August 12 - 14, 2022
Aerial Silks Focus

 

with Rain Anya

Co-Artistic Director

Paper Doll Militia

The Southeast Circus Retreat is a new weekend program that is combining elements from a retreat, an apparatus meeting and workshop weekends.  Here's how:

​

Retreat: This is time for you to work on yourself and be in a non-judgmental environment free of people that you might teach.  

​

Apparatus Meeting: Like a rope or trapeze meeting, you can meet up with your friends from miles away in person to skill share.

​

Workshop Weekend: Tired of noodling around on the silks and need some instruction?  That's why Rain is here!  To give you some shiny nuggets to jump start your creativity.  

​

Fee: $400
Fee Includes open practice and all workshops. Must sign-up for workshops in advance.
Fee does not include accommodations and food.

Contact us if you need payment plan options.

 

Eligible Participants: Ages 18+ Must be a teacher or professional performer, who teaches or performing or at least trains or teaches most days of the week.  Please make sure you meet the workshop prerequisites.  If you are unsure or have questions please email.

​

Open Practice: A time to personally train, skill share or work with a partner on anything from technique, choreography, business chats and other disciplines.  The studio space and lobby is yours as long as you are respectful of volume levels for Rain's classes.

​

Housing Options:
There are hotels and AirBnB's nearby.  More details to come.

Workshop Descriptions

​

Never-Ending String
Silks

​

An exciting look at longer sequences where we explore limitless choreographic options that all stem from one origin wrap. Through this discovery process you will learn advanced fabric theory techniques and find unique body shapes as you follow the never-ending string.

​

Prequisites: 

• Students must have  solid understanding of intermediate skills including same side wrap (catchers) and opposite side wraps (cross catchers), hip key, s-wrap, and various footlocks

• Endurance to stay in the air for 3 - 5 min at a time

• Ability to invert (without cheating) multiple times throughout the duration of the workshop

​

The Wonderful World Of Wheeldowns

Silks

​

Wheeldowns, Helicopter, Windmills, whatever you name it, this skill harnesses some of the quintessential body mechanics in aerial arts. Learning how to control all the elements of a sideways rotation, and make it look gorgeous is a skill every aerialist should have in their tool bag. In this workshop we focus on the technique and muscular engagement of the skill, in addition to playing with speed, wrapping theory, and choreographic ways in and out of your wheeldown.

​

Prequisites: 

• Students must have  solid understanding of intermediate skills including same side wrap (catchers) and opposite side wraps (cross catchers), hip key, s-wrap, and various footlocks

• Endurance to stay in the air for 3 - 5 min at a time

• Ability to invert (without cheating) multiple times throughout the duration of the workshop

​

Beyond the Wheeldown
Silks

​

This is an optional Part 2 to Wonderful World of Wheel downs where we dig deeper into sequences that can come before or after a wheeldown or skip the wheeldown all together and just use the S-wrap. It’s all about theory and sequencing.

​

Prequisites: 

• Students must have  solid understanding of intermediate skills including same side wrap (catchers) and opposite side wraps (cross catchers), hip key, s-wrap, and various footlocks

• Endurance to stay in the air for 3 - 5 min at a time

• Ability to invert (without cheating) multiple times throughout the duration of the workshop

 

Radical Rotation
Silks

​

In this workshop we will look into the directionality of tricks on aerial silks. We will be taking a forward rolling drop and turn it into a backward rolling drop and vise versa. This is be digging into fabric theory to understand how wraps form the direction of movement. Great for getting new fun material and
building up a better understanding of aerial silks.

​

Prequisites: 

• Students must have  solid understanding of intermediate skills including same side wrap (catchers) and opposite side wraps (cross catchers), hip key, s-wrap, and various footlocks

• Endurance to stay in the air for 3 - 5 min at a time

• Ability to invert (without cheating) multiple times throughout the duration of the workshop

• Must be comfortable with basic forward and backwards dives

​

Vertical Theatre Method
Multi-Apparatus (or preferred apparatus)

​

The Vertical Theatre Method is an investigation of aerial arts with the focal point of theatricality and authenticity of both movement and content. The Method has been in development since 2007 by artists Rain Anya and Sarah Bebe Holmes. This workshop is a performative based workshop exploring the expressive nature of aerials using improvisation, physical theatre, musicality, character, and exercises in stage presence. Layering your aerial work with creativity and content, we will work with with techniques for expressing human emotion and storytelling within the movement. Looking at creative approaches to building an act or performance piece, this workshop is for students who feel comfortable on an apparatus enough that they can explore beyond the tricks.

​

Prequisites: 

• This workshop is open to any level of aerialist and is best suited to students who feel comfortable on an apparatus enough that they can explore beyond the tricks.