Recently I have enrolled in an aerial variations class which has lead me to think about exploring the known and what benefits it might hold for your practice.
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| Jennifer Cody's students showing 6 variations on a single move |
I have found it takes a lot of guts to spend time developing around moves or skills your might have learned in the first few months of practice. For me there is fear of not including enough fancy moves in my own routines. Conversely, many people who I look up to in the hoop and aerial community have an emphasis on mastering and expanding on what are often thought of as basics. Some of my favorite performances don't involve lots of tricks but about the quality of core skills and inventiveness around known moves. It is legitimately more exiting for me to not know what will happen next rather than just see a difficult trick.
I have decide to try and be more mindful of whether I am filling my work with flash or innovation. To that end I have been working on a standing challenge we have in the variants class to develop a whole routine around a single base move. It's significantly slower for me than just stringing together tricks but I think the final product will have a more organic feeling in the movements.
A Simple Manta To Remember
When first joining a skilled community there is a desire to be included. Like any good student you practice the basics to become accepted by your peers.
You spend time building a vocabulary.
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| Photo By Nikki Arnold |
You discuss technique
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| Hoop Path Point Technique Photo by Hannah Havok |
But don't forget your first words.
Remember simple can be beautiful
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| Photo by Hannah Havok |
Simple is complex
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| HoopPath style Balance Photo by Hannah Havok |
This is what I have been thinking about for the last couple of weeks. What has been your inner mantra during practice?
