by Gina Gillie
I'd be happy to share a little about my interest in aerial silks.
I went to grad school with an undergraduate colleague who started taking pole dance around 2009. When I saw her pictures, I thought it looked like an awful lot of fun, so I started classes in 2012. After a broken wrist from a bike accident, I started up on lyra (aerial ring), and then finally got to try silks in 2016. That was actually the apparatus that interested me, since it seemed a bit like the horn of the aerial world - temperamental and difficult, but incredibly nuanced and elegant. I enjoy the art of it and the physical challenge. It's the most fun way to develop upper body strength and flexibility that I have encountered.
I'm not always able to train consistently because of my full-time job as a professor and performing musician, and because of a few injuries, but I try to get back to it when time allows. Currently, I take an hour-long class once a week.
Being a musician helps with the artistic side of aerials. Dancers talk about motifs, beats, and rhythm as well, so I am easily able to incorporate my knowledge of music into physical movement. When I create a routine, I am sensitive to the flow of the music and its important moments. This makes if easy to imagine how moves would fit well with the music. I've tried to dream up ways of incorporating the horn into an act; I even thought about getting a super cheap stunt horn, but I haven't done it yet. While my skills are not advanced, I find aerials a very fun way to challenge my body as I get older. Here is a video of some of my work.
Dr. Gina Gillie is an accomplished performer and composer active in the Seattle area, as well as holding the position of Associate Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University.
