Vertical Dance & Aerial Dance Harness
Intermediate Level with Lindsey Butcher & Autin Dance Theatre
Vertical Dance: An extraordinary exploration where the walls become your dance floor. Using climbing harnesses and rigging equipment, we’ll tip the dance floor 90 degrees, turning gravity into a playful partner. This practice is liberating, exhilarating, sometimes strenuous, and always a bit disorienting!
Aerial Dance Harness: An immersive low-flying aerial dance experience, where the harness allows for dynamic movement just above the floor, blending grounded dance with flight. Using low-fly aerial harnesses, you’ll move fluidly between the floor and air, opening up new dimensions of dance theatre. This style is perfect for those wanting to explore weightlessness and suspension at a manageable height.
What to Expect: We’ll begin with an introduction to the specific rigging equipment and foundational orientation, building common ground before progressing to complex sequences. Throughout the week, you’ll navigate unique planes of movement while engaging in creative exercises and improvisation tasks—all designed to help you discover your dance on the wall.
You’ll build familiarity with the harness, exploring balance, smooth transitions, and creative movement while hovering just off the floor. You’ll experiment with a range of low-fly sequences, working both independently and with partners to discover how low-fly aerial harness work can add depth to dance theatre narratives and expression. Experience the sensation of low-fly dance theatre—a liberating blend of floor work, flight, and creativity!
Prior experience with vertical dance is required.
This project is produced and delivered by Autin Dance Theatre in partnership with Imagineer Productions as part of Powerhouse Pro, and supported by a grant from West Midlands Combined Authority Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund.
