What is Aerial Fitness?

Once relegated to the realm of the big top, the exposure that aerial performance has received through shows such as Cirque du Soleil and performances by pop singer Pink has given rise to an explosion of circus schools, classes and workshops across the country.

One such school is Integral Aerial on Sydney’s northern beaches, owned and run by Kalile Lima. Once a self-proclaimed ‘lazy girl’, Lima discovered circus arts quite by accident 10 years ago in her homeland of Brazil. As a university student studying Fine Arts, Lima was spending little time on fitness and plenty of time on her social skills, when she decided that she wanted to do something active and fun. After starting with acrobatics on the floor of her local circus arts school, Lima progressed to lyra, trapeze and, her favourite of all, silks.

‘The possibility of doing things on silk is limitless. It’s more elegant than some of the other aerial forms and, even if you’re not flexible or strong, silks can make you look beautiful,’ Lima explains.

It’s all well and good for the lean and lithe Lima to claim that; the ease with which she drops into the splits and contorts her body into all manner of shapes leads me to believe that Lima emerged from the womb in a backbend. But that’s not the case.

‘When I started, I felt my core was one of the things that changed so much; specifically, the strength and the shape of my torso. My flexibility also improved a lot, too. I couldn’t do the splits at first and I didn’t have a dance background or anything that could help me, so it was more about trying and trying,’ she says earnestly.

‘Because the fabric can be used for so many things, you can start with exercises that will build strength. It’s such a complete exercise form- you need a little bit of strength everywhere. But, more than strength, the most important thing is determination.’