About this Intensive
Due to unforeseen circumstances this workshop has been postponed. Please check in for future dates or email esmith@necenterforcircusarts.com.
Take a weekend deep dive into your aerial silks practice! For those who just can’t get enough, this two-day intensive has creative exercises to help your explorations, conditioning drills to assist you with your strength and flexibility goals, and fabric theory to increase your overall understanding of the apparatus and tricks.
The goal is to give you fresh information about the mechanics and biomechanics of aerial silks and reinvigorate your own aerial practice. This course is excellent for instructors who want to focus on their own practice and experienced students who want to explore advanced aerial concepts.
This workshop is right for:
- Current teachers who have done a formal teacher training program and want to refresh or gain new information about training students.
- Practitioners who want to make the jump to teaching, but have not yet invested in a teacher training course.
- Students with a large aerial vocabulary who want to explore creatively and want exercises and progressions for advanced skills.
DETAILS
Cost:
$450 ($400 early bird price until March 1!)
Audit $225
Instructor:
Shannon McKenna
Age:
This workshop is for mature individuals who are able to adequately assess their strengths and limitations, work well in groups, are open to creative exploration, and are over the age of 18.
Schedule:
Friday: 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Saturday: 12:30 – 3:30 pm & 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Sunday: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Prerequisites:
- Long arm hang on silks open fabric (2 poles) 30 seconds
- Long arm hang on silks closed fabric (1 pole) 30 seconds
- Clean single and double foot locks
- Multiple clean aerial inverts in the air (bent arm/bent leg is fine)
- Clean cross-back straddle invert entry and exit
- Clean star drops, both sides
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Shannon McKenna was never a dancer or a gymnast, but was one hell of a tree climber.
She earned her B.F.A. from NYU with a concentration in physical theater and decided the summer after college, without much idea of what it meant, to become a circus artist. She packed up her life in a suitcase and traveled the globe in search of the best coaches to teach her and put her work on any stage she could.
Her performance work has spanned from traditional shows in large arenas to intimate contemporary pieces in small black box theaters. She performs as a solo artist, a part of artistic duos, and ensembles. Career highlights being a magician’s assistant in Portugal, a post-food poisoning silks act in the German show WET, and hanging underneath a motorcycle on a tight wire with the Flying Espanas.
As a coach, Shannon is known for making aerial technique approachable and fun, and she is driven by the belief that artists at any stage in their aerial journey have a valuable creative capacity to share. She is widely sought after to teach workshops all over the world.
In 2018, Shannon launched The Artist Athlete Podcast which contains interviews with professionals in the circus industry. It is available on Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, and iTunes. She currently lives in Montreal with her cats Puppy and Hervé.
Our Mission
To empower a community of artists, students, and staff to strengthen their skills and achieve their goals through the joyful and transformative power of circus arts.
