Aerial yoga or aerial circus?
What’s the difference?!
If you’ve never done aerial before - or even if you have - you might find yourself asking “what is the difference between aerial yoga and aerial circus?”
That’s a VERY good and very vexed question, especially amongst the circus community! I can’t even attempt to resolve that thorny debate here. Instead I describe how I define and distinguish them in my teaching practice, so that you know which of my classes is right for you. The most important thing to note is that neither is “better” than the other: in my teaching, they’re simply different practices with different intentions.
Aerial yoga
I think of aerial yoga as a bodywork practice that uses a short fabric hammock as a prop to assist with stretching, strengthening and/or relaxation. The hammock is rigged no higher than hip height - and sometimes only a few inches off the floor - and the practitioner is mostly in contact with the mat but sometimes fully suspended. The focus is on alignment, breath, focus and release. A class guides participants through a continuous flow of movements and poses, working towards a peak pose before finishing with a relaxation lying in the gently swinging hammock.
Aerial yoga can support the other aerial practices by helping to develop flexibility, strength and body awareness. It can be playful and fun whilst still being mindful and restorative. It is accessible to almost every body with appropriate modifications.
Of course this is not a traditional yoga practice, though it borrows from some of the asansas (postures) and breathing patterns of that form. So the term yoga is respectfully borrowed as a way to help describe the practice via something people find recognisable as a movement practice.
I teach 1:1 sessions from home or group classes once a month at Small World Theatre.
Aerial circus
I think of aerial circus as a performing art where the mover uses aerial apparatus - trapeze, hoop (lyra), rope (corde lisse), silks (fabric), sling (hammock/net), straps or any kind of bespoke equipment like a spiral or cube - to create movement and shapes, whether high in the air or in and out of contact with the ground. But it’s really important to note that these disciplines can also be enjoyed for health, recreation and fitness without us ever needing to perform in front of an audience!
Even so in aerial circus, the focus is generally on developing technique, vocabulary and movement quality. Classes focus on building the necessary strength, body awareness and flexibility to execute skills safely in the air, whilst still - in my classes at least - being playful, having FUN and not getting overly attached to outcomes! It is accessible to almost every body with appropriate modifications.
My main aerial circus disciplines are ROPE and SLING. Perhaps one thing that can be extra confusing is the difference between a HAMMOCK in aerial yoga and a SLING in aerial circus (also confusingly known as a hammock). They’re essentially the same but used differently! A circus sling/hammock is usually LONGER and rigged off a SINGLE POINT for spinning or HIGH off the ground for dynamics in this aesthetic discipline. A yoga hammock is usually SHORTER and rigged LOW and off a DOUBLE POINT for stability and to fix front/back directions for this mat-based bodywork practice. A circus sling can be made of rope, spanset, net or fabric. An aerial yoga hammock is nearly always an extra wide (2.5m) fabric.