WORKSHOPS
Photo by David Moyle
Workshop
AerialMusic
The AerialMusic Workshop was premiered in July 2019 at Elite Kids USA in a two day six-hour workshop. There are two parts to this course, each being three hours long. Either the first or both can be offered.
AerialMusic was inspired by a performance AMJ did with William Close and the Earth Harp Collective in September of 2012. During the Performance, AMJ showcased her talents both as an aerial performer and as a musician with the world premiere of her piece "Piano Lift-off" which was composed on the piano by AMJ and then expanded and collaborated upon with the Earth Harp Collective. During the performance AMJ stepped onto the piano and lifted off, performing her very first aerial hammock routine. She then ended the performance at the piano and finished out the song with the band.
The workshop itself is a course in music analysis for aerial choreography. In the workshop, participants learn how to isolate different instruments while listening, evaluate song structure, anticipate changes in the music and make the most of what the music has to offer in order to create compelling choreography. With AMJ's extensive performance career and Master's of Music Theory and Composition degree, she has created a unique course for aerial choreographers of all levels.
Workshop
Spanish Web
AMJ learned to set web from Robin Stevens, founder of the Performance Acrobatics team at Elite Kids USA. She has been setting web since 2011. During her extensive career as an aerial instructor, she taught both hand and foot routines to children and professionals. While she was leading the aerial team at Pirates Dinner Adventure USA, she trained professional performers how to perform on Spanish web and how to set Spanish web over several years.
She offers three courses in Spanish Web for all ages.
Spanish Web I focuses on rope climbs, hand routines and beginner/intermediate drops.
Spanish Web II continues with climbs and rope drops but focuses primarily on foot routines.
Spanish Web Setting can be offered to professional shows, coaches or performers and focuses on how to properly set web and how to handle common issues when setting. This skill takes a very long time to master. AMJ can be hired on an on-going basis to train Spanish Web Setting.
Workshop
Silks Pathways
Silks Pathways is focused on AMJ's unique understanding of how to teach tricks and move through the silks. Instead of approaching silks training in a step-by-step fashion, this course aims to offer pathways that are created by the body as tricks are being performed. This way of learning teaches the student to understand what the silks are doing in reaction to the movement and how to use gravity to manipulate the silks while using less energy to complete tricks.
The goal of this course is to teach the student how to create a symbiotic relationship with the apparatus. This new way of thinking about silks will give the performer a deeper understanding of how to work with their apparatus instead of against it and thus deepen their relationship with silks, offering them new opportunities to create in their personal style.
AMJ has been coaching aerialists of all levels and ages since 2011. She is a master aerial teacher. Her specialties as an aerial trainer are silks, lyra, lyra duets, neck to neck spins on flying silks, and Spanish web performance and setting. She also coaches hammock, trapeze (dance trapeze and triple trapeze), corde lisse and specialty apparatuses. She has trained hundreds of aerialists throughout Southern California during her long career as an aerial coach. She has taught at Elite Kids USA (formerly Cal Elite Kids), two OC Pole Fitness locations, three Embody Alternative Fitness locations, McCoy Rigby Arts, Camarillo Academy of Performing Arts and The Aerial Studio. Many of her students have gone on to become professional performers or open their own aerial studios. She was the lead aerial and acrobatic trainer at Pirates Dinner Adventure during her five year long employment at the Buena Park Location. She loves teaching and sharing her enthusiasm for aerial arts.
COACHING
AerialMusic Workshop
Coaching at Elite Kids USA
