Perri Meeks, one of Poly’s six Upper School deans, has a newfound passion for a circus act called lyra. On September 9, Meeks began a twelve-week lyra class that meets every Monday night. The class aims to help Meeks take the foundational skills she has already obtained with the circus apparatus to the next level.
Lyra has been a performance skill for over a century. The act was created in the early 1900s when circus performing was a popular attraction and form of entertainment. XFitness is a program prominently affiliated with pole training, another aerial art, similar to lyra. On their website, they say, “A gentleman named Edward Van Wyck is often touted as the man who helped to invent the concept we know today as aerial hoops.”
The lyra, or aerial hoop, is suspended several feet above the ground. Meeks described the formation as a “steel, hula hoop that hangs in the sky, [that] you twist your body around.” According to Uplift Active, an American company for aerial equipment, “The Lyra or aerial hoop allows for a vast range of exercise from below, within, and above the bar. From conditioning exercises to flips, the lyra provides a perfect circle through which to move the body, find new shapes, and challenge your potential.”
Meeks began taking lyra classes about four years ago and is grateful for the friend who introduced her to the act. “I think I just had some free time one day and found out where they had classes [at the trapeze school near my house]. I tried it out and really liked it,” Meeks said. Meeks also elaborated on her recent connection with lyra and her studio classes at Circus Academy New York. “This summer, the trapeze school near my house started offering it, so it was very convenient. I took two classes this summer.”
There are several variations of aerial acrobatics. According to Vertical Wise, a resource center for those exploring the vertical arts community, aerial apparatus ranges from the trapeze — one of the moving and more dangerous forms of acrobatics — to pole aerial acrobatics, which includes a stationary base but is equally challenging to perform.
All aerialists must have a significant amount of physical strength. Meeks reflected that gaining that kind of strength requires actually enjoying the exercises specific to the lyra classes and training. “I am trying to do exercises that feel fun for me… when I’m weightlifting, I can actually train for lyra… I think finding ways to use the whole of my life to support some of my interests is really cool,” Meeks explained.
While physical strength is highly important in lyra, the sport’s mental aspect is equally as critical. “You need to be really aware and trust that your body is going to do what you ask it to do,” explained Meeks. “I think as an adult, you don’t often do things that you haven’t done before or, need to upskill in something, and so you just need to have the mental flexibility to say ‘oh, I did this completely wrong.’”
Meeks continues to improve with her lyra skills, and is determined to continue throughout her next twelve weeks in her lyra classes. “I have been doing a lot of core exercises, so that I can be stronger in mounting the hoop, and be stronger in some of the positions that I’d like to do. I have seen that I’m more easily able to invert… It doesn’t hurt my hands as much to do it, so that’s been improving, but check in at 12 weeks and see what else has improved!”
