Abstract
The purpose of this quasi-experimental, phenomenological study was to use embodied cognition in understanding learning experiences in skill development and performativity (e.g., storytelling and emotional expression) among 17 beginners in aerial practice (Mage = 20.59 ± 1.37 years old). Eight people were in the treatment-group class (skill development and performativity) and nine individuals participated in the control-group class (only skill development). Four themes emerged from the analysis: linking other exercises to aerial (e.g., cheerleading, dancing, and gymnastics) and uniqueness of aerial (e.g., artistic aspect while in the air); success in meeting aerial goals (at the posttest, performativity was valued more in the treatment group than the control group); exercise changes due to aerial, such as enhanced upper-body strengthening activities and stretches; and lessons learned, including importance of conditioning and small class size, switching Teaching Assistants (TAs), and silk awareness. Practitioners in community-based movement education programs like dancing and physical theater should recognize the need for embodied knowledge by emphasizing not only skill development but also performativity for enhanced learning experiences within supportive class settings. Although adding performative qualities to skill learning is more challenging than skill development alone, it can lead to enhanced performance, joy, and meaning of movement.
Keywords
Based on the most recent 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, obesity levels have been rising over the years and the national adult obesity rate is nearly 40%. 1 Physical activity participation is key to preventing and decreasing high obesity rates and its associated conditions, including heart disease, stroke, type II diabetes, and certain types of cancer. 2 It is therefore important to understand ways to enhance physical activity participation, especially given the low exercise adherence rates among young adults.3,4
The common trend in health promotion is the development of cognitive skills regarding following certain national recommendations for the participation in healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as consuming 1.5 to 2 cups of fruits and 2 to 3 cups of vegetables daily and participating in moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for at least 150 minutes per week.5,6 Instead of relying solely on cognition to enhance healthy lifestyles, such as exercise participation, it is important to examine the role of embodied knowledge on the meaning and love of movement.
The conceptual underpinnings of this study derive from the phenomenological study of embodied experiences as delineated in the pivotal work of Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception. 7 This philosophy and its pertinent concepts will be explained later as they are expressed in art movement, such as aerial practice. In this study, aerial practice was an art form, expressed as physical theater and dance, and links to embodied and practical learning experiences which can be enjoyable and meaningful.8–11 The aerialist expresses emotions, shares a story, and engages with the audience with or without music while wrapped around two pieces of fabric (silks). They climb up on the silks and execute different movements, including inversions, suspensions, drops, and poses. These movements can be child-like and playful, including tumbling, jumping, spinning, swinging, and “flying” (being above ground) while wrapped around silks.10,11 In physical theater like aerial practice, the emphasis is on physical skills and bodily expression, body form, and somatic sensations while intention is integrated within the experience.9,12 The importance in movement of sense experience in relation to cognition will be exemplified later.
In his seminal work, Phenomenology of Perception, 7 Maurice Merleau-Ponty critiqued the Kantian or Cartesian mind over body dualism, where consciousness was perceived to originate only from the mind as “the power of judging, a Cogito,”7(p. 33) while the body’s interpretation of sensations were considered meaningless because the body was simply viewed as a physical object like other objects in the world. Instead, Merleau-Ponty argued that the body is a subject and accepts various solicitations in the world, such as enjoying a walk at the local park, which contribute to different bodily experiences and bodily consciousness. The body is not an object; it is a subject that acts—dances, climbs, moves. The “body is always with me”7(p. 97); “it is a vehicle of being in the world … a means of being united with a definite milieu”7(p. 84) that signifies the goal of its movements. Movement is not determined by one’s intentions. Although intention “sketches out a trajectory in order to meet up with a goal,”7(p. 96) it is the body that “touches the goal from the very beginning and throws itself toward it.”7(p. 97) This type of somatic knowledge is called embodied knowledge or embodied cognition 13 and is highly valued in movement education programs like dancing. 14 It is cautioned in dance education that embodied knowledge is “endangered within the human species, and we are often alienated within our own bodies.”14(p. 55) Instead, “dance invites us to think on our feet and get our feet in our thinking.”14(p. 55) In learning a dance, the body “catches” and “understands” movement7(p. 144) without any explicit calculation of the distance between body parts and the bodies of others or objects in space.
The importance of sense experience without the need for analytical thinking is also delineated in Merleau-Ponty’s references to expressive art. 7 When an audience listens to a sonata, they do not try to separate the sounds from it and analyze it; instead, they always “refer back to the moment of the experience.”7(p. 188) The signification of aesthetic, artistic expression is an end in itself, whereby the performer as well as the audience experience Phaedra and not the actress. 7 They can experience visceral sensations, corporeal feelings, when viewing the cave paintings on the walls of Lascaux without empirically analyzing the colors and wall texture. 15
Contrary to the Cartesian Cogito, “I think, thus I am,” Merleau-Ponty exemplified the importance of existence (Being) at first.
7
Being must first exist in order to think. One needs to love, hate, and desire in order to have thoughts about loving, hating, and desiring. Merleau-Ponty emphasized a holistic approach in understanding consciousness as follows: It is not the “I think” that eminently contains the “I am,” nor is it my existence that is reduced to the consciousness I have of it; rather, it is the “I think” that is reintegrated into the movement of transcendence of the “I am,” and consciousness reintegrated into existence.1(p. 403) I feel the fluidity of my surroundings and the silk just transferring through the energy in my body and … it’s almost like you’re in a state of ecstasy. You’re up there and you’re just … moving and seeing the whole world from a different way … as I was descending, it’s almost like floating down and just floating, becoming grounded again and it’s a lot of linked with the mind just being able to really connect the most with the body.
10
In existential aesthetics, artistic expression is also a form of human freedom. Human consciousness depends on one’s value systems. Based on the most politically minded existentialists like Merleau-Ponty and Sartre, the artist via their dramatic performance, poetry, music, painting, or dance reveals to the world not only what they want to be and how they want to live their lives but also differential possibilities of existence and ways to change the world. 19 The opportunity—even obligation—of the artist to promote human freedom by providing alternative ways of living freely in this world makes art appealing and meaningful. 20
In a recent phenomenological study in aerial practice, it was shown that improving skills and performativity linked to the love of movement and enhanced enjoyment. 10 Similarly, in a recent meta-analysis, the linkage between dance movement therapy and psychological health was showcased. 21 In general, emphasizing playful and culturally relevant technical and performative skills like dancing and playing basketball is associated with enjoyable and meaningful movement experiences as well as wise decisions regarding being active in the future.8,22–25
Although student-centered—(emphasis on autonomy and self-choice), holistic—(unity of body, mind, and emotion), and somatic—(learning via the lived experiences of the body)—approaches have been extensively used in various pedagogical dance settings, there is consensus that overall these approaches have not been empirically examined.26–28 Conducting embodied research studies in performing arts like dance education can facilitate the understanding of how the lived experiences of the body in relation to its world can affect learning and meaning in movement. 29 Therefore, the purpose of this quasi-experimental, phenomenological study was to use an embodied approach in examining similarities and differences in movement experiences among beginner aerialists, who participated in one of the two aerial practice classes: (a) emphasis only on skill development (control group) versus (b) emphasis on both skill development and performativity (e.g., storytelling and emotional expression—treatment group).
Methods
Design and Procedures
This was a quasi-experimental, phenomenological study—(based on hermeneutic phenomenology)—among 17 undergraduate students, who enrolled in two semester-long undergraduate aerial practice classes for beginners at a major Southeastern U.S. university. An undergraduate student and an MFA graduate, who were advanced aerialists, taught the classes 3 times per week, 1 hour each time. The class content in the treatment group/class (n = 8) included both skill development and performativity, such as poses and lines in relation to choreography, storytelling, and artistic expression; while only skill development was emphasized in the control group/class (n = 9). The students were aware of the nature of their respective class. Although both groups learned basic aerial skills like climbing, inverting, and tying knots in the air, the treatment group was expected to place movements in a certain sequence and perform them to music. These students were assisted with creating a sequence of movements and encouraged to perform them either as aerial dance or as physical theater by expressing themselves and sharing a story. The control group performed a predetermined sequence of three skills without music and were expected to pay attention only to technical aspects like executing the movement skill, including pointing their toes. In both classes, the instructors were supportive and engaging, providing constructive feedback and allowing the students to explore different movement variations on their own and learn from each other.
The first author interviewed the study participants in her office and the length of the interviews varied from pretest to posttest. At pretest, the interviews for both groups lasted from 10 minutes (for two students) to 30 minutes, whereas at posttest interviews took from 5 minutes (only for one student) to 24 minutes. The study was reviewed and approved by a university-based institutional review board and, prior to the interviews, participants signed the study’s consent form. Individual-based interview questions during pretest (before semester classes started) and posttest (before finals week) included exercise levels, exercise experiences in relation to aerial, aerial practice goals, and program experiences. The interview process was dialogical in nature to build trust and engage in in-depth discussions regarding participants’ movement experiences and aerial practice goals. The content of the interview guide is shown in Table 1. Participants were also asked about their age, gender, ethnicity, and education. All interviews were conducted in-person and audio-taped. The first author drafted the initial interview guide and discussed it with the study coauthors for clarity and consistency with the study objectives. The final questions were then pilot-tested with two participants, whose results were included in the study. Six posttest sample videos (three of each group) of a sequence of aerial movements were blindly evaluated by an independent expert at aerial silks. The expert evaluated the aerialists’ technical skills, proficiency, and creativity/performativity on a 3-point scale: 1 = incomplete, 2 = satisfactory, and 3 = complete. The students were instructed to demonstrate a sequence of different skills without specifying how to execute them. For only their video performances, such terms as performativity and expression deliberately were not used in order to examine whether any of the students would exhibit artistic expression in their performances.
Interview Guide.
Data Analysis
Audiotapes of the interviews were transcribed verbatim and double-checked for transcription accuracy. Participants’ actual names were replaced by pseudonyms for the purposes of reporting the study results. The interviewer, who was the first study author, entered the transcripts, post hoc reflections, and debriefing notes in NVivo 10 to develop themes and subthemes based on hermeneutic phenomenology research for analyzing qualitative data:30,31 (a) after reading the transcripts and notes multiple times, the first author systematically coded the data and developed themes and sub-themes by examining each individual story and the whole data set in a recursive process; (b) the other study authors independently reviewed the coded data to finalize the themes and subthemes via consensus discussion; and (c) representative extracts were then selected based on the coded data, the entire data set, study purpose, and the literature. Linked to this study, a key aspect in the analytical process of hermeneutic phenomenology is the in-depth examination of a phenomenon—via, for example, democratic discussions, researcher involvement with the studied phenomenon, and recursive analytical process, in order to attempt to capture the participants’ essence of their experiences. In addition, this research is interpretive in nature by recognizing that different readers can give different meanings in the participants’ shared stories; thus, it is dynamic and open to change. 31
Results
Participant Characteristics
The study population included 17 undergraduate students (Mage = 20.59 ± 1.37 years old; females = 12; males = 5; European Americans = 14; other [Asian or of mixed-race] = 3), who were beginners in aerial practice. There were eight people (women = 6, men = 2) in the treatment-group class and nine in the control-group class (women = 6, men = 3). Although there were initially 10 students per class, 2 individuals were excluded from the treatment group because of injury or participation in a separate class section with a different instructor. Also, one participant in the control group was excluded from the study because of his involvement with performative aerial silks at the end of each control-group class meeting.
Most students were tuition free because they received university scholarship and parental financial support. Some of them were also employed. Students majored in diverse programs, including international trade and finance, mass communications, coastal environmental science, theater studies, engineering, prepharmacy, kinesiology, psychology, graphic design, criminology, and wildlife habitat management.
Exercise Levels and Video Performances
Most participants in both groups were regularly active, participating in a combination of aerobic and strength training exercises, including weight and body lifting, running, rock climbing, yoga, and dancing. A few participants were not currently active, but they were active in the near past prior to the interviews. One person in the treatment group, Romain, was not at all active, but he performed heavy lifting at work. Detailed results of the participants’ exercise levels are shown in Table 2.
Exercise Levels by Group (Treatment vs. Control).
Overall, the three video performances of the treatment group were rated higher than the ones in the control group. Kara in the treatment group exhibited the best performance compared with all other students in both groups. She received the highest score (3 = complete) in all tested areas: technical skills, proficiency, and creativity/performativity. All other students received incomplete (1) in creativity/performativity. Beyond Kara, Elaina in the treatment group was the only other student who received the highest score (complete) in technical skills, whereas Jobi in the control group received the lowest scores (incomplete) in both proficiency of skills and creativity. Notably, for their video performances, the students in both groups were not particularly instructed to showcase artistic expression. It was left up to them to decide how to conduct their performances. They were instructed to execute three movements in a sequence without being guided how to do so (e.g., with or without music, via sharing a story or expressing emotion).
Emerging Themes
Four themes emerged from the analysis, including linking other exercises to aerial (e.g., cheerleading, dancing, and gymnastics) and uniqueness of aerial (e.g., artistic aspect while in the air); success in meeting aerial goals (at the posttest, performativity was valued more in the treatment group than the control group); exercise changes due to aerial, such as enhanced upper-body strengthening activities and stretches; and lessons learned, including importance of conditioning and small class size, switching TAs, and silk awareness.
Theme 1: Linking Other Exercises to Aerial; Uniqueness of Aerial (Pretest)
The control group related aerial practice with such exercises as dancing, cheerleading, strength training, and theater. They found it a unique activity because it combines artistic expression and creativity with a workout while being in the air. Similarly, the treatment group related aerial to cheerleading, dancing, gymnastics, strength training, and artistic performance. It is unique to them because it combines strength, flexibility, and artistic expression while being in the air.
Links to Cheerleading, Dancing, and Theater—Control (Pretest)
Most students in the control group mentioned that their past cheerleading and dance experiences relate to and facilitate the execution of aerial practice. Jobi linked aerial practice to her past dance participation—until middle school—and cheerleading experiences in high school. She also participates in “community theater,” which enhances her body awareness. Shelly also found similarities between aerial practice and her high school cheerleading participation because of similar movements like “flips.” Shelly started aerial practice because she finds the gym “boring … I don’t like going to the gym and I thought aerial practice would be good exercise and like more fun.” Eliza’s practice of yoga and dancing (danced her “whole life”) will help her with aerial silks. Bail feels that her dance experiences will probably help her with aerial practice as well: I also took pole dancing lessons … and I stopped doing it about 3 or 4 months ago. And even though it’s different, it’s still kind of very similar techniques with, like I said, it was like a pole versus a silk. So, it helped me, I guess … be more mindful of my body, where it was, how it was in relation to the object, the pulling silk. Also, being in the air and not falling out of it. I was dancing in Color Guard for about 5 years and I taught it, as well. And that’s a lot of dance, like classical movement. So, I think that might have helped, so I have some sort of knowledge.
Links to Strength Training—Control (Pretest)
Don thinks that lifting weights can help with aerial because “you can carry yourself.” Similarly, Delaine emphasized the importance of strength training exercises on learning her inversions: … upper body arm workouts. I love doing, like leg lifts to help with inversions and everything … There’s one I’ll do, like with a yoga ball and I grab it with my legs, and you know, pick it up. Those help with all things … with inversions mainly, ‘cause it’s always been my weakest link, is in-air inversions.
Uniqueness of Aerial (Challenging, Artistic, in the Air)—Control (Pretest)
Most students in the control group mentioned that aerial practice is challenging and a workout; however, it is also artistic in nature and unique by lifting oneself up and being in the air. Delaine thinks that aerial silks are artistic and beautiful, but several people may not try it out because it is challenging and looks different: … aerial is like an art. It’s beautiful. Not a lot of people even attempt to do it … people can look at weight lifting, and they can look at aerial, and they’d probably be more hesitant to try aerial … because it looks so unique, beautiful. It looks challenging, which it is, but I don’t think most people realize like anyone can start on the silk. I think it’s definitely a creative form that can be used for different aspects of theater and storytelling, or even just entertainment. If you’re looking at it from a creative point of view, but also, I think it’s really impressive when people can get up there and do stuff, so it tells a lot about your strength as a person … your only limitation is really the fact that your range of movement is smaller. But I know that, like the different moves and things that you learn can all be used to like translate something … those things can be used if you want to tell a story and in corporation with the music that you’re using … it’s a beautiful art form … there are things that you can’t do on the floor that you can do in the silks … the drops, the suspensions, or you’re in your split. I think that those things are more powerful when you can see them in that way than if you were just to do it on the floor. … the areas of my body that was required to hold myself up was maybe not as strong as they should have been. Because it feels like there is a lot of arm strength and a lot of core strength, which the core strength is not my best, and arm strength to hold up about 180 pounds just hanging there is kind of hard. So … with weight lifting … you lift it for like a second and then you put it back down. This (aerial), you have to lift it and hold it there for a long period of time. I’ve never really been in the air like that. I think getting over the fact that I didn’t have anything to put my feet on was kind of different … that’s probably the biggest thing. And then the fact, when I … swung a little bit, it was like trying to keep my balance at the same time and it just felt different, you know … I didn’t have my feet on the ground … I had done like pull-ups and stuff before, but never for a long time like that.
Links to Cheerleading, Dancing, Gymnastics—Treatment (Pretest)
Most students in the treatment group mentioned that their past experiences with cheerleading, dancing, and gymnastics would help with aerial practice. Elaina was a cheerleader in high school and was athletic in the past by, for example, participating in gymnastics (until she was 13 years old) and ballroom dancing—stopped 1 year ago. She believes that these experiences will assist her with aerial silks: I think it will (help with aerial) in the sense that I’ve already had like stretching before and flexibility training. I have that just in my background. So, my body’s already in tune to being able to re-do, make myself flexible again.
Links to Strength Training, Theater, Yoga—Treatment (Pretest)
Brandan hopes that he has developed enough strength from weight lifting “to be able to perform some of the maneuvers that we’ll be asked to do.” He also has minimal yoga experience and hopes to “develop from that” via aerial practice. Importantly, he enjoys the performative aspect of aerial, which brings him back to his theater experiences in middle school and high school: … back in high school and middle school I did a lot of theater … I was in some performances with our local group, and then also with our high school Drama Club … And actually, that is an experience that I’ve not been able to quite capture here at (university name) in Biological Engineering and Robotics. It’s very much a major shift from that. And so, I very much enjoy coming back and seeing a lot of this stuff.
Uniqueness of Aerial (Artistic, Challenging, in the Air)—Treatment (Pretest)
Most students in the treatment group mentioned that aerial practice is unique because it combines strength, flexibility, and artistic expression while being in the air. They expected it to be challenging and fun. Brandan was excited about the artistic element of aerial, even though he found it challenging: I definitely think that it’s gonna be a lot more complex movements … Going up and performing the different routines. I feel like there’s going to be a lot more … art to the movement. That I’m really excited to learning and kind of performing myself … My only past experience with aerial silks was, I attended a show a long while ago, Cirque de Soleil. And so they had … a few routines, actually, where performers would come down on the aerial silks. And seeing that was very impressive, for sure … and definitely made me appreciate the art, I suppose. Or I was appreciative of the art of the show, their routine … actually, auditioning (for the class) showed me quite how hard that was … or at least just like the basic movements, how hard that was to do. so different mentally and physically … Like I think mentally, I have to perform. I’m not really a performer, so you have to think about that … it’s just so different from anything I’ve ever done. I’m kind of nervous, too, ‘cause I mean I have, I’ve done theater. Like I was in one play before, but I feel … I’m gonna struggle a lot with the performing aspect ‘cause I’m not really a performer. It can be pretty when the right person performs it … with like the smoothness that they’re able to execute the moves. For the same time, I enjoy seeing a little bit of messiness and sloppiness in the work. … it’s more delicate and there’s just as much technique, if not more, in what you’re doing than just working out with weights. And to me it’s more fun. So, I can get a lot more done, I feel, doing that and being sore the next day, also because I’m not working out those muscles when I work out in the gym. These are different.
Theme 2: Success in Meeting Aerial Goals (Pretest vs. Posttest)
At the pretest, both the treatment group and the control group recognized the need to learn skills, technique, and perform. They realized that they would need to learn the fundamental skills and improve their technique in order to perform in a graceful and seemingly effortless way. Being able to express themselves and share emotion was exciting. Although at the posttest both groups felt that they were on target with learning their movement skills, the treatment group emphasized the importance of performativity. As most students in the treatment group mentioned, the performativity aspect in aerial silks, such as expressing emotion and sharing a story, was the most challenging, yet they found it intriguing and fun.
Learn Skills, Technique, Artistic Expression—Control (Pretest)
During pretest, most control group students wanted to learn skills and be able to properly execute the different movements. Jobi and Jeff were interested in learning all movements without “falling behind in the class.” Eliza wanted to “get an understanding of each of the techniques involved and being able to execute them properly.” Others like Delaine and Don linked skill and technique development to performativity: I definitely want to upgrade my skills, learn more … Even though I’ve been doing aerial for a while, I really wanted to take the first aerial class here, the beginner’s one, so that I can really, like go back to the basics and go back to the core of aerial and master those, like essential core techniques so that … when I go back to higher techniques … they look even more clean, more graceful, more put together. (Delaine) It makes me feel like so good about myself because even though aerial is exhausting physically, it’s like something that if you do it right, it looks effortless and it looks beautiful, and it is like an art and I feel like I get to be a part of that art. Like, I have not shut up about how excited I am to get, like back into it. And I spend, like half my day watching different techniques and stuff just to get back into it … When I do aerial, I’m like showing everyone who I really am and expressing myself through the movements and the grace and the beauty of it … I think once I’ve learned a move, I’m just up there and it’s just flowing. (Delaine). … success would mean I could create and perform my own routine, multiple routines. All the moves that I learn, I’ll be able to do effortlessly, at least. I’ll gain a lot of muscle, flexibility, and more understanding of the silk. (Bail) … learning the techniques to the point where I’m not struggling to hold myself up any more—there was like a burning sensation throughout my body ‘cause I was struggling to hold myself. I can do all the techniques with the proper weight placement so that I’m not straining my body. I’m hoping aerial silks helps me get a little more flexible too, ‘cause there are positions that I’ve seen that I know I can’t do ‘cause I can’t stretch like that … inverting (during audition) wasn’t hard, but I feel like it’s still not easy ‘cause there’s, uh, techniques to it, where like your toes need to be pointed and your hip needs to be like forward … . Aerial practice is part of physical theater. It’s like a lot of expressions with your body, and I do think it’s supposed to be pretty to a certain extent. It’s supposed to really invoke emotions and when you’re not doing something right and you’re not in the proper form, if it doesn’t look right, you’re not gonna get the right response from yourself and from the audience. (Don)
Learn Skills and Artistic Expression—Treatment (Pretest)
Lauren planned to learn how to execute all movements on her own “without having somebody else explaining how to perform them.” Romain also wanted to learn “all the moves that were being taught in the class.” Beyond advancing in skills, in the pretest, several participants in the treatment group expressed the ultimate goal to be able to express themselves (e.g., Linzy and Romain) and put a full routine together while performing it gracefully (e.g., Cathy and Brandan): I think for me, I think the confidence of like, getting up there and actually being able to do, like a little bit of intricate moves … I feel like that’ll be gratifying for myself … being able to do it, I think it will be something that’ll motivate me … being able to do it … I haven’t ever really thought about the history or anything of it … to me it reminds me of like flying. (Linzy) I think success would be learning the basics really well, so that I’ll have a really great foundation if I want to continue next semester … getting stronger and more flexible … your movements, I guess expressed through whatever song that you’re listening to or um, a feeling that you’re trying to evoke through your movements and through the song that you’re using. And the movement of the silk. It’s basically a dance in the air. (Elaina) I’d be able to perform most of the moves, if not all of the moves, that were being taught in the class even if they’re not beautiful … I’m trying not to overcomplicate this, but uh, fall under the category of artist dadaism, just absurdism, is the branch of art that I find to be suiting to me … I see the beauty in it (aerial) and I see a lot of people executing things. I would like to be able to perform the moves to the best of my ability. As far as the art of it goes, I think that I might be able to accomplish more so artistically what I would express out of this, while performing below par, like not, not very well. (Romain) Just getting through the class and learning all the skills I can, and hopefully maybe progressing further than what the instructors expected me to do … it’s really exciting ‘cause I like attention on me … I’m really scared ‘cause of how limited the time is to practice the performances that we’re going to do in front of the class. However, I’m really excited about the whole idea of like, presenting and being as elegant and graceful as you can. (Cathy) I think it (aerial) is just another platform for the performing arts. Just like theater is … To be able to go beyond what I’m taught, or what I’m expected to learn as far as techniques. I’m actually really nervous about the performance part because I haven’t done anything performance-wise in a very long time … if I can do well on that, and if I can pass it with flying colors and go on to intermediate. (Kara) … being able to achieve some of that (maneuvers, moves, performance) would probably be success for me … having like a greater knowledge of aerial silks as a practice, as well as being able to perform myself, at least some of the more basic maneuvers … I’m not sure what the scope of the class is, but (the instructor) mentioned that we would be performing like on the theater at the end of the class. And I think me being able to perform a full routine would be—I’d be very satisfied with that. (Brandan)
Skills as Priority—Posttest (Control)
Similar to the pretest, the control group emphasized skill development and technique. Kindall felt that she is “in good place” because she “was able to learn all the skills.” Similarly, Nadan said it was “satisfying to learn all the beginner skills in the class … I’m on target with them. If anything, I’m almost exceeding them because we are starting to go into some of the intermediate stuff that I wasn’t planning on doing.”
A few students struggled because they got sick, injured, or had difficulty with certain movements like inversion. Although Delaine was injured, she was confident she could “catch up on everything because they teach the skills at your pace. And so, you’re learning strength and technique … at your own pace. And I really like that.” Bail struggled when she missed a few weeks because of her condition (endometriosis): … it was kind of hard to just, to get back into it … I lost a little bit of strength when I couldn’t go for a few weeks and it was crazy to go and it’d be like, Whoa. I could do this 2 weeks ago, but I took a break and suddenly I can’t. So … it’s not like riding a bike … I forgot how consistent I needed to be with it to be able to get good at it. … my biggest struggle was inverting in the air. I don’t know if I just kind of like skipped all of that in the conditioning in the beginning and my body just never figured it out. But once I was able to like invert in the air, I was able to do pretty much everything else that we were learning. So, I got past that little hump on Monday … really recently. I have lower abdominal strength and I have upper abdominal strength, but it’s like that middle. And I was feeling it when I was trying to invert with straight legs just like on the lira and I was like, oh gosh, I finally feel where I need to strengthen my, my muscles. It’s like right in the center right there, ‘cause I have no strength. They videoed me doing it and she kept telling me, she’s like, you’re straightening your arms too soon. And so, I was like, I don’t know how to not do it. And so, she videoed it and showed me and so I saw it. I was like, why did you drop your arms? Like I was yelling at myself. not the most coordinated or athletic person, so the fact that I’ve been able to do any of the moves that we’ve learned was a pretty good goal for me to reach and you know, move that goal, trying to keep up with the class. … at first I learned very quickly because a lot of the early stages was all about like just having the strength to do it, but then towards the middle it got to where I had to be flexible, which I’m not; and so I got really frustrated at that point ‘cause I couldn’t do a lot of the things that like the other people were doing. … since I’m a beginner, I feel like if I tried to solely focus on getting a whole routine together all at once and trying to perform it, I would be a lot more stressed out, rather than just thinking about … where do my hands need to be? You think about your feet, your toes being pointed, think about like more technique.
Performativity, Not Only Skills—Posttest (Treatment)
Beyond skill development, the treatment group also emphasized the performative aspect of aerial silks, which was enjoyable and challenging. The students were able to master basic skills and some of them moved to more advanced, intermediate skills. Elaina emphasized the importance of mastering “basic, foundational skills” before moving to more advanced movements. Brandan and Cathy were satisfied with their skill progression. Cathy wished to learn “20 skills in a week and not just three skills,” though she realized that this is unrealistic. Marlyn felt that she was on target with her goals, but she needed more time to practice “inverts in the air.”
Regarding performativity, Elaina and Brandan were not satisfied with their performative qualities during their first quiz; however, they felt that they improved during the second quiz: My first quiz, I didn’t have too much of a narrative. I didn’t have a before, an entrance, a dance, or any kind of choreography. And then in the second quiz I got more creative and had more choreography. Planned it out better in my head and in practicing. So, I want to get better at having a narrative, having a theme, expressing emotion. (Elaina) I’m finding a little bit more confidence now later on this semester in expressing myself … with my first quiz I chose something that was a little more light-hearted because I didn’t, I guess not really putting myself out there as much. But the second one, I was trying a little harder, I guess, to put myself out there. (Brandan) … off of an episode of a show that I really like and so that made me get more into it … I had green leggings and a red top, so I looked like a rose. And I did “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal. And I had a rose in my mouth when I climbed up and then I threw it at somebody … that was kind of based up of “Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” that show. There’s an episode in there that’s really funny … Definitely not my favorite part (performativity), but it definitely boosts my confidence too.
Theme 3: Exercise changes due to aerial (from pretest to posttest)
In this theme, students emphasized the importance of upper-body and core strength training as well as flexibility activities and yoga—especially for the treatment group, in order to perform the demanding aerial skills like inversion. A few students did not change their exercise programs because they were already active or they did not render it necessary.
Enhanced Workout—Control Group (Posttest)
Several students in the control group mentioned that they enhanced and changed their workouts because of aerial silks. They emphasized upper-body strengthening exercises. Bail said that since she started aerial silks she is “motivated to go to the gym more regularly” and perform “ab workouts and upper body and even lower body workouts” in order to improve in aerial silks. Similarly, Jobi enhanced her “upper-body, back, and core workouts” due to aerial practice. Delaine would “do little inversion exercises” in the library during her “study breaks” to improve her inversions in aerial practice. Similarly, Jeff wanted to improve his inversion, so: Now if I go to do exercises I make sure that I at some point work out my abs, not to get abs, because I’m nowhere close to being able to see my abs, but just so I can do the moves in class, like when we first learned how to do inverts, I couldn’t do it at all. So, I went home and like for that week I did a lot of ab workouts. They showed me some to do on the ground and I went to the (university recreational center) and did the machines and stuff, um, and I can do it now. So, like it’s definitely made me focus on things like that rather than just going and trying to sweat as much as I can.
About the Same Exercise Training—Control Group (Posttest)
Three students in the control group mentioned that their exercise routine did not change because of aerial silks. Although Kindall and Shelly would not exercise on their own beyond aerial silks—except for going for an occasional run (Kindall), Don did not change his workout because he was already pretty active: No (I did not change my exercise routine) … I work out at least 5 times a week and I still do the same. I lift the heavy weights and stuff and I’ll do cardio and then right after I leave the gym I go to aerial class.
Enhanced Workout and Differential Training—Treatment Group (Posttest)
Similar to the control group, the treatment group was motivated to exercise more by participating mainly in upper-body strengthening exercises. However, they also emphasized flexibility for performativity purposes. When they started aerial silks Elaina and Kara emphasized upper-body strength training. Elaina is “more prone to exercise now more than before, just because of this little push of getting stronger … it kind of encourages you to get stronger.” Similarly, Kara said: Physically it (aerial silks) has helped me because it’s made me go to the gym more. So that’s good because I want to do really good at silks and I realize that I need to be like very strong … so it made me work out more and then I never really concentrated on my upper body when I would work out. I’d always do lower body. And so, I had to do upper body, and then I saw results … and then it made me start running again. I hate cardio, but I started doing a mile every time I’d go work out to warm up, and that’s helped with endurance I find on the silks, and so that’s good … I’m doing more higher weight low reps, and then also this class has helped me to become brave … I would do high weight, but I would always be afraid to like go above because like, “What if I drop it? What if I look dumb trying?” … then I started like really working out, like doing calisthenics as far as like pull-ups and um push-ups and um, a lot of body weight things that gymnasts use … calisthenics is a lot harder than any kind of weights training I’ve ever done. And it moves your body in a completely different way so it’s really interesting … It’s not added body weight, it’s just my body weight. It’s just the movement …you kind of do have equipment, but it would be like you hanging from something, or like “skin the cat” kind of thing.
About the Same Exercise Training—Treatment Group (Posttest)
Cathy and Lauren did not change their workouts because of aerials silks. Cathy continues power lifting and Lauren continues with her weight training 5 times per week.
Theme 4: Lessons Learned
Some control group participants emphasized the importance of conditioning and strength training before starting on the silks. Emphasizing skills and technique was also important; however, one control group participant, Eliza, expressed interest in learning about performativity as well. Several students in the control group enjoyed their small class size, which included only beginners. It was less intimidating than being in a large class comprised of aerialists of different levels (e.g., beginners vs. advanced). Similarly, one treatment participant emphasized the importance of core exercises. Silk awareness in relation to embodied feeling was also key for safety. Another participant in the treatment group said that it would be beneficial to keep the class size small and learn from different TAs.
Emphasis on Conditioning and Skill Development—Control (Posttest)
Jobi emphasized the importance of conditioning before starting on the silks—especially among beginners. In this way, they could build up their strength. Although Bail was initially excited about performativity, she was glad that she did not need to worry about this in the class. I didn’t think we would jump into actually being on the silks, and I guess we have to get through a lot of course material, but I thought whenever we first started there was gonna be more, I guess, what I think of conditioning … before you actually get on the silks. So, I thought it was gonna be more of like a 2-week kind of training period … I think it’d be helpful, especially … for the beginning, the extra beginning kind of people, it would be nice to have maybe even just three class periods where we just sit there and do, I don’t know, planks or pushups or like traditional workouts before we get on the silk. (Jobi) … we didn’t do any performances … I feel like it’s okay. At first, I kind of wanted a performance so I can show my friends and my family what I’ve been doing. But it kind of takes the stress out of it, so if I have to miss a few days or something or if I’m just not getting it, or whatever the reason is … I’m not worried about learning new techniques and getting really good at it. It’s more of just like going along and learning different skills and just getting better at it … it takes the stress out of it. (Bail) … I think it was good (emphasis on skills) ‘cause it was so technical … I would have liked hearing from the other sections like about all the performance aspects that they learned. So, I would have liked to learn a little more of that. But I mean, I dance, so that’s my outlet too. And I think I can incorporate that with silks once I’m more advanced. But I think learning the skills like on a fundamental level is important … ‘Cause you have to have like a technique to go by … But I also think the performance aspect comes from, like the individual. So as long as like anybody has the technique, the performance is kind of up to them, like how they do it … maybe just a little bit just to kind of see how to incorporate it ‘cause I’ve never done a performance on silks before … but it hasn’t been like a deal breaker for me because I’m very like technical too and practical, and so I like to know exactly like what I have to do before I do it, and so I like that we have just been doing the skills.
Only Beginners in a Small Class—Control (Posttest)
Three participants in the control group enjoyed the small class size and the fact that it was only beginners in which case they were able to connect and learn from each other without feeling intimidated: I really enjoyed everything about it (the class) … I really like the fact that it was like just beginners … it was less intimidating than if there were separate levels of skill. (Nadan) I think the class size we have is perfect. I wouldn’t want any more people than what we have now. (Bail) I don’t think I would have been able to learn as good as I did in like that big of a class, so I enjoyed having a smaller class … we were able to connect a little bit better and so I could learn a little bit better … I was in two groups, so we made some friendships and we were able to learn off of each other and be able to teach other from that. (Don)
Emphasis on Conditioning, Different TA Learning Experiences, and Silk Awareness—Treatment (Posttest)
Lauren liked the speed in the class, but she suggested emphasizing “more core exercises at the beginning to warm up, rather than doing like weird movements (somatics or body awareness on the floor).” Elaina also emphasized the importance of switching TAs at times in order to learn different pedagogical approaches: “I think it would be helpful if … we were to like switch TAs here and there … maybe learn how other people teach and get benefits from each person.”
Brandan emphasized the importance of silk awareness for safety reasons: Maybe a little bit more of a focus on what you should be aware of whenever you’re learning a new move, or just in general, to be aware of up on the silks. Because that, spatial awareness, I guess, was something that was kind of talked about, like you kind of develop that as you go along, but it would be maybe a little better to state how you would go about developing that a little more explicitly … Like awareness of the silks, where everything’s tied, uh, how your body is … for safety and technique. Actually … I did like a little half-straddle in the second quiz. And when I went into it I felt the silk was like on my lower back originally, but it kind of moved a little bit more towards, like a little more up … and when I came down (the class instructor) had said that … he noticed that it (the silk) was moving up a little bit, and then that was getting a little dangerous.
Discussion
The purpose of this quasi-experimental, phenomenological study was to use an embodied approach in examining similarities and differences in movement experiences among beginner aerialists, who participated in one of the two aerial practice classes: (a) emphasis only on skill development (control group) versus (b) emphasis on both skill development and performativity (treatment group). The study results will be discussed in relation to the philosophy of embodiment. 7
According to the first study theme (linkages between aerial practice and other exercises and uniqueness of aerial), there were no differences at the pretest between the treatment group and control group. Both groups were active (see also Table 2) and they believed that their past and recent exercise experiences (e.g., cheerleading, gymnastics, dancing, and theater) would assist them with aerial practice. As aligned with embodied cognition, one of the reasons for this is that their body was already aware of these movements (body awareness and knowledge).7,14,32,33 However, aerial practice was still unique for the students because it combines strength, endurance, and flexibility with artistic expression while being in the air. As showcased in a recent study in aerial silks, such a challenge was exciting and motivating among aerialists of different levels (beginners, intermediate, advanced). 10 Artistic expression like art movement tends to be appealing and motivating.8,10,20
Although at the pretest of the second theme (success in meeting aerial goals) both groups expressed the need to learn the necessary skills and perform artistically, there was a difference between the treatment and control group at the posttest. Even though both groups emphasized the development of movement skills and enhanced conditioning, a major goal for the treatment group was to excel at performative qualities, such as having a narrative, sharing a story, and expressing emotion—qualities that were challenging, intriguing, and motivating. Given also that overall the video performances of the treatment group—especially for Kara and Elaina—were better than the ones in the control group, it is possible that the love of movement and subsequently performative movement qualities are enhanced when performativity is also introduced in skill training. Both groups were excited at the pretest about the performative aspect of aerials silks, reinforcing the linkage between artistic expression and the joy of movement.8–10,20
Some participants, especially in the control group, highlighted at the pretest the link between skill development, performativity, and strength training, in that skill learning and conditioning is the preferred first step before introducing performativity qualities (second theme). Based on the philosophical underpinnings of embodiment, these results are not surprising, in that skill acquisition occurs gradually as the lived body executes, learns, and interprets gradual advancements of movement. 7 In a recent phenomenological study on aerial silks, it was the skillful (e.g., advanced) aerialists who could concentrate on performativity and embody emotion with or even without music; on the contrary, beginner aerialists struggled with performativity aspects, especially for performances without music. 9 It is conceptualized that embodied and somatics methods in dance education programs are key pedagogical approaches to enhance learning of movement skills and performative qualities.14,26–29 Although embodied movement experiences can be meaningful and enjoyable,7–10 such research is scarce in kinesiology fields. 32
This embodied knowledge gained from practical experiences is reinforced in the third and fourth study themes, in that both groups realized the importance of strength training and conditioning to the execution of such aerial skills like inverting in the air. Some participants in the treatment group like Brandan and Romain also emphasized flexibility for performativity reasons, reinforcing the appealing aspect of performativity. Although both groups were regularly active by participating in a combination of aerobic and strength training exercises (see e.g., Table 2 and Theme 1), they still sensed the need to enhance their exercise levels to better meet the demands of aerial practice. This understanding did not derive from mere thought of movement demands but mainly from the students’ embodied experiences with aerial practice and tacit knowledge of the unity of their body with movement challenges, space, and equipment (silk). This unity in experience is emphasized in Merleau-Ponty’s notion of embodiment, in that “the body is not in space, it inhabits space”7(p. 140)—it is one with space, as is one with the silk. The silk can be viewed as an extension of the body so that the aerialists can tacitly learn how to execute the movements without analyzing the exact distance between their body, silk tail, and ground. Merleau-Ponty exemplified this unity when he described the relation between the blind man and his cane: The blind’s man cane has ceased to be an object for him, it is no longer perceived for itself; rather, the cane’s furthest point is transformed into a sensitive zone, it increases the scope and the radius of the act of touching and has become analogous to a gaze. In the exploration of objects, the length of the cane does not explicitly intervene nor act as middle term; the blind man knows its length by the position of the objects, rather than the position of the objects through the cane’s length … If I want to become habituated to a cane, I try it out, I touch some objects and after some time, I have it “in hand”: I see which objects are “within reach” or out of reach of my cane. This has nothing to do with a quick estimate or a comparison between the objective length of the cane and the objective distance of the goal to be reached.7(p. 144)
Based on the fourth theme, study participants, especially the control group, enjoyed the small class size and the opportunity to interact and learn from each other. Also, Elaina in the treatment group wished to be able to learn skills from different TAs. In Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception, embodied experiences are not individualistic in nature; rather, they are influenced by the world in which they are immersed. In turn, these existential experiences of Being influence others and the world of which it is part. 7 The importance of a supportive educational community was also expressed in other studies on aerial silks 10 or different movement settings.23,34 Brandan in the treatment group made the connection between silk and body awareness and safety, which was also reinforced in another recent study on aerial silks. 10 Beyond skill development, Eliza in the control group would have liked to also learn the performative aspects of aerial silks, reinforcing the importance and appeal of artistic expression.
To our knowledge, this is the first quasi-experimental, phenomenological study to examine different learning experiences in skill development and performativity among beginners in aerial silks. Based on the study results, at pretest, both groups emphasized the importance of skill development, conditioning, and performativity. However, at the posttest, the performativity aspect was prominent in the treatment group, which also had the tendency to perform better at the video performances than the control group. Both groups increased their workouts to improve in aerial silks and appreciated small and supportive class settings. Instead of emphasizing only cognitive aspects in health education, in this study, the importance of embodied knowledge is showcased for enhanced and meaningful learning experiences. Therefore, in community-based movement programs like aerial practice and dancing, practitioners need to emphasize embodied and practical experiences to improve not only on skill development but also performativity. In this way, movement can become appealing and reach a state of flow. Learning and improving on movement skills and performativity may require additional exercise training relevant to different movement demands, such as upper-body strengthening, endurance, flexibility, and calisthenics for aerial practice. Maintaining small and supportive class sizes comprised of students of similar experiences (e.g., beginner aerialists) may enhance bonding, community building, and comfort during skill execution. Silk and body awareness are also important to enhanced safety.
A study limitation is that time spent on performativity training for the treatment group was limited because the participants were beginner aerialists, thus the overall emphasis was on skill learning. Given the appeal of artistic expression and the advantages of the treatment group (e.g., emphasis on performativity and improved performance) compared with the control group, in future studies, researchers should incorporate both skill development and performativity among beginner aerialists for enhanced learning and meaning in movement.
Conclusion
Based on this quasi-experimental, phenomenological study, practitioners in community-based movement education programs like dance and physical theater should emphasize embodied learning and recognize the importance of both skill development and such performative qualities as emotional expression and storytelling. In this way, movement states of flow (body–mind unity) can be reached during safe, meaningful, and enjoyable performative experiences. Tacit understanding of skill learning and execution can also result in additional movement training to enhance performance. Small class settings within a supportive and interactive educational community can be enjoyable, comfortable, and motivating.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
