• This year I learned a lot of new things. I learned how to spin a lot without getting dizzy, that’s new. I learned also how to go upside down, sounds easy, I know. I really liked the show I was in, I think I did well. Next year I want to work on the trapeze, hoop, web, and maybe on fabric. Hand loops might be fun too. I’m looking forward to next year.

Leona Kinderman, 7th grade

• I had a great year and many amazing experiences at Pendulum Aerial Dance. Over this last year I have gained a lot of strength, flexibility, and I have learned four full pieces of choreography. At the end of the year the Pendulum students all got the chance to show what we learned in a real performance, with costumes, lighting, and everything! And it went wonderfully! Everybody had so much fun! I am very excited for next year, to work with all of the kids and teachers for next year’s performance! I know that next year will be just as great.

London Mahina, age 14

• This year I accomplished many things. I learned a lot of new tricks on the static bar and I got to work on the wings. I also met a lot of new and friendly people. In the show we also did Brazilian dance, which was really fun. I hope to participate in the show next year, too. This year’s show, I thought was really well decorated and I loved the lights.

Josie Oleson, 5th grade

• This year, I accomplished a lot. I learned to go upside down on the sling, I learned to do the helix, and how to catch people on the sling. Next year I want to work on the wings and in the fabric. The show was really fun and I loved everything I did this year and I can’t wait until next year.

Sophia Anguilla, 6th grade

• After one year in aerial movement classes I have gained strength and confidence. The first thing I told my mom after the first class was: “Now, walking is not graceful enough.” I love flying through the air above everyone else! It’s so fun and timeless. It was a great experience, I got to do what I’ve always wanted to do, and all my friends were there, too!

Geneva Li, 6th grade

• During my aerial year, I learned how to gain strength and confidence in me, every Friday. It was great hanging by the sling and feeling the air in my hair. When I was in the air, it felt like I was free, flying and being happy, with nothing in my mind but pleasure. At the end of this year, my flexibility was way higher than at the beginning of the year. Aerial movement taught me to be patient. To try and try again, until the perfect, exact move is made. I feel honored to be part of Aerial Movement and I want to thank Suzie and Laura for everything they taught me.

Constance Charpanese, 7th grade

• This year in Aerial Movement I have gained more of my flexibility. I think that this year’s performance went well because we all knew the choreography. There was always something to look forward to after school on Tuesday’s! Aerial has brought all of us together. Next year is going to be weird because not all of us are coming back to aerial! The best thing about aerial is that we are the only aerialists our age. I’m going to miss aerial! All the excitement! I’m also going to miss trying to explain to people what aerial is!

Alex PoPick, 8th grade

• This year in aerial I have had a great time. I learned so much and improved my flexibility a lot. I got a lot better at the things I had learned last year and I learned several new things. I learned a lot about choreography and being in sync with a group. The show went really well. It started with introductions in four different languages, then went to a sling piece by younger students. Next was a trapeze piece with Maggie and Trevor, then Josie. Then hand loops, a trapeze duet, and a Brazilian stick dance. Then it was our turn. The fabric piece was slightly out of sync but surprisingly good, given the tricky lights. Next was wings, where we had a slight problem with space. The trapeze went well, so did the hoop. Of course the audience either didn’t recognize or wouldn’t admit to our little mishaps. The whole experience was great and I will enjoy continuing next year.

Erin Koon, 8th grade

• Aerial Movement was really fun! I felt fortunate that I got an opportunity to try it. Although I wasn’t the best, it was still really cool to get on the apparatus and just feel like you’re flying. Everyone was really nice and talented, and it might sound really cliche and corny, but at the end it felt like everyone was really close, almost like a family.

Kara Jackson, 7th grade

• I really enjoyed focusing more on choreography for the show. I loved the hand loop piece and working with the most advanced kids. London has been the best partner ever; I particularly enjoyed our duet on the hoop. I did not feel like I performed that well in Saturday’s show because it was hot in the gym and I had too much rosin. Sunday’s show went a lot better for me. Having lights and a marley floor was the best. I look forward to working more in the fabric next year to learn more drops and in the hoop and hand loops to expand our pieces. Laura’s warm-ups have been extremely beneficial. I FINALLY GOT MY LEFT SPLITS!

Lia Dawley, 9th grade

• Aerial Movement has brought so much to my life. First of all, Laura has taught me many flexibility tricks and Suzie has taught me many lessons on pointing my feet, for example. These two things have already brought me to be a stronger person. Also, my instructors taught me many tricks in the air, from trapeze to fabric - it’s so much fun! Aerial movement is part of my life and brings me a lot of joy. I love aerial movement.

Clara Dawley, 6th grade

• During aerial I learned to do a good pull-over, and gained confidence in myself. I felt good and happy to be with other people and loved doing Saturday classes. I hope I can advance in the future. I have had fun with my teachers and fellow students. Yay!

Summer Jette, 7th grade

• This year in Aerial Movement I have gained a lot of flexibility and technique in the trapeze arts. I have learned different choreography and how to work together and time the poses and moves according to everyone else. I have gained muscle tone and core strength in my experience with aerial movement. I have learned to truly love aerial movement, through all my time spent in the air learning the techniques or on the ground stretching. It is just an awesome experience to be in the air with people watching you do tricks and show that you have talent and can do stuff that the average person would say is impossible or extremely dangerous. It’s just a heart-fulfilling experience that I will never forget or regret. And I am so lucky, I know, and I am so happy that I get to be a part of something so original and creative. I think that middle school-ers all around should do aerial be cause I love it and I know that others would love to have and experience what I have encountered these past three years. I want to say thank you for allowing me to be in this class and be a part of aerial movement, I learned so much.

Addie Vigran, 8th grade

• I gained strength and made some new friends. Aerial helped me gain focus and be good at pointing my toes and I had lots of fun.

Trevor Buck, 10th grade

• My experience of doing aerial movement was mostly fun. The only thing I didn’t like was a few of the stretches. I loved doing the sling and flying through the air. I got more flexible and stronger. Personally, I love it.

Margaret Marguard, 6th grade

• My experience of aerial movement has been awesome. I have been involved in this activity for two years and will be going to the summer camp this year. I feel that this is something I would really like to follow through with because it is something I enjoy a lot. Suzie and Laura are really awesome teachers and I would like to thank them for teaching me everything that I know, and I am eager to learn more from them next year. Aerial movement has been a major hobby, and I really want to be a teacher for Pendulum Dance Theatre in the future. I love being able to do this activity with my friends there too, because we can learn together. Once again, I would love to say a big thank you to Suzie and Laura for teaching me so many fun things.

Maddy Whitaker, 6th grade

• I had a good year this year. I had a lot of fun learning the hand loop piece. It taught me a different apparatus and a different style of performing. Though I really loved the trapeze duet since it was much better than last year. The performance went well with just a few rough spots on Saturday. My goals for next year are to work on the trapeze and get even better on it and also to get some knowledge of the fabric.

Brian Siperstein, 10th grade

• Aerial Movement has been such a great experience. I have gained so much from this class; I’ve made new friends, worked with choreography, and most of all, improved my flexibility (I can do the splits now)! I love coming here on Tuesdays after school! There is so much to do! Fabrics, wings, hoop, sling, trapeze and more! I’m going to miss it all! A great thing about aerial is how original and interesting it is, especially for kids our age. This is definitely not something that you would expect from middle school-ers! This is definitely an experience that I would want others to have. I love aerial!

Katie Nichols, 8th grade

• This year in Aerial Movement I have definitely become more flexible, although I still have to work at it. I have also gained muscle through working with the wings. Thanks to the show I have become more comfortable performing in front of an audience. It was also a great experience to be in a real performance at this age and to memorize all the choreography. It’s so cool to be able to do this kind of stuff at this age, especially us being the only middle school-ers to do this. It’s been a great experience and I hope I can continue to do this next year. It’s something I’ll always remember.

Hallie Riswold

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