Aerial Silks (aerial tissues) Aerial Silks (also known aerial tissue/tissu, aerial silk, ribbon, aerial fabric, aerial ballet in silk, aerial contortion or aerial curtain or even Contorsion au de Silk) is a circus art where a performer or performers hang and perform acrobatics while suspended by a special fabric. The performer/acrobat climbs the suspended fabric usually 20-35 feet high. Performers use no safety lines and rely only on their training and skill to ensure safety. Most tricks on silks are impossible to spot using safety lines. There are too many tricks that involve dynamic drops and wrapping around the body to use a spot line; it becomes more of a liability than anything else and carries a serious risk of hanging. The performer/acrobat uses the fabric to: wrap, suspend, fall, swing, and spiral their body into and out of various positions. Aerial routines are a display of athleticism and flexiblity, and exciting entertainment. Tissu silks may be used as a form of aerial straps, and used to fly through the air, striking poses and figures while flying.
Rigging
While there are many variations, the basic static (non-motorized) order for rigging aerial silks is:
Selecting Fabrics
Fabric under the name of 'tricot chiffon' is most commonly used by performers, though fabrics which have this name do vary. Another common choice is polyester interlock. When choosing material for this act, there are a number of issues one must take into account.
Stretch - Low stretch fabrics. Low stretch fabrics provide a high degree of control for precision choreography. With the spread of motorized rigging and sophisticated shock absorbing hardware, low stretch fabric is used in most modern professional productions.
- Medium stretch fabrics. Medium stretch fabrics are becoming less common, as they do not have many of the advantages of lower stretch fabrics. Primarily Russian artists and those who trained in the early-mid nineties use low stretch fabrics. In dramatic routines with lots of drops, a medium stretch fabric will stretch more causing the performers to be thrown about more. For this reason many performers prefer a fabric with more stretch to perform routines with many drops.
Width.
Fabric width is mostly a personal choice. The thickness of the fabric when gathered is also influenced by the "denier", or technical thickness of the fabrics weave. - 60" - Narrow when open, thin when gathered. It is fairly common simply because the fabric is widely available.
- 72-84” - Average for adults. A good place to start.
- 96" - Wide when open, thick when gathered. Best for adults with large hands.
- 108” - Very wide and thick. Recommended for adults with very large hands, or specialty acts.
Length
- Length is a function of the height of the space available. Keep in mind that silks must be TWICE the desired height. Silks will be hung from the middle so that there are two separate strands of silks. If fabric cannot be purchased in the desired length, then two pieces can be attached side by side using girth hitches or clove hitches if a sufficient tall is left. In fabrics this usually means one foot.
- For beginners, it is beneficial if the fabric comes down past the ground, allowing them to practice wraps at a lower level where they can be spotted.
- For intermediate users and above, it is sufficient if the fabrics to come down to the ground.
- For all users, the space required is usually between 20 and 30 ft. There are a great many tricks that can be done on a 12 to 15 foot ribbon and a few drops require more than 30 feet but for the most part 20 to 30 feet is best.
Additional Information
Some silks performers prefer to use dried or spray rosin on their hands and feet to increase the friction and grip on the fabric. Others prefer chalk, though if the ribbon is any color but white, chalk will look tacky.
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