Sky’s the limit

A ccording to Peter Pan, in order to fly all you need is faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust. Jennifer Paterson, artistic director of All or Nothing Aerial Dance and her two colleagues, Kate and Sharisse, appear to have all three, as within minutes of the arrival of 11 seven to 12-year-olds, the children are all airborne, hanging upside-down and stretching themselves aloft Tinkerbell-style – even the ones, like mine, who have never done it before.

The only class of its kind in Edinburgh, the aerial skills sessions for children, teens and adults is held in the Out of the Blue Drill Hall, in Dalmeny Street, Leith. The sessions give everyone from beginners to out and out Peter Pans the chance to explore static trapeze, aerial silks and corde lisse rope, building confidence and having a lot of fun in the process.

All or Nothing was founded in Edinburgh in 2006 by artistic director Jennifer Paterson, and the company creates theatrical works and performs breathtaking aerial acts countrywide. They also do outreach work with charities involved in community works, such as a project in Inverness with teens who have housing problems, and provide the tutors for the aerial classes at Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance. “There was nothing like this in Edinburgh, and circus artists and aerial skills have grown with things like Cirque du Soleil and the Circus Space in London, which has brought it to the fore.

“Its popularity has grown through word of mouth,” says Paterson, who confesses to having had a fear of heights herself before she started aerial work.

After a warm-up session in the airy rehearsal room, where the children played “beans” – jumping, baked and splattered – –and generally stretched, limbered up and bounced around in anticipation, they split into two groups and began to work on a static trapeze and silk ropes.

Within minutes, my extremely apprehensive nine-year-old was hanging upside-down, supported by a teacher, and very quickly learning to relax and grow in confidence.

Of course safety is paramount, with big mattresses under the equipment and the teachers being careful to stress, “It’s not about being the best or the most stretchy.”

Trust is crucial, and the children learn to trust the staff, classmates and themselves.

“They’re keeping active but it’s creative as well as physical, so they express themselves in a way that’s not possible if they just go to the gym. They have to work together in teams,” says Paterson.

And the verdict from my very own would-be Tinkerbell? “I was so scared at the start. Then I really liked it. I want to come back next week. And the week after that, and the week after that ...”

All or Nothing Aerial Dance, £54 for a six-week block, Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street, Leith, www.aerialdance.co.uk