What made you decide to do the performance series? 

It seemed like it was the right challenge for me to tackle at the time. I wanted to progress in Lyra and I wasn’t progressing like I wanted to with the 1 class a week. It was an opportunity for me to get a lot more time on the Lyra, create my own choreography to my own music selection and really test myself as a dance artist.

 

What is something the last-day-of-performance-series you wishes you could have told the first-day-of-series you?

Your body is not going to turn to noodles on stage :) when you’ve put in the right amount of preparation, your body and mind will be ready to perform! Regardless of who/how many people are watching

 

What was the biggest thing you took at away from the performance series? 

I learned what my body was capable of and how talented I was through doing the performance series. In the beginning I had a vision in my head of doing some stunts that I literally couldn’t do at all 7 weeks prior to the performance. Not only did I get them down but I executed them perfectly to my musical vision. Doing performance series really encouraged me that I could actually do this aerialist thing! And it excited me for the future.

 

Was there a time you struggled during the series? If so, how did you over come those struggles?

There will DEFINITELY be times of struggle! About 3 weeks out I still wasn’t hitting my big stunt consistently and I was feeling discouraged. I also had painful bruises on my body that were keeping me from practicing certain parts of my piece, and I had developed some kind of tennis elbow injury. I had to listen to my body and give it a rest for a few days, even though all I wanted to do was practice! I learned that balancing rest with the practice is just as important to being successful. After giving mind and body the rest it needed, they were ready to go and put in the practice! Everything worked out!