The Aerial Alchemist
Where circus meets storytelling, wellness, and the magic of movement. Hosted by Fallon, founder of In the Wings, this podcast explores aerial dance, creativity, and the rituals that help us stay grounded while reaching new heights. From artistry to resilience, community to self-care, each episode offers inspiration for living boldly, moving with intention, and finding your own alchemy—both in the air and on the ground. Always… happy flying.
The Aerial Alchemist
Episode 41: Pet Peeeeves!!!
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Intro and Announcements
3:19 — Pet Peeves
3:38 — Flicking the Fabric
5:41 — Dead Feet
7:22 — Dead Hands
8:25 — Dancing Then Walking to Apparatus
9:34 — Claw Foot
10:32 — Sickled Feet
Connect with Fallon
📧 info@inthewingsaerial.com
🌐 www.inthewingsaerial.com
Welcome to The Aerial Alchemist, where movement transforms into magic and stories take flight. I'm Fallon, dancer, aerialist, and storyteller, inviting you into a world where circus and dance meet creativity, resilience, and community. Whether you're here to be inspired, to learn, or to simply dream a little bigger, you found your place. I'm glad you're here. Welcome to the Arial Alchemist episode number 41. Pet peeves. And this is the last episode. I am batch recording before I leave for Italy, for our retreat, and a little vacation for myself. Because while you're there, you should probably have a little vacation, right? So you'll be hearing this actually one month from when I am recording this to the day. And I will have been home for a few days. I will be jet lagged, I'm sure. And I thought I'm not gonna want to record and edit a podcast the second I get back. And I'm a big fan of extending that vacation as long as you can, if you can do it. So we fly back home on a Friday, the third of July. And then, and then of course there's the fourth of July the next day, which we'll probably be asleep for is my guess. Yeah. And then you're hearing this on the following Tuesday. So I will be hopefully halfway out of jet lag. Because they say that it's one day for every hour, right? So, and it's like eight hours time change-ish. So we'll we'll be getting there. Anyways, so there's that. The other thing that's going on is we, when you're hearing this, we are exactly one month away from circ and sip. So one other reason why I needed to have this this done for you. So circ and sip, it's not circ and sip. Look at me. It's circ and spook this year. That's what we did. So circ and spook is our annual gala. Normally sip. This year's spook, because we're getting spooky. Which means, guys, we're almost to spooky season. There's no more holidays. I mean real high holidays. There's Labor Day, but do we count that? No, we don't. There's no more holidays between now and spooky season. So we're gonna do it. Let's get spooky now. So August 8th, haha, is circum spook. And you should join us. Denver Savoy 4 to 6.30 p.m. We are going to have a live auction with lots of awesome things, which I will tell you more about what we have gathered next week because I will know that then, because that's like real far away from me right now. Anyways, the live auction we'll have sky pores, aerial bartending, we'll have spotlighted acts, ambient acts, jugglers, light bites to snack on, and a cash bar. It's gonna be a great time. We had a great time last year. We'll have a great time this year. It's gonna be so much fun. Come join us, and then you can go explore Rhino for dinner. There's lots of lots of good places to eat. I will be putting the ones I recommend in our social medias, or hit me up and I will tell you which ones I enjoy the most. And you can make reservations and go to there. Okay, let's jump in. Pet peeves. I was looking through my old TikToks to do some throwback Thursdays, and I had seen that I did this series about pet peeves and how to fix them. So I thought, let's make it into a podcast, shall we? So here we go with number one. We're just gonna get straight into it today. Flicking the fabric. Please stop doing it. Oh my gosh. So this, what am I talking about? I think it bothers no, it would have definitely bothered me, but it definitely bothers me more because one of my first aerial teachers, it bothered her so bad. And she would yell at me all the time if I did it, or anyone in class if we did it. She would yell at us. I now yell at my students about it. And when I see it on stage, because I do see it on stage, it kind of, it kind of it yep, it really bothers me. So this is when we're in the silks, usually silks, but sling could happen. And then in the fabric, and you have a foot lock on and you go to take it off and it doesn't come off nicely for whatever reason. And then you flick your little foot and shake it and flail about to get it off. It's so distracting. It's so distracting to the performance. And how do we fix this? Well, we don't do it. That's the easy way. But I will put a link to um, it's pinned in the top of my TikTok if you're on TikTok, but I'll put a link to this video and I'll probably repost it as a throwback Thursday. It's the Silk Footlock Theory, and you can put on both your footlocks and you can look down and you can look at your tail and see which direction the tail is going. And whichever way the direction the tail is going, that's the way that you get out. So if you're in a figure eight footlock, then you are going to step backwards. And if you're in a dancer rap, you're gonna step forwards. So if you forgot what rap you're in, which you shouldn't in a performance, you should have done the same rap every time. Then you can look down and know how to get out of it. And then what we're gonna do is be very intentional and we are going to circle that leg nice and big. Nice and big with pointed toes because that's how we get it to fall off. There's gonna be yelling in this episode. I'm not yelling at you. I'm just yelling in general. So that will help take it off cleanly and will be much less distracting for the audience. You will feel more secure in yourself. Make big intentional movements instead of these like little flicky, flicky nonsense. Okay, moving on. Dead feet. I mean, if you if I have this shirt that teachers enjoy and it says OMG, point your toes. It's got earless on it. And if you want to buy it, I'll put a link to it. You can get it on my website. I think it's cute. Point your toes. Energy through your feet. And really through your legs. And this is like a big thing that I have that I notice when I'm practicing or watching myself on video is my feet will be pointed, but uh there won't be energy in my whole leg. And that's something that is going to set you apart. So yeah, the energy like through the whole leg, but especially the feet. Everybody's gonna notice the feet. Not man, not as many people will notice. That'll be the intangible thing is is that energy through the whole leg, through the whole line of the leg. And that can, by the way, I say pointed feet, but this can be with pointed feet, flexed feet, flointed feet, or whatever. And and is there time for dead feet? Yes. Because there was a moment in Ember's Petals and Stars where I was dead everything. So if it's intentional, it's different. So this is not one that's like always same with you know what? None of these are like a hundred percent always. It's when it's not intentional that it bothers me. Because if you're flicking the fabric on purpose because you're trying to create this chaotic thing, and that is an intentional thing, that is different. But I can tell the difference as an audience member when it's intentional or not. Same with your dead feet. So are they dead on purpose, or do we need flexed or flointed or pointed? And are our knees bent on purpose? Right. This all comes from energy in your whole, in your whole leg. The opposite end of that is dead hands. Like this like floppy hand or arm where it just like there's no energy in it. And I had a friend who used to say that her, it was her dance teacher, like it was in dance, hello, dance teacher, used to say, pretend that there's lights on the end of your fingers and you want them to reach the end of the stage. So it like gave you that long. Um, and when we talked with Angel last week, he was talking about the elanger. That's like, that's that. It's this lengthening, and this is like legs and arms and feet and hands, all of it. This elanger, but he s I mean Angel really just put it in this great way of this constriction too. How are you gonna still find that growth and that elongating in a confined space with your arms, your feet, your hands, your legs? Yeah. And these are things that aren't gonna come overnight. You are going to just keep watching yourself, taking video, having other people correct you, and it'll come over time. The next one is doing this beautiful groundwork and then stopping and walking to your apparatus and taking a breath and then getting on the apparatus. And it was like, what just what just happened? Like, why is there this disconnect between your gorgeous ground stuff and getting on the apparatus? Can we make that intentional? Is there a reason we're getting to this apparatus? Is there a reason we want to get onto it? What is your motivation? The audience doesn't need to know what it is. You just need to know what it is and move from that way and we'll get it. We'll get it and what it will look intentional. But this, like, oh, I'm finishing my little ground, it's it's very staccato to me. I don't like it. Again, it again, all of these, if it's intentional, it it then that's great. It's when we hadn't thought about that. And we're like, okay, I finished my ground bit, and now I walk over and I get all my silks, right? Hate it, hate it. That one, as someone who is specifically an aerial dancer, like the combo of circus and dance, that one really kills me. The next one, claw foot. This happens to everybody, I want to say, just about everybody. Some people worse than others, but this is when you're hanging by your knees. Typically, when you're hanging by your knees, one or both feet will like claw up and not want to point down. One will usually be fine, and then the other one is like like all gnarled. And you just have to learn which one your cloth foot is, or both of them, and start training it to stop doing that. You'll start feeling it, you'll start noticing it. And it's helpful for me, it was always helpful to people I was training with in class, whatever. I would be like, hey, if you see me claw foot, will you just smack my foot? And, you know, they're not being mean, it didn't hurt, but like giving me a quick slap on the foot to remind it to pop back down. And then it catches you in the moment. It's really like the dog with the clicker training. It's the same thing. And then in that vein is the sickled feet. Kills me, kills me sickled feet. It just breaks your line. Again, if it's intentional, it's good. And sometimes as aerialists, we do need a sickled foot to hold ourselves in a wrap or whatever. But if you're not in that wrap, it should not be sickled. If anything, it should be winged out. And I will post a video to this. I have a great theraband exercise that helps strengthen all of those stabilizers in your feet, toes, and ankles. I've done several videos with these because I also did one how to walk in the high heels. And this was part of it. You have to have strong, strong ankles to do it. So you take a thara band and you hook it over the ball of your foot. Make sure it goes all the way over the ball of your foot or it's gonna slip off and smack you in the face. So, over the ball of your foot, and then you can work your point. So you'll start with a, you'll hold it, the thara band, right? And then you'll start with a flex foot and then you'll push through the ball of your foot. So you're in like a Barbie doll foot, and then you'll point your toes over and then reverse it, uncurl or flex your toes, but keep your foot pointed and then flex your whole foot and do um some of those. That just strengthens your toe point that actually doesn't do anything for sickled feet. But we want a nice toe point too, right? And then you can with a pointed toe hold the band to the inside of your leg and then sickle your foot and then pull it out and wing it out, and then sickle it and wing it out. And then I also do like to do both sides so that we're not getting like we're keeping things nice and stable and even. So then hold it to the outside, um, wing it to the outside and then sickle it in so that you're working both the medial and lateral muscles of your ankle. Yeah. Okay, that's it. Shorter episode today, cuz I still got stuff to do. I gotta edit these things, I gotta pack for Italy. It's all been in a bin, and it is time to get it into the suitcase. Cause I leave in ten days officially. Woo-hoo! Yeah. So there you have it. My pet peeves. I've got more of them. I'm sure of it. I'm gonna start taking a list. I love these things. They're like just things that you can work on. Like I said, you'll start noticing these things for yourself, and then you can start working on them. They're not gonna fix overnight, and that's okay. It's just a work in progress. It is just a work in progress. And if I think of more things, I will I will let you know. And ways to fix it. Ways to fix it is always good. Uh, I train for and teach my students to train for versatility. So, in all of these things, like I said 8,000 times, and I'm going to say it again because I think it's really important that you hear it. None of these are inherently right or wrong by themselves. It's the lack of intentionality that bothers me. And sometimes when you want those things, you want to be able to have the access to be able to do them, right? So, training for all of your options, that's what makes you a well-rounded artist. And I'm gonna leave it at that. So, if you have suggestions for future episodes, I'd love to hear them. Or if you just want to tell me hi and what's going on, I'd love to hear from you. You can hit me up on all of the social medias at in the wings aerial or on Patreon at in the wings aerial. And speaking of Patreon, thank you to my patrons. I could not do this without you. I'm thankful for you every day. Please know that. On the Patreon, the patrons get access to early podcast episodes and the video versions of them, as well as discounts on show tickets and behind the scenes footage and all sorts of things, and probably things that I haven't thought of yet. So if you'd like to join our little community, we would love to have you there. You can find us on Patreon at In the Wings Ariel. I hope you have a beautiful week, and I will see you next week. This has been the Ariel Alchemist. Now go create some magic of your own. Happy flying.