Newbie Review of The Flying Trapeze

I have allocated 2016 to running wild with adventures and activities that has always sparked my interest. When I found out my friend Naomi  (a woman of many talents including) is instructing at the local Flying Trapeze School in Cromer adrenalin and curiosity got the better of me.

After many rainchecks (due to a 9-5 work schedule and zero um-ing and uh-ing), I finally got myself sorted and booked in one of her classes.

Having done some thorough research (trolling youtube), I decided that with my supple frame and complete lack of co-ordination, I’d be pretty lucky to avoid face planting into the airbags. Upon finally showing up, it became pretty apparent that I am a complete noob.

Level 1- Flying Trapeze

So the first thing we learned was that there were levels. This is definitely something which took commitment to excel in. In my 2 hour lesson, I made it about half way -through Level 1. This involved learning to swing off the bar and manoeuvre in a manner which may feel awkward to beginners, hanging off the back of your knees and dangling upside down is an interesting feeling. Safe to say I was one of few to fail first go.

Luckily for me, Naomi (who is also a stuntswoman and actress. See my costume design for her on the set of Pandorian) was endlessly encouraging. I managed to muster together what passed for a Knee-hang in round two. Next came the somersault landing then next thing you know, Naomi was catching us mid-air and I was letting go of the bar that I held on to dear life for.

So I thought I’d share the video above of the ‘good bits’ where I look like I know what I’m doing (The best part is probably when I pulled some ungodly stunt from hanging upside down to dangling off one arm like a rag doll). Video courtesy of Naomi Turvey. Checkout her youtube channel Body Beautiful for some amazing stunt and training videos.

All in all, this was one hell of a day for someone like myself, who ice skates once a week as a substitute for actual exercise. I’d highly recommend this for a fun day. Expect an intense, fast paced and adrenaline intensive class. There’s little time to muck around if you intend to achieve something by the end of the class.

The Technical Stuff

If you are interested in giving it a go, I regret to announce that the place I attended in Cromer is actually in closing 2 weeks from now, however The Sydney Trapeze School also has a large space in St Peters, Sydney’s Inner-West. To book in you would need to check the schedule and book into times that are either confirmed or try to book into a scheduled time and hope that there are enough numbers for the class to be confirmed (getting a few friends together could help and it’s also nice to have someone there to film you in mid air!)

The beginner class I went to runs for 2 hours and costs $65 (fair considering there will be 3 highly trained staff there to demonstrate, instruct and take care of your general safety, not to mention catching you in mid air!)

Hopefully this can offer you a starting point of research if you are considering trying the flying trapeze.

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