Aerial Rigging Workshops with Craig Lewis – Saturday October 16

Craig Lewis of Night Owl Circus will be joining us in Buffalo to teach aerial rigging in this two part workshop.

About Craig: Coming from a previous background in rock climbing and technical caving, Craig Lewis began his training in aerial arts in 2009 at San Francisco Circus Center. After returning home to Tennessee, he completed the bulk of his aerial training at Aerial Space in Asheville, NC, along with the Aerial Dance program at East Tennessee State University. In 2013, he founded Night Owl Circus Arts in Johnson City, TN. Today NOCA has 12 instructors, two locations, and classes running seven days a week. Craig was drawn to the rigging aspect of aerial arts right from the start. He has trained extensively under Delbert Hall, including taking his rigging workshops numerous times, and also working under him as an assistant on a wide variety of rigging jobs, including both acrobatic and theatrical rigging. Craig has also completed training programs with Brett Copes, Jonathan Deull, Eric Rouse, Todd Spiering, and Todd Gorham.

Workshop Description: This workshop composed of two parts: a fundamentals section, and a more in-depth hands on section; each section is 3 hours. The fundamentals section will cover the basic principles of rigging, and provide and introduction to various rigging components and their respective functions. The second 3 hours of this workshop will include hands on rigging work and introduce the topic of pulley systems and mechanical advantage. Attendees of this workshop will have access to the discounted “retake” price of Craig’s virtual rigging class, which can be attended at any time in the future as a refresher.

DATES: Saturday October 16th – Fundamentals Workshop 10:00-1:00// Hands-On Workshop 2:00-5:00

PRICING: Fundamentals only $85 (Early bird $70) Fundamentals + Hands-On $160 (Early bird $135) Early Bird passes must be purchased by October 1st. **SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM TO ENROLL**

COURSE TOPICS:

Basics:

Static vs dynamic forces – how much force does an aerialist create?
Safety factors / design factors
Entertainment Technology – Performer Flying Systems
Breaking strengths vs Working Load Limits
Recreational vs Industrial equipment
Steel vs aluminum equipment
Basic rigging math for pulleys and bridles, mechanical advantage

Things You Can Rig From – And A Few Things You Cannot:

Outdoor rigs
Steel structures (I-beams and OWSJ)
Concrete
Wood beams
Trees (spoiler: don’t do it)
Residential structures (spoiler: it’s harder than you think)
Working with structural engineers

Hardware:

Carabiners
Swivels
Rescue-8s
Fabric Bells
Shackles
Spansets
Pulleys
Rope
Steel cable
Chain
Quicklinks / maillon rapide
Beam clamps
Butterfly Lift

Silks:

How to inspect a silk
How to tie a silk to a rescue-8 as a silk, a hammock, or a two-color silk
How to daisy chain a silk

Home Rigging Safety Topics:

We will end with a discussion of common safety issues that are coming up surrounding rigging at home, especially during COVID-19. Topics will include mats, training alone, learning aerial arts off of YouTube, knowing when you’re ready to train at home, and more.

What this class will, and will NOT teach you:

This class WILL teach you to recognize common red flags of unsafe rigging. You WILL be able to do certain basic reconfigurations of existing setups, at least under the supervision of a more experienced rigger. You WILL know how to do routine basic inspections of common equipment.

You WILL NOT be qualified to configure your own rigging systems from scratch. You WILL NOT be an “aerial rigger” at the end of this class. If you are rigging aerial equipment, you need to hire a professionals – both a professional aerial rigger, and a structural engineer.