Six days of glorious sunshine for our first Aerial Retreat

Our first Activity Retreat was a resounding success according to everyone who participated. The students signed up without really knowing what they were letting themselves in for but all were delighted with the way the week went and came away feeling fulfilled and accomplished.

The first week in May in the south of France can be quite warm but we really didn't expect to get six full days of sunshine with temperatures reaching the late 20s at times.

The course was pretty intensive and everyone (even the more advanced aerialists) felt that they had been stretched to their limit of physical endurance.

Towards the end of the week some of the participants were secretly hoping it would rain so we could revert to some of our back up plans like costume design or nutrition and anatomy lessons.

Each day began with a glass of warm lemon water to clear toxins from the kidneys and prepare the body for the day’s activity. This was followed by a gentle yoga warm up and then a hearty breakfast comprising oats (cooked or just flaked), eggs, toast, croissants, pain au chocolate, yoghurt, jams, fruit and more.

The morning aerial session would focus on conditioning and during the six days everyone got to experiment with 6 different pieces of equipment (trapeze, rope, silks, loop and hoops (both spinning and static).

Then we took a long Mediterranean style lunch break (a few hours). Lunch was usually a buffet of vegetarian delights such as curried cauliflower, carrot, kidney bean and olive salad, spinach and ricotta pie, quiche or dauphinoise potatoes, couscous and roasted vegetables and lots of different side salads.

The afternoon session was more playful and allowed people to focus on developing their skills in their preferred discipline. For the advanced aerialist there was time to share new moves and learn from each other. While for the beginners it was an opportunity to really work on some basic moves and a get a feel for each of the different pieces of kit.

It was a mixed ability group and therefore a bit of a challenge for our trainers Akasha Dryden and Carinan Bli (in header photo with trainee and yoga trainer Amy Watt)j. A challenge they rose to and totally conquered. The beginners came away feeling they could competently perform a few moves on each piece of kit and with a burning desire to learn more. Meanwhile, the more advanced members of the group actually put a full performance together, which they showcased on the last evening to an audience of local people. This was spectacular and quite moving. I have to confess I was quite choked with emotion.

We will be running this course again in September (12th-18th) with improvements based on feedback from this year. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more details as they become available.

We are sore but aching for more...

Soozie Campbell