Alumna teaches aerial dancing

Those who watch the ribbon dancers at Cirque du Soleil may wonder, “How do they do that?” Perhaps the more daring ask, “How can I learn to do that?”

The Central Coast offers a venue for both the curious and the daring to satisfy their desires.

Hidden away in Grover Beach, 20 minutes south of San Luis Obispo, is ECHO Artspace, a warehouse where Cal Poly alumna Rebekah Leach teaches aerial dancing classes.

What is aerial dancing?

Considered a division of modern dance, aerial dancing usually involves something attached from the ceiling so dancers can perform in three dimensions. The art began to receive recognition in the 1970s but was generally confined to traveling circuses until Cirque du Soleil began to gain popularity in the late ’90s.

Aerial dance teacher Rebekah Leach began her own aerial pursuits after watching a youth circus when she was a kid.

“I was mesmerized by it. I was really interested in it,” Leach said.

At the time, she wasn’t able to take lessons because of the cost involved but kept the desire in the back of her mind, she said. It wasn’t until Leach was studying in Thailand that she began to revive her interest and finally attended the “Aerial Dance Festival” in Boulder, Colo. in 2005. While there, she took a week’s worth of intensive lessons before going home to teach herself.

Beginning lessons with Leach are done with silks knotted at the ends, hanging only a few feet from the ground. Leach runs students through several stretches and warm-up techniques before taking to the silks.

Leach goes through the steps before displaying each move herself with a ridiculous amount of ease. She expects student to do the same, and some will probably be able to complete the move but in such way that’ll it hurt like heck and probably take three more times to get the silk to hold them securely without ripping into their flesh – the silks may look pretty, but those fabrics are murder when knotted around the boy.

While it does require some strength to lift yourself up and maneuver around, someone with relatively no arm strength (i.e. me) can still manage to complete all the moves taught during the first lesson and still do something impressive enough to photograph and show off on MySpace. Unfortunately, Leach now only offers bimonthly lessons, so those interested will have to practice on their own, like Leach did.

When Leach returned home from her week of lessons in Colorado, she did not have her own warehouse to hang silks from. She often went instead to Bishop Peak, found a large tree and hung the fabric from that to practice. When she wanted to learn more, she’d look up videos on YouTube and try to imitate them.

Although Leach admitted she’s “pretty average” and has no prior acrobatic or real dance experience, she excelled at the art. Now Leach teaches the skill to students in Grover Beach and Ojai while performing with a Los Angeles-based aerial dance company.

She insisted students don’t need to be gymnasts to do well.

“I recommend being in good physical condition; if you’re completely out of shape, it is going to be hard to move around on the silks,” Leach said. “Strength is definitely going to help, but if you go to the gym a few times a week, you should be able to start learning.”

Leach said she is considering teaching more acrobatic arts classes, such as the trapeze and the hoop, a steal hoop suspended in the air used for acrobatic moves. For now, though, she will continue teaching aerial dance classes, with the next beginning- and intermediate-level classes taking place this Saturday at ECHO Artspace.

For more information or to sign up for lessons, go to Leach’s Web site, http://aerial.dancing.googlepages.com/home, or ECHO Artspace’s MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/echoartspace.