Hey everyone
​
Here's a NERDY email with some bitesize aerial technique AND a quick tour round the Flourish masterclass video library, which is a sort of Netflix for (Aerial) Nerds....
​
​(if this is the first email you've opened from me in a while, or ever, then Flourish is my three month 1:1 and small group online coaching programme which only opens twice a year; it's enrolling NOW for an October start --> all the juicy details here 🍓) ​
​​
While I'm busy over here writing these Flourish emails I'm also preparing for next week's dynamic + spinning sling retreat that I'm sooo excited to be hosting with spin sensei Tamati Samson here in West Wales!
​
So naturally I've been thinking about FLARES - a big point of crossover in Tamati's and my practice which we love to nerd about and which are a staple pathway of dynamics AND spinning for building POWER.
​
But they work differently and we need to understand those nuances in order to harness their power most efficiently...
​

🧚Floaty Flares​
Flares comparison table

In last year's Flourish masterclass Floaty Flares, I went into a lot of detail comparing and contrasting these two different beasts and produced this DEEEEPLY nerdy little table:

The main difference being that (efficient) continuous DYNAMIC flares DON'T scissor - or rather you CAN do them like that for aesthetics or just because you like them. BUT they're a whole lot more powerful if they don't because it's the ABDUCTION of the lead leg that keeps driving the rotation around the rope or through space (in the absence of an actual spin)
​
whereas SPINNING flares utilise the scissor and side flexion HARD to ride the corkscrew of the spin:

O-B-V-I-O-U-S-L-Y in this 1.5 hour masterclass we went into a lot more of the detail of WHY and the DRILLS we use to strengthen and understand both.
​
The point being that I often meet folks who've learned spinning flares FIRST and struggle to find efficient dynamic flares because they're habitually still scissoring in their dynamics...
​
IF this kind of nuance-demystifying detail is your kind of thing... you might be interested that this is just one masterclass in the full library (>15 workshop and masterclass recordings PLUS accompanying resources - presentations with embedded videos) that folks get lifetime access to in Flourish...

🤓So what else is in the

Flourish Masterclass Library?

Flourish cycle 4 includes LIFETIME ACCESS TO >15 workshops and masterclasses across the following chapters:

Finessing dynamics

• Breath and Butter (30 min workshop) - breathe to enhance your beats
• Building Better Beats (30 min workshop) - all the beats compared
• Dynamics Diagnostics (1 hour workshop) - what’s making your beats clunky?
• Restless Legs (1 hour workshop) - leg differentiation for buttery beats

​
Progressing Dynamics

• Dynamics 360 (1.5 hour masterclass) - foundational to advanced beat pathway and transition curriculum for rope and sling

Rolling

• Fast rolling technique (1.5 hour masterclass) - hipkey roll ups and flag ole
• Slow vs. fast-rolling - (1.5 hour masterclass) drilling down to c-shaping vs. fast rolling technique

Tackling the Nemesis

• Scorpionally Challenged! (1.5 hour masterclass) - scorpion handstand and wrapped alternatives for rope and sling
• Back Balance is a B*tch! (1.5 hour masterclass) - back balance for vertical aerialists who find it hard AF

Demystifying differences

• Floaty Flares (1.5 hour masterclass) - dynamic vs. spinning flares in theory and practice
• Slow vs. fast-rolling - (1.5 hour masterclass) drilling down to c-shaping vs. fast rolling technique

Broadening Vocab

• Cartwheels (1.5 hour masterclass) - frontal plane movements on rope
• S wrap saltos (1.5 hour masterclass) - for rope and sling
• Sequencing with seatbelts (1.5 hour masterclass) - for rope
• Pathways and patterns - towards versatility for aerialists (1.5 hour masterclass) - identifying and breaking down the key movement patterns and pathways that underpin aerial vocabulary across rope and sling

Curious and Creative

• Improvising with your apparatus(1.5 hour masterclass) - with guided movement explorations (can be done off apparatus)

Bodywork

• Nurturing your nervous system (1.5 hour masterclass)
​
​