Make The Silks YOUR B*tch

To make the silks your bitch is to CONTROL it verses it controlling you. I love using this phrase because it encapsulates the idea that we are the active element in the formula. Without us being in control of the silks, we would be more like a victim in a spider’s web than a beautiful and strong aerialist. 

I like to compare silks to lyra when lecturing about this because it boils down to a battle between who’s flexible and who’s the immovable force. The lyra is always hard, so we need to be the flexible element by comparison. With silks, it’s complicated. When hanging from the ceiling on it’s own, it’s soft and flowy, but once you get on it, the rules change. We can either become the master of it or let it take over, mess up our shapes and potentially cause joint injury. To do silks, we need to work with it but ultimately be the one in charge. By using specific techniques such as resistance, momentum and muscular engagement, we can make the fabric do our bidding. The end result will be a greater sense of confidence in the air and the appearance of effortlessness that we all aspire to.

Rotational tricks are notorious for making a student the fabric’s bitch. It’s almost a right of passage to get REALLY stuck to the point where the teacher and the entire class tries to save you by tugging at an impossibly tight and tangled ankle wrap. Your arms feel like they will give out on you and you can’t absorb the directions that your teacher tries to give you. Been there? I don’t have to tell you that getting stuck is not pretty. The key to being graceful or at the very least, getting in and out smoothly, is to control the fabric and know the wraps like the back of your hand.  Let’s get into exactly how to do that with some common tricks that like to test who’s in control.

Candy cane, music box & rotisserie

These three rotational tricks are commonly taught worldwide and for good reason. They are accessible to most students and are really beautiful. As they are based on the same technique it also means that they’re vulnerable to the same issues. As we roll up the foot lock, if we stay relaxed through the joint, the fabric can potentially sickle, squeeze and twist the lower extremity to the point of extreme pain and possible injury. Instead, resist the fabric and keep your ankle, knees and hips in alignment as you rotate upwards. Sometimes all it takes is looking at the ankle and fixing the rotation as you press into the pole.

Candy cane is the worst culprit of the three with both fabrics locked on one foot. Music box and rotisserie are similar but in separated fabric base wraps. As you roll up to the peak position, look at your ankle and make sure it matches the rotation in rest of your body as opposed to leaving it trailing behind which creates a spiral down the leg.  Getting stuck usually happens when exiting these rotational tricks so just remember that it’s like a maze. You have to come out the way you came. Be mindful that pushing off a foot lock that is not neutral will lead you to getting stuck. Knowing the wrap really well is our other defense because if you know where you are going, it’s harder to get lost.

Leg crochet

A leg crochet is when we invert then wrap the leg around the pole going upwards. It seems simple and used in countless tricks, most commonly in our angel base wrap. A successful leg crochet is done with a bit of momentum and upward force so that we can manipulate the pole instead of the other way around. If we are the bitch, the leg won’t make it up and around the pole and will look both lazy and as though you’re working really hard to get nowhere. On top of that you can easily tweak your ankle and knee alignment which can lead to injury. Articulate the leg in and up around the pole so that it ends up straight with the fabric wrapped around it as opposed to the leg being twisted and bent around a straight pole.

Star drop

To prep for star drop, resist gravity at the top to prevent becoming the fabric’s bitch.  As you open the leg to drop, engage the core, resist the drop and pause. It takes more strength then just releasing the leg but I prefer it because even if your turn out isn’t great, the fabric won’t have an opportunity to have it’s way with you.

Students who have tight hips and narrow turn out struggle with prepping the top leg for star drop. In this case, the fabric forces the hips past their natural turn out and/or the knees tweak out of alignment to compensate. The poles can push the joints out of alignment if we don’t actively press away and resist the pressure.  If you struggle with this, try a hook prep verses a straight leg with a sickled foot.

Wheel down

When in your wheel down, wrap at the top ready to rotate and create an abdominal wall with your core so that the wrap can’t squeeze you to death. If you engage the core to create a hard barrier, it will allow you to rotate downwards smoothly and without pain in your gut. Imagine being a hard cylinder sliding down in the loop as opposed to something limp that gets cinched where the loop cuts into it. 

If you struggle with wrapping your head around this, try to think of when you’re at the doctor and they’re poking around in your gut. If you cough or laugh, you’d automatically engage the core, preventing the doctor from getting through the outer layers of your abdominal musculature to feel your organs. In this case, you’d try to completely relax so that they can get in and do their job. However, when in a full belly wrap with all your weight on a tight loop, you don’t want to let anything in. If you control the fabric by engaging the core muscles, you’ll have a smooth and much less painful wheel down.