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Join me on the Flying Trapeze!

5/8/2016

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Let's take a detour this time from the sciences and humanities and delve into a truly obscure subject:  that of the flying trapeze!  The flying trapeze was invented in Toulouse, France by Jules Leotard in 1859.  In so doing he concurrently invented a form fitting suit used in his trapeze acts called none other than... the leotard!
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Jules Léotard, the inventor of the flying trapeze

​Somehow Mr. Leotard became inspired to affix two pieces of ventilator chord to either side of a crossbar, and test out the aerial acrobatics capability of his new device over his father's gymnasium swimming pool as a safety net.  In the early years of flying trapeze practice and performance mattresses were often used until the invention of the safety net.
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​Various flying trapeze maneuvers

Although the flying trapeze may seem like a very simple device, it turns out that there are a rather large range of maneuvers that can be performed, both solo and with multiple performers.  Here are some of the most commonly used flying trapeze tricks:


  • Half Turn
  • Heels Off
  • Hocks Off
  • Splits (Front End/Back End)
  • Straddle Whip (Front End/Back End)
  • Feet Across 
  • Whip 
  • Bird's Nest
  • Shooting Star
  • Straight Jump
  • Double Over
  • Uprise Shoot
  • Forward Over
  • Forward Under
  • Cut Catch

A pretty extensive list indeed!   Please refer to the video examples below to see some of these aerial maneuvers in action:

Half Turn


​Heels off


​Hocks off


​Straddle Whip


​Bird's Nest


​Uprise Shoot

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    I am a lifelong "fact geek" and enjoy writing about obscure yet interesting topics from the sciences to the humanities, and everything in between.

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