What's the Best Next Step for Your Aerial Journey?

Question One: When you're in class, are you chasing the trick, or chasing the understanding?

Some students want to feel a skill click before they can articulate why it clicked. Others are the opposite — they want to know exactly what their abs are doing in a hip key before they trust their body to do it. Neither is wrong. But if you're the second kind of student — the one who asks "but why does this work" more than "when do I get to try this" — you may have been quietly telling yourself that's just an inconvenient personality trait rather than a strength.

It isn't. It's the exact profile of a student who would thrive in Aerial Theory, our new teen-adult drop-in class where we take one wrap, transition, hold, or spin each week and dig into the physics underneath it — the real mechanics, not just the muscle memory. If you've been assuming there's no "class" for the way your brain works, this is it.

Question Two: When you picture yourself performing, what's the very first feeling that shows up — before you even get to the "but"?

Notice I didn't ask what excuse follows. I asked what the first, unfiltered feeling is. For a lot of students, it's actually excitement, or curiosity, or a flicker of I'd love that — and the doubt only shows up second, as a reflex. If that's you, it's worth asking whether the doubt is actual discernment or just a habit of self-editing.

If performance genuinely lights something in you, you have real, tangible paths forward. For our younger students, there's our Ethereal Flight Squad performance team, with community events like Kemah Boardwalk appearances and local market shows. The squad starts back up the week of August 10th, and we do have a few spots potentially available for students in the Blue level or above. Unlike our competition team, a spot on Ethereal Flight Squad isn't something you sign up for directly — every student needs prior approval and a direct invitation to join. If that's something your Blue-level-or-above student is interested in, reach out to the office and let us know. And for students of every age — kids and adults alike — there's our studio showcase each season, where students at many different levels take the stage. Performance readiness isn't one narrow gate — it's a range of doors, and more of them are open to you than you might think. Our next student showcase will be in early November, so stay tuned for training opportunies if this is your "next step" in aerial progression.

Question Three: Do you crave partnership — the kind of trust where someone else's timing has to match yours?

Not everyone does, and that's completely fine. Solo work has its own rich rewards. But if you've ever watched a duo piece and felt something stir — a longing to be trusted like that, to build something with someone else in the air — pay attention to that. It's telling you something true about what you want next.

And don't stop at picturing just a duet. Have you ever watched a full aerial production — the kind that plays out like a ballet, with a whole cast moving together in the air and on the ground, telling one story as an ensemble — and thought, I want to be part of something like that someday? That's not an unreasonable dream. It's a direction. Large-scale aerial productions are built one layer at a time, starting with exactly the kind of partnering and ensemble foundations we're talking about here.

Our new Group Skills: Duo, Trio and Ensemble Foundations class was built exactly for this. It develops the aerial partnering and ground hand-to-hand skills that duet, ensemble, and larger group work require — the trust, the timing, the communication. Whether your goal is a strong duet, a place in an ensemble piece, or someday helping build a full aerial production (stay tuned, we are headed there in the near future), this is where those foundations get laid. You don't need a partner already lined up to start; you need the willingness to build those skills.

Question Four: Do you love the "in-between" spaces — the artistry, the shapes, the way movement feels — more than the raw athletic challenge?

If pure strength-based skill acquisition has never been your favorite part of aerial, but the expression of it lights you up, that's valuable information. It doesn't mean you're not capable of harder apparatus work. It might just mean you haven't found the apparatus that lets your artistry lead.

That's exactly what our new Loops class, taught by Ms. Jandy, offers. It's a more accessible entry point into strap work than jumping straight to full straps — building real technical skill while giving your artistic voice plenty of room to develop. If hammock has felt like home but you're ready for something a little more, Loops is a natural next step.

Another option is to explore a new apparatus that you haven't yet ventured to try, like silks, lyra, hammock, or maybe even bungee.

Question Five: Have you assumed competition is only for "elite" athletes — the ones already placing nationally?

I want to gently push back on this one, because it's one of the most common (and most limiting) assumptions I hear. Competition doesn't require you to already be elite. It requires a willingness to be coached, to train with intention, and to show up consistently for a season. That's genuinely it.

Our Quarterly Competition Program exists precisely because we believe more of our students are capable of this than realize it. This fall's cycle trains toward the Aerialympics Regional in Dallas in mid-October, with training running August through October, and students are welcome to keep refining their piece afterward for our early November studio showcase. Whether you're taking classes à la carte, hold a studio membership, or your child is in our seasonal color-level program, there's a training path built for where you already are — including savings built specifically into each of those situations. The great thing about the Aerialympics competitions is that they offer novice to all-star categories for all age levels and don't mix age classes in those categories, so you aren't held to a standard that's not yet attainable for you and can compete at a level that challenges you but doesn't defeat you in the process.

Question Six: If nothing about your current level, age, schedule, or body were "in the way," what would you actually want to try?

Sit with that one a little longer than the others. Not what's practical. Not what fits your calendar. What you'd actually want.

Whatever answer surfaced — write it down somewhere. Not because you have to chase it this month, but because naming it honestly is the first real step toward it, and because I firmly believe most of the "in the way" reasons we hand ourselves are quieter and more moveable than we think.

So where does that leave you?

Maybe your answers pointed you toward the analytical curiosity of Aerial Theory. Maybe they surfaced a real hunger for performance you've been talking yourself out of. Maybe you found language for a partnership itch you didn't know how to name, or realized Loops might be the artistic stretch you've been circling around. Maybe — and this is a real possibility for more of you than you think — you're actually ready for a competition season.

Or maybe your honest answer is: not yet, and that's okay. Rest is a rhythm we build into this studio on purpose, not an accident or a failure to keep up. If this season is a season for staying steady in your current classes — Silks, Lyra, Hammock, Rope, Bungee, Conditioning, or your child's color-level program — that is a complete and worthy answer too. Growth doesn't always look like adding something new. Sometimes it looks like going deeper into what you're already doing.

Philippians 4:6-7 reminds us not to be anxious, but in everything, through prayer, to let our requests be made known — and to let peace stand guard over our hearts and minds as a result. I'd love for that peace to be present in how you make this decision, whatever it turns out to be. Not pressure. Not comparison to what anyone else in this community is doing. Just an honest look at where you are, and a clear-eyed next step from there.

If any of these questions stirred something loose, I'd love to hear about it. Come talk to me or any of our instructors — Michelle, Chyla, Maegen, Jandy, or Samantha — about what you're considering. We're here to help you take the next right step, whatever that looks like for you.

With love, faith, and excitement, Peggy Ployhar Owner, Eternal Aerial Arts