What brought you to Bumbershoot Aerial Arts?
I remember seeing the website well over a year ago and thinking, "that looks interesting" and quickly forgetting about it. Last summer, however, my boss had a living social deal in her e-mail to take a silks intro class for 50% off and I immediately told her to forward it to me! The day after my first class I was super sore but really happy to have signed up and now I can't stay away!
What is your favorite apparatus to work on?
Probably trapeze - if you get pooped while you're up there you can just sit!
What is your favorite thing about Bumbershoot?
Probably the people. All of the instructors and classmates I've interacted with have all been so friendly and supportive of everyone else in the classes. Anytime I come to class in bit of a funk I end up leaving much happier because of them!
What kinds of things do you do when you aren’t hanging in the air?
I work in retail and sling soaps to pay the bills. Other than that, I play flute in an LGBT+ inclusive concert band, BandTogether, watch cat videos on the internet, and love to karaoke some bad 90s pop.
What is your favorite dessert?
I'm going to go with ice cream because it's the main sweet I constantly crave. If I'm being honest, though, I never met a dessert I didn't like.
When you are having a tough day in class, what do you tell yourself?
If a trick or sequence is kicking my butt I like to give it a rest for the class. What I find often helps is mental practice. Typically, by the next class or lesson I've been able to go over it in my head a million times and am ready to come in and kick its butt! On top of all that, it's just repetition! The more you do it, the more comfortable you'll feel. That trick you hate? Do it a few extra times!
What is your favorite trick? Least favorite?
I don't know that anything is my "least" favorite, just my current "work-in-progress" and that would currently be the same side stand up on silks. As far as favorite, currently I would say the Rebecca arabesque sequence - I love anything that makes me look more bendy than I actually am.
If you could run away to a desert island with one person from Bumbershoot who would it be?
This is a tough question! Like I said, the people are really what make the classes and lessons for me. With that being said, I'd say Sunny because I would need someone peppy on a desert island to make sure I stay sane!
Do you have a favorite memory from class or performing?
Yes! So I took a conditioning for aerialists class with Sunny (which, if it comes back into the schedule again, sign up for it, it's so good!) and we had to do straddle switches. The thing is, I had never done one before, so Sunny demoed it and the class then did it. When it was my turn to climb up the rope and do it I was able to switch back and forth a few times and got a round of applause and some hootin' & hollerin' from my class AND the silks class in session at the same time! It was just a great feeling to have so many people pumped for your growth!