To The Aerialists I Saw In E=M Cirque2...

You are idiots. Was that harsh? Well, suck it up, I think you need a little straight talk right now. I saw one of your performances on Saturday April 27th, 2013 at the renaissance fair in Irwindale, California. As a fellow aerial performer I enjoy seeing as many aerial acrobatics shows as possible, and was excited to find one at the fair. In the show I watched there were two acts performed on your freestanding rig, static trapeze and hoop. Though I was seated as close to the rig as I could get I have no idea how well the performances went as my attention was drawn to the base of your rig. Can you see what I see here?

That folks, is a person (a E=M Cirque2 member), holding the rope that allows one to adjust the height of the aerial apparatus being used on the rig. It is not tied to anything; not secured in any way. You aerialists performed your routines while your apparatus was being held up by a PERSON. Excuse the language, but what the HELL were you thinking?! While I sat staring in disbelief after the show, a few of you asked if I wanted to take a picture by the rig. I said no - I actually had a few questions. I asked about the rigging, and asked if you had someone hold the rope when there was a silk performance too. I was told that yes, they could hold the rope for the silk performance, or lock it in place with the device on the rig that was meant for securing such things. I followed up - why wasn't the rope secured during the show I just saw? The reasoning was that you wanted to be able to raise and lower the performer at the beginning and end of the routine, and the performers just needed to trust the person on the end of the rope. SERIOUSLY?? My head was spinning. Since I didn't sense that you had figured out that I am a performer too I let you know that as an aerialist I would never be comfortable performing without the rigging being secured, that it wasn't safe. They asked me if I knew the guy who purchased the rig (I don't), and said I should talk to him if I have questions. I left.

I was so incredibly bothered by this exchange that I couldn't articulate in the moment what I should have: as an aerialist your FIRST concern should be your safety! Know your rigging, know how it works, what it's capable of, and how to properly set it up and SECURE it (consider taking a rigging workshop where you learn about how much you really weigh when doing a drop!). So you say you trust the guy holding you up, but guess what - there are circumstances out of your control. What if he slips? What if he has some sort of medical emergency while holding the end of the rope? You never know what could happen! Lock it in place and reduce the chances of something going wrong!

Let's say something does go wrong. Besides the physical injuries that you may end up with, what are the chances of that fair or other fairs and festivals hiring aerialists in the future? One accident can reduce future work opportunities for all of us. You could even cause the price of specialty performers insurance to go up (if you have insurance...).

Several months ago I was scheduled to be on a television show with my doubles hoop partner. We had spent weeks preparing for the gig and were in full costume and make up when we discovered that the studio was planning on hanging our hoop from a random chain they had backstage. We didn't have any idea what the chain had been used for in the past, or what type of weight it was capable of bearing. The show had specifically sought out aerialists for this episode, but that didn't mean they knew what was required to safely rig our equipment. We ended up walking away from the gig - our safety was more important than the money we would have made.

For the sake of all aerialists - be smart! Take the necessary steps to ensure a safe performance so our livlihood can continue.