Keyvious Avery drapes himself in a huge swatch of fabric called a sling, which is suspended about seven feet from the padded floor.
With a few, well-practiced twists and turns, the 15-year-old emerges into a butterfly pose.
Across the room, a young girl shimmies up another piece of fabric that is suspended 22 feet from the ceiling. She wraps the fabric securely around her feet, her body arches and she strikes a dancer’s graceful pose in the air.
The two are among more than a dozen students participating in the D'Air Project, a youth-centered aerial dance program in an old church in Grant Park.
“When I first started I was afraid of heights,” said Avery, a 10th grader at Maynard Jackson High School, who has participated in the program for about seven years. “I think with practice and knowing that if I do this right I will be safe, took a lot of pressure off.”
Aerial dance is a movement art that uses suspended objects such as hoops, trapezes, ropes and fabric and even larger structures like walls to add a new element to modern dance. Think motion in flight or aerial ballet.
Many people are familiar with it though Cirque du Soleil acts or with popular artists, like Pink, using aerial ballet in performances.
The D’Air Project, though, hopes to do more, said Director Nicole Mermans, who has been performing aerial dance for about 15 years.
Aerial dance is physically challenging. Although they use objects, students must have the strength to climb up strips of cloth and hold a movement.
"The biggest purpose is to teach life skills," said Mermans, who earned her undergraduate degree in environmental science and biology from the University of Georgia but who long nurtured a passion for dance. "Obviously, they will learn the craft of aerial dance but they also learn how to teach - everyone is required to be a mentor. They learn about building teamwork, accountability, confidence, physical fitness and how health is important."
Most importantly, "we’re looking for commitment,” she said. Classes are based on a sliding scale fee. There are also classes for adult that are fee-based.
The project has become so popular that Mermans said it needs a larger space. She hopes to raise enough money to find larger digs.
Michael Kramer has seen the difference in his son, Jonas Kramer-Dickie, 12, since he started taking aerial dance classes several years ago.
“He’s always been a kid who likes to explore the limits physically,” said Kramer. The class has helped him stretch creativity and flexibility, which has resulted in an improvement in other interests such as soccer.
Avery said he likes to try new things. At first his friends were skeptical about aerial dance the 10th grader said. “Where I come from people are basketball players or football players, no one is an aerial artist.” He said he’s gotten a couple of friends to come to class and he’s performed in school. “It was amazing,” he said. “Guys came up to me and said ‘I didn’t know we could do that’.”
His mother, Cecilia Avery, has noticed the change. “It keeps him focused,” she said. “He used to be shy. It actually brings out the adventurous side to him.”
