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The vertiginous world of aerial dance

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to fly? The Off The Wall aerial dancers are keen to show you. Becky Miles, Charlotte Luke and Grace Sellwood are experts in vertical dance – otherwise known as wall running - and believe everyone can harness their inner sense of strength and take flight, to great emotional benefit.

Having previously brushed shoulders as freelancers, the three have worked together since 2019, when they danced on the side of Lower Sharpnose Point, a vertiginous 45m cliff near Bude, for the crowdfunded short film Clifftops. Watch it on their Facebook page – the precision of their synchronised movements is just aweinspiring. “It was fabulous to experience dancing on that length of rope - the closest thing to the feeling is flying or perhaps being in space!” says Grace.

All trained teachers, they are now taking their skills to more conventional theatres and halls in the hope that the artistry that wows audiences can also empower others of all genders, ages and abilities, from individuals in need of a confidence boost to community groups seeking a teambuilding activity.

“We want people not only to feel a sense of achievement in this art form, but also to use it as a tool to encourage them to feel stronger in the face of the limiting thoughts we all experience at some point or another in our lives,” says Charlotte. “We also want to widen the spectrum of people doing aerial and vertical dance. Sometimes it’s hard to access these workshops due to financial barriers, or thinking it’s not for you. We wanted to challenge some of these boundaries.”

Making Noise workshops blend vertical and contemporary dance at a level you’ll feel comfortable with, building a sense of body reliance and trust while working against gravity. Beginners might never have been in a harness, or wish to gain more confidence in one; intermediate participants are confident with ascending/descending and controlled jumps out from the wall.

Taking Flight workshops aim to test, challenge and build teamwork with feet on and off the ground, using games and activities to push comfort zones in a safe, welcoming and supportive environment. These have been popular with community groups. body in a way you may have never done before - especially with your feet off the ground!” says Becky. “We start off slow and always give options within any of our offerings. The most important thing is to build an atmosphere where people feel like they can give something a go to whatever level they feel comfortable with.”

Vertical dance employs a range of transferrable skills. “If someone was supernervous about taking their feet off the floor, and they achieved this and perhaps more, then we hope they could apply this knowledge to other aspects of their life – say, meeting other people,” explains Grace. “We believe our classes have a huge benefit to not just physical health, through movement and breathing, but also mental health in terms of self-belief.”

A show, She Who Dares, was devised just before the pandemic with the aim of inspiring the audiences through the examples of get-up-and-go women from history: Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean; Robyn Davidson, who walked across the Australian desert in the 1970s with three camels and a dog; and popular poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. Excerpts were performed in Liskeard earlier this year with the help of Arts Council England, and the girls hope to bring the full spectacle to audiences in 2024.

My 12-year-old daughter and I went to Amata (Falmouth University’s performance space at the Tremough campus) to join the girls for a rehearsal, writes Kirstie Newton. She was incredibly excited; I was slightly more trepidatious, being afraid of heights and aware of her capacity to break limbs in less dangerous circumstances. Neither of us had any idea of what to expect, except for my vague recollection of the 2008 BBC idents featuring girls tumbling from the ceiling in silks, which seemed ambitious for a pair of beginners. What we found on arrival was harnesses and ropes not unlike those at clip ‘n’ climb. “The ceiling here is quite low,” said Grace - it seemed pretty cavernous to me, but when you’ve hung from ropes down a vertical cliff face, I suppose you have a different perspective.

Once clipped into the harness, we were encouraged to sit into it and walk our feet off the floor. The girls then took it in turns to show us different moves: first, getting used to pushing off the wall, then walking from side to side like a crab, then combining the two by jumping from left to right – Daughter and I even managed to high-five each other (without catastrophic collision).

Then came a considerably harder move: the rotation, turned to the side with one hand on the floor, and one of the girls assisting us in turning round. Daughter was in raptures over this, and did it several times; I felt sick after one go, and went back to wall jumps.

An hour later, we were simply buzzing with the achievement of having done something really different and exciting. Daughter thinks I have a very cool job (albeit not as cool as her three new friends), and is keen to sign up for a workshop.

“One of the most rewarding feelings for us as teachers is to see someone leave a workshop with a greater sense of self-belief or a feeling of personal achievement,” says Becky. Job done.

Workshops: • October 9, Dracaena Centre, Falmouth: Making Noise Vertical Dance for Intermediate/Improvers • October 23, AMATA, Penryn: Making Noise Vertical Dance for Beginners/ Explorers and Intermediate/Improvers • October 24, Plymouth: Taking Flight Workshop with Exim Dance • October 30, Aerial Allsorts, Wadebridge: Making Noise Vertical Dance • November 27, AMATA, Penryn: Making Noise Vertical Dance and Fixed Line • December 18, Aerial Allsorts, Wadebridge: Making Noise Vertical Dance and Fixed Line Workshop (Festive Edition!).

All workshops are funded by Arts Council England and FEAST, and supported by Falmouth University, Cultivator and Vector Rope Access. l