she flies through the air with the greatest of ease

Hahaha - wouldn't that be nice!! When I put up videos and pictures it's usually when I have finally completed or mastered a trick. At class there is a camera set up on the rig with a DVR so that when you get down you can get feedback from the instructors and watch your fly. This helps break down pieces of a trick, and personally, visualize what I need to work on.

Last night I moved on to another back end trick, the split! This is one of my favorites, because when I finally learned my set split (<--another video!) it felt so intuitive to me, like second nature. Plus it's a really graceful move. It looks easy, though I tell you it is not. That's why I've decided to grace you all with the first take of my back-end split. I do not get into my position fast enough and as I scramble to recover I look like I'm either a.) riding a bike really fast or b.) trying to tread water. It's hilarious to watch.

First of all - I had my first UNASSISTED TAKE-OFF!! This means that the instructor doesn't hold my belt as I jump off the board. This was one of my goals for my IFW and I'm so glad I reached it before half-way through the workshop. Secondly, I really like that you can hear the jams in the background, especially since I release the bar to come down as Tiffany sings "tumble to the ground". (And, yeah, you can bet that I just found "I Think We're Alone Now" on Spotify and I'm rocking out to it as I finish my post!) Thank you Michelle, aka "DJ Straddles", for supplying some fabulous tunes all night long!!

Now... here is what it is supposed to look like! When I landed I exclaimed, "Finally" because it felt like so much hard and frustrating work to get there. To which my instructor responded "I wonder what you're going to do when it takes more than one class to learn a trick." ...point taken, Mandy!

Look how poised I am up there, holding on without any help :)

And, how could I forget my weekly class photo?! Animal print... RAWR. Our poses just keep getting better.