Thursday, March 13, 2008

Wednesday, March 12, 2008, Brooklyn, NY

This evening, the staff got to fly & have some fun before we had a full class of really nice, diverse students...!

S. Africa's agile Ace & the indomitable Matt T. were both working on lofting their Layout's, and both of them are pretty much ready to catch their tricks! Matt was especially progressive tonight: not only did he perform a solid B/E Planche for his 1st time, but he also performed a nice B/E Straddle Whip for his 1st time. And, that was before learning & pretty damn near perfecting his Layout on his very 1st night! Our studious Whit C. flew right through the tiny barriers holding her back from doing her B/E Whip w/a half turn to the mat/net. Aspiring triathlete, Lizzy H., through some very, very nice Double Backs as she also worked on her "Full Over" (Full Twisting Fwd Over) & Full Twisting Layout. I took things back to basics by throwing some Cut Aways (sans the "Half") before throwing a decent Cut Away Half towards the end of our session. And, twice, our Amy W. successfully half turned her Fwd Over to the mat/net! It was a fun night, indeed, & only the beginning!

This night's token male student, Charles, was making nice strides w/his swing as he took his 1st stabs at a B/E Planche. Self-professed nerd & book-shepherd, Brittany S., tried to recreate her Cut Away catch after trying (w/sporadic success) to get her Cut Away Half. Brittany, given your tempo & kicks w/your Cut Away, I think you're long overdue to develop your swing. Emily B. was absolutely adorable when, for her 1st time ever, she half turned very quickly & cleanly to the mat/net out of her B/E Splits! I think she was more surprised than anyone else. Then, she recreated it w/a better Splits. Great work, Emily!

Right after sweating it out in Fabio's Flip/Tuck class, Angela flew w/two of her friends from Buffalo: Christy & Alana. Angela dusted off her Pull Over Shoot, adding more "pump" to the "pump & shoot", later making a catch w/our Lizzy H., smiling that great smile the whole time! Experiencing earlier success, both Christy & Alana made their 1st KH catches this night!

Though we haven't seen her in a while, Jane was back & getting some insight into the B/E of her swing. I love it when we see that light bulb turn on, as it did w/Jane, when she hears something that just clicks for her flying. Elena G. made more progress w/her Full Twisting Layout; it's only a few degrees away from being catchable! Alex K. was throwing really nice, lofty Layouts but felt some "catching anxiety" when it came time to connect w/our Lizzy as she let go earlier than she did during practice. And, I had the pleasure of catching Renee F.'s B/E Splits OOM on our little rig in Brooklyn!

"The heights by great men reached & kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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