw me off, and I fell right at the feet of Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie. I had two stakes on both sides, I managed to group up and get strictly between them, otherwise I would have crashed, otherwise I just broke my finger. But then she quickly got up and once again worked out the failed trick. But Jean-Paul Belmondo clapped for me! Another time, during a performance, an assistant accidentally tore my shoulder. Usually my dad lifts me into the air on a rope, and on that day another person replaced him. I was in the air, he controlled the situation from below, and when I went on a trick, he thought that I was somehow flying low, and decided to lift me higher, and at that moment my ligaments were torn shoulder joint from such a steep rise. It was just the finale of the number, I didn’t show it and went backstage with the most calm look. After this incident, I could not work for six months. Unfortunately, in our profession you are not always dependent on yourself. There are always assistants who can have an attack of idiocy, and you cannot control this and you can’t do anything with this person - and why, if you are already a cripple. Torn shoulders, hands, ligaments are typical for our genre.

The most important rule is that you must give the viewer a holiday at any cost. If he wanted to look at the suffering, he would not pay money for a ticket to the circus, but go to another place. But he wanted a holiday, he is waiting for a miracle, so no matter what you tear yourself, no matter what you break during a performance, in no case should you show it. After you went backstage, for God's sake, cry, curse the world, run to the doctor, do whatever you want, that's your business. The viewer is not interested.

Are you in the throes of creativity while working on the program of a festive event? Stuck in the search for that very pearl that can raise the level, increase the level of holding and the status of the celebration, draw attention to any event or opening? Is your main task aimed at ensuring that guests remember the grand scale of the event for a long time? Then the show of gymnasts will become an indispensable find for the scenario of the holiday.

There are many styles and trends rhythmic gymnastics. The entertainment industry has been significantly replenished with unique teams of circus and aerial gymnasts performing at corporate parties, banquets, weddings and anniversaries. Numbers with ribbons, balls and hoops are complemented by acrobatic lifts and choreographic elements. From this variety, it is easy to choose a spectacle that meets the aesthetic requirements and format of your event.

What should be considered when inviting gymnasts to a holiday?

Each band or performer has equipment and attributes for a performance, you don't have to worry about it.
The repertoire and the number of speakers are selected in accordance with the size of the stage space and the format of the event.
the site has collected on its page the most professional and sought-after gymnasts with a wide variety of programs designed for a chamber and large-scale audience!

Performing in the air on different equipment is not only an extreme spectacle that we can see in the circus, this discipline is now developing as a sport. In the air, you can perform on rings, trapeze, canvases, cord de flounces, horizontal bars, vertical rope and other similar structures (bamboo, air flight). But in training sports clubs the main projectiles are rings and canvases.

Performances on canvases

Air canvases are designed to perform aerial gymnastics exercises. They are two canvases of fabric that stretches a little, with a width of one to one and a half meters. If the training of the gymnast allows, then the fabric stretches more, it is more difficult to perform, but there is more room for acrobatic creativity.

Canvas gymnastics has a long history - it was known in the 17th century in China, when aerialists used leather belts for their tricks. But in Europe, trapeze artists began to perform in 1959, when it was necessary to come up with an original replacement for other apparatus for performing above the ground. Thus, aerial gymnastics on pieces of fabric became the latest modification of this circus sports art.

Since 1996, classes on pieces of fabric have become mandatory in all circus educational institutions in France, now this discipline is taught in all large circus studios, and classes are also held for children and adults in private sports clubs and dance schools. As an analogue to canvases, classes on hammocks or loops are the same pieces of fabric, only they do not hang freely, and the two ends are fixed to the ceiling, and the projectile becomes like a swing.

Acrobatics on the ring

The air ring is rigid, it has long been used in circus performances, being a classic of circus art. It is also called an air hoop, lyre. This hoop often has additional elements, such as a loop and a crossbar.

On this projectile they perform gymnastic elements, like twine, also acrobatic - for balance, swinging, dynamic exercises. On the ring, classes are possible in pairs, but as a sport, and not demonstration performances, this discipline is suitable for single classes.

The air hoop requires a lot of strength, flexibility and agility, which is why it is popular with those who want to try themselves in a difficult discipline. But this discipline is not safe, so the ring must be securely fixed, insurance and an experienced coach are required.

Areas of application of aerial gymnastics are circus and demonstration performances. Dance schools often hold concerts, performances and aerial dance competitions. Unlike pole dances, dances on other aerial apparatuses are devoid of double-digit associations (unfortunately, they also penetrate into nightclubs), so they develop as a sports and dance direction.