Archive for Classes
Heliummm’s Featured in the New York Times!
What a thrill to see Heliummm’s name in print in the NY Times.
Heliummm’s Students, Sarah Irene and Amy Shure look fabulous! Reporter Daniel Krieger learned some new skills, and received lots of support from the other Heliummm silkies. Yay, Team Silks! Read the full article here.
Daily Candy names Heliummm’s Classes in its ‘Best of NYC’!
We’re delighted Daily Candy has named our aerial silks classes in their Best of NYC! Wanna get really good at aerial silks? Train with the best!
Read full article here.
Register for classes here.
What do I Want: Answers! And When do I Want Them: Now!
Dear Silkies,
This week’s post is all about patience. Patience is a required quality for life in general and especially for aerial silks. Read on, dear friends, read on. Remember, patience is required here, too.
Mama Silk chose this week’s topic based on a comment she received to her “Where Can I Buy My Own Silk?” post. I’ll refer to my correspondent as “E”.
E writes: June 8, 5:10pm
“I really would love to buy one. I’ve been looking into these for a couple of months now! How and what do I have to do in order to purchase one?”
Doing her due diligence to make sure E is a qualified aerialist ready to work on her own, within a few hours, Mama Silk replies,
“Hi E, Thanks for your interest. Who do you train with and how long have you been training? Let me know!
Thanks, ~Heather”
To which E replies:
“Do you have to be training with one to own one? I’ve never actually trained I’ve just played on one before?”
Mama Silk doesn’t immediately reply to this question because:
a) she’s at a big gig out-of-state gig on June 9 and attends a once-in-a-lifetime ceremony for her beloved on June 10th
b) the answer to this question is in the original post
Then Mama Silk gets two spam emails from E, and decides the whole thing is a bust.
Until Mama Silk gets this BLAST in large font and all caps:
E, June 12:
“umm hello , were you ever going to respond its so totally rude, i emailed you and yo emailed me hours later! COME ON NOW!”
Mama Silk can see that E needs more advice than just where to buy a silk…
Mama Silk, June 12:
My dear, E. Easy does it, please. My experience is that I draw more bees with honey than with impatience. When I give someone the benefit of the doubt, things usually work better for me and the other person.
My 4-day response time is not based in rudeness. Rather, I had a huge out-of-state performance I was preparing for with six performers, and an important family occasion to attend. I did not see any indication from your initial email that an urgent response was required. I have also since received some spam from your email address and thought perhaps the request wasn’t genuine. It appears, however, you are quite alive and well.
I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that your abrupt tone is due to your eagerness to learn silks and your inexperience in professional business communications, rather than any rudeness on your part.
That said, the quickest response to your question can be found in the blog post you responded to. I’ll repeat the gist of it here: Aerial silks is an incredibly beautiful and an incredibly dangerous art form. Only those students who have proven themselves to be responsible, reliable, strong and mature enough in their training get the answer to the question ‘where can I buy my own silk’.
Since you indicated you are not training with a qualified instructor and have only ‘played around a bit’, I am not comfortable providing you with the information. Safety is paramount when it comes to aerial silks, and based on what you told me (and how you said it) my professional opinion is that you are not ready to train on your own.
My apologies, E. Mama Silk says, ‘request denied’, for your protection and mine.
Get yourself to some classes with an experienced qualified instructor, and perhaps after a couple of years of dedicated training, you’ll be ready.
I’d be pleased to recommend some great places to train. Where are you located?
Yours in pull ups and aerial love,
Mama Silk.”
Mama Silk had her flak jacket at the ready the next time she opened her email. And was pleasantly surprised by this:
E, June 13, 1:04pm
“Thank you, Mama Silk! I am located in Johnson County Kansas! Do yo have any ideas where I couls start training! Tecnicully I have been training for tree years. But due to my leg injury I hadnt been on silks for about a month now! I train with Joe B. (last named edited out) downtown at the Plaza. Now that I’ve provided you with my information, now could you tell me where I could purchase some ! ? ! ?”
Mama Silk, June 13, 10pm
I will put up a post to see about teachers in your area. I will get back to you in about a week.
E, June 14, 8:21 am
“NVM you don’t have to help ! Do waste your breathe. I don’t need you . I’ll find someone else who can help me!”
Is there really a reply Mama Silk could give E at this point that would satisfy her? Will it make a difference to E that posts to the Yahoo trapeze group sometimes take a day or two to get to, and then sometimes it takes people a couple of days to answer? Mama Silk thinks not.
So what is the moral of this story, my dear silkies?
A proper attitude towards life and your aerial training will make a big difference in not only how pleasant each day is, but in the types of relationships and experiences you cultivate along the way. And ultimately, your patience, respect of others and yourself, and your diligence will pay off big time. Remember, how you behave in the studio or over email is probably a reflection of who you are in your life. What kind of life do you want? What kind of person do you want to be? Mama Silk learned some of these lessons the hard way. And she hopes you don’t have to.
What to we want: Answers! And, all we have is: NOW! Make your NOW the best it can be!
Yours in love, life and aerial flight.
Mama Silk
Actor’s Resource “BackStage” Lists Heliummm Classes As Artistry Expander
The leading arts and entertainment industry resource aimed at people working in film and the performing arts, Back Stage names Heliummm Aerial Dance as a special skill to add to your bag of tricks! Plus as we put it, you’ll leave our silks classes with full-body, integrated strength, dynamics, and a new relation to gravity.” Click here to sign up for classes.
Click here to see the article.
Fox News Interviews Heliummm Aerial And Students
Watch this Fox News Video interview with artistic director Heather Hammond and some pretty amazing students, when Fox stopped by our Silks Class recently.
Here are some uplifting benefits from an inspiring total body work out: “The aerial workout gives people the opportunity to do things they never thought they could. Some students even take part in performances to show off their skills.” The Fox News anchors were impressed. And you will be too when you come to class! Sign up here for silk classes.
Heliummm’s ‘Cirque du So-Can-You’
Check out this great interview Heather gave to Classtivity. View full article here. Our students look great in the photos – and so can YOU (if you come to class, that is)! Sign up for classes here.
Click on image to englarge.
Students in order of appearance:
Jamie Wilson and Heather Mims (foreground)
Karina Casiano and Chrysoula Papanikou (background)
Julie Krygsman (back) and Leila Blauner (front)
Kealani Tosh (in the air) and Heather Hammond
NY Daily News says Heliummm’s a “Love Child”
Here’s what the New York Daily News has to say about our great classes.
Reporter David Yi took to the air at our Manhattan location for some fun and fitness!
Heliummm Aerial Dance
If Cirque du Soleil and your local gym had a love child, this class would surely be it. Focusing more on dance and aerial entertainment, the session has students hanging from and climbing up fabric dangling from the ceiling. With instructor Heather Hammond — a veteran aerialist with more than a decade of training — the class feels more like playtime than a workout. While Hammond challenges you to complete tricks and tasks, you won’t realize just how much you’ve worked out until the next day when your muscles are sore and worn out.
See heliummm.com for class schedule. Starts at $35. Embody Language Studio, 241 Bedford Ave. #7, Brooklyn.
Follow @heliummmaerial “>Follow us!
Where can I buy my own silk?
While every mother bird likes to see her little ones take flight and leave the nest, Mama Silk has some important information for her fledgeling silkies:
The answer to this question is, ‘You only get the answer to this question when you are ready.’ Why? As Spiderman’s Uncle Ben and others have said, “With great knowledge, comes great responsibility.” If Mama Bird pushes the babies out of the nest before their wings are fully developed THEY LAND ON THEIR HEADS AND DIE. This is the general consensus among NYC aerial teachers who ROCK and put YOUR safety first.
Aerial arts are incredibly beautiful and strength building. And, aerial can be dangerous.
-Check with your instructor to see if they think you are ready to train with a buddy in addition to your ongoing training with a qualified instructor (who should be the same person – don’t go cherry picking people to get the answer you want if you think your usual instructor will respond ‘DENIED!’)
-If your instructor doesn’t think you’re ready, ask why, and keep taking class until you get the thumbs up
-Never do aerial on your own (see reference to the ‘buddy’ above. PS: your roomie who can’t see you and has their headphones on in another room doesn’t count)
-Never attempt new skills without a qualified instructor present
-Always use appropriate mats
-Check, double check and triple check your rigging
-Examine your equipment and hardware before each use
-Take a rigging lesson that covers the particular set up for where you will be rigging
-If you don’t know how to safely rig your own silk, you are not ready to train on your own
-Just because ‘someone else has rigged here before’ doesn’t mean it’s safe. If you don’t know the person who installed the rigging or had it inspected, do your own due diligence.
-Don’t buy aerial yoga stands off the internet unless Mama Silk gives you the OK (there are lots of crappy set ups commerically available – don’t get me started)
-Well designed portable aerial rigs are available. Just ask.
-If you want to rig in your living room/apartment/patio, hire a qualified rigger to do the job right. We can recommend excellent people.
-If you aren’t ready to shell out money for equipment, rigging, and lessons, you aren’t ready to train on your own
-There are Open Workouts available at several locations in the NYC area. Ask Mama Silk which ones are insured.
Aerial is fun, and it can be dangerous, deadly dangerous. Know your limits, know what you don’t know.
Mama Silk wants you all safe.
Yours in love and aerial flight,
Heather, aka Mama Silk
Heliummm Gets Stellar Review from Fit Engine.com
What better Christmas present than to be called:
…”one of the most unique, well-taught, and well-constructed classes I have taken.” by Fit Engine reporter Djuna Passman!
If you’re looking for aerial classes, here’s proof that ours are the ones you’ll want to sign up for.
What more can we say? Except, Thanks, Fit Engine! Click here to sign up now.
And here’s the review of a Manhattan class by Sharon Osborne of Fit Engine.
For the budding aerialists in your family, get HELIUM AERIAL DANCE gift certificates in our ONLINE STORE.
See full article here
And see YOU in class!
“Prisoner Position”
Here is Brianna in what she calls “Prisoner Position”.
I call it “Assisted Pull Up” position, but let’s face it: if that had been the title, you might not have read the post!
Pull ups are a necessary evil for all aerialists and other hard core athletes. They are the ultimate test of strength-to-weight ratio. Nothing else develops your back, shoulders, forearms and grip strength like this exercise.
Assisted pull-ups involve supporting some of your body weight with your feet until you are strong enough to take all the weight in your arms. Try a few at the end of your next class. A good attitude and consistency will help you get results. In between classes, push ups and chest presses will help you build strength.
Consider installing a chin-up bar in your house or apartment.
Develop this important skill to make your inversions easier and your endurance soar!
Oh, and don’t forget to come to class for lots of practice and live techincal support!
