"I first met Tamati when were both teaching at MAAC 2024 and went on to follow him online (because he was clearly a great, and VERY FUNNY, human). I thought his particular style of spinning on sling was something really different and special: SO beautifully dynamic, muscular and, well... dancerly. It didn't look like 'skills done on a spin' but (to my contemporary dancer's eye) like a dance sequence in the air. So naturally he was my first choice for a spinning sling coach.
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Back in October last year, I approached Tamati about doing some lessons with him because I wanted to learn more about how spins work specifically for sling. I'd originally started my spin journey with the amazing hoop artist and friend Brit Crumpton, who'd kindly let me tag along on a cycle of Spin Game as a non-hooper. I learned SO much about universal spin technique from her (and was also battling serious spin intolerance at that time), but felt like I still had a knowledge gap when it came to sling spins. How could skills and choreo specific to sling could work with the spin? Not just 'regular tricks done on the spin' - which I see a lot of - but the kind of dreamily smooth spin work we more often associate with hoop, dance trapeze or spiral, that is really working at blending the technique of spin, spiral and flare pathways into the skills and choreography.
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When he suggested that actually, given that my coaching focus was dynamics and C shaping, why didn't we do this as an exchange so we could learn from each other's specialisms? it was only a couple of months into this arrangement that we realised this combination could make a great retreat.
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And West Wales was the obvious choice for a location because IT'S BEAUTIFUL, I have access to Small World Theatre one of the dreamiest aerial training spaces in the world (more on that below."

"Dynamics have always been something I’ve struggled with and had accepted that it’s something that would just never really click for me. I first met Jess at MAAC 2024 when I did her dynamics workshop prepared to full fail but up for giving it a go. But I came away with such a better understanding of where I was going wrong. Jess is one of those magic coaches who can spot those teeny tiny minute details in your movement from a mile off and give one cue that instantly makes it make sense! Of course I didn’t walk away with a cirque-ready dynamics routine but what I did come away with was a clear focus on what I need to work on and the drills to help me get where I wanted to be. I now exchange coach with Jess twice a month and I am always so blown away by her understanding of biomechanics and complex movement patterns needed to achieve skills.

We realised when coaching each other that between us we had such a great amount of experience and knowledge of two very specialised, technical and nuanced elements of aerial. And that becomes even more niche to have that level specifically relating to sling which is such an underrated aparatus rarely taught beyond beginner level. So it wasn’t very long until the idea of teaming up to deliver a full weekend deep dive into Spins, Swings and Other Sling Things was just staring us right in the face!"