Teacher Tidbits - Laura

Laura

Meet Laura! After maternity leave, Laura is excited to be back at Aerial Fun and Fitness. With a decade of aerial experience, she’s ready to help you find your flow and bring your moves to life.

With showcase just around the corner my tip for y'all is to let your body and your feelings flow through each movement. Don't overthink it. Slow down and really accentuate each movement/pose. And finally, don't forget about the transitions, because the transitions are what really bring your choreography to life!

Hope to see you in the air!
Cheers,
Laura Rennegade

Hello! Laura Rennegade here. I’m just returning from pregnancy leave (or should I say postpartum leave) since I was teaching throughout most of my pregnancy and performed in the showcase 2 weeks before giving birth to my little man. 

The past few months have been amazing being a new mom, though I've missed this community and am excited to be back teaching Lyra Intro foundations and choreographing for showcase. I look forward to teaching Lyra level 1 again soon and training to teach Lyra level 2 as well. 

Before moving to Landenberg and joining the Aerial Fun and Fitness team, I lived in Philadelphia where I found my love for circus and aerials and have been performing for over 10 years! Creating and developing my own choreography throughout that time. My passion is partner Lyra or doubles as I like to call it. Though I also really enjoy cube, sphere, trapeze, and have dabbled in silks and hammock. I just love to spin and hang upside-down.

Our Student of the Month

Christine

What have been some of your challenges? For me, my enthusiasm for aerial was so great that it was hard not to realize I was pushing my body too far sometimes. I gave myself (small) finger injuries by relying too much on my grip for too long, and not enough on my core. Fortunately Zina realized what caused my injury and gave me a plan to heal as well as avoid creating that injury again in future, and now I’m all healed up and actually better off for the whole experience. This experience has made me more respectful in the way I treat and respond to my body. 

What apparatuses do you train on? Lyra, Sling, and Hammock

Your favorite pose(s), and why do you like it? Inverted crossback! It makes me feel tied up, free, and challenged at the same time. 

One word that defines you? Passionate 😂

What path would you like aerial to take for you? I’d love to be a teacher someday, and personally I’d love to get into silks! The little I’ve tried on them so far was …illuminatingly addictive.

When did you start at Aerial Fun & Fitness? July 2023 - just over 1 year ago!

Why did you start aerials? I was about to begin a new job I was dreading, and so I decided to sign up for the most fun activities I could think of to take my mind off work. I signed up for art classes and aerial. And aerial stuck!

What made you come back and stick with it? I was shocked by how much fun it was. I realized I had never done physical exercise that was that fun or exhilarating before in my life, and I couldn’t bring myself to consider quitting.

What would you tell someone just starting aerial fitness? Keep showing up, and it will get easier, and you will be improve faster than you realize!

Zina's Aerialosophy

(Get it? aerial +philosophy)

Those of us in aerial arts all want splits. We all want those ever-elusive splits...
But did you know that the shape of your pelvis could affect which type of splits you might be better at?

What if your hip bones are more to the side? What if your hip bones face more forward?

There are so many factors to consider when we start working on more advanced positions of the body. For example, everybody has a different amount of collagen and varying muscle fiber types. Are you hypermobile? Are you not hypermobile? Are you stiff? What type of job do you have? Do you sit all day? Do you stand all day?

The next big thing is, "Oh, flexibility will give me splits." Flexibility is a great buzzword, but do you have the strength to hold a limb or your body at end range?

We need to create core strength and mobility. Holding those extreme positions without getting injured should be the goal versus trying to do something more intense too quickly and possibly ending up injured.

Now, does that mean we can't do splits or we shouldn't do splits? Quite the contrary! It's always great to train these skills. After all, we are doing aerial and circus arts, so there are some shapes that need splits. We just need to learn to train them safely.

Consider these points: core strength, keeping your hips square, knowing how to use your core, keeping your quads and your hamstrings active. Do you know how to use your hip flexors and your glutes on the other leg? Do you think about how you breathe and use your core and pelvic floor? Are your ribs down in line with your hips?

I know that's a lot, but it's important to start thinking about these things when you want to start training. A quick fix for a lot of this is making sure you know where your core position is and that you can breathe properly.

Are your ribs over your hips? It sounds too easy, but if you can't breathe in a position, then you're not strong there.

If you have any questions, please reach out.

Special shout out to Elena for helping us compile our newsletter.  She does a lot of work behind the scenes for us. 

Zina DiTonno
Owner, Aerial Fun & Fitness Studio
Founder, Aerial Technique Teacher Training and Studio Programs

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