Student of the Month

I arrived at Bumbershoot Aerial Arts by following a whim. One Cinco de Mayo on Cherokee Street, a woman on stilts handed me a Bumbershoot card advertising 'Try it Out Trapeze'. As a teacher, I was looking forward to summer vacation and the promise of free time and adventure so I thought to myself, 'why not?'. A few weeks later, I was taking my first Slings 1 class.

My favorite apparatus is the sling!

I have discovered courage I didn't know I had since I started at Bumbershoot and would have to say my favorite thing (everything slings aside) is the encouragement I have received from both coaches and students alike.

When I am not in the air, I can be found teaching middle school choir, playing the piano, cheering on the Blues, running, hiking, enjoying time with my friends, and my boys, Ferris the Cat and Brian the Fiance.

Coconut Cream Pie

I try to keep perspective and think back to what it was like for me as a new student with very little core and upper body strength. Every class it took two people to lift this body into a sling no more than three feet off the ground, until one day I could just do it...and now I keep doing it, on my own, in a fabric at eye level. It gets better. It ALWAYS gets better.

My current favorite is the Marionette to a hip balance on the sling...my least favorite (only because it's giving me grief) is Cupid.

My Bumberslinging pals and showcase cohorts: Aurelie, Coty, Jackie, and Molly! I couldn't take just one! They keep me smiling and give me courage!

A favorite memory of mine is from a rehearsal I shared with Aurelie, Coty, Jackie, Molly and Dana preparing for the Spring Showcase last year. We spent the better part of two hours trying to find creative and visually appealing ways to successfully get two people into the same sling: no option was left unexplored, we laughed until our sides hurt, and climbed until our hands were in a permanent claw-grip position.