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Trapeze School
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Soon it will be time for Capitol Hill kids, Washington summer interns and others to head back to school. But what if school is 23 feet above the ground high above a parking lot where the old DC convention center was once located? What if the test is whether you can fly through the air with the greatest of ease?
For Corey O’Brien, a Capitol Hill Day School alumnus, who quickly admits that he did not spend his childhood years swinging from the monkey bars in Garfield Park, the idea of flying in his own DC backyard motivated him to “go back” to school. So, in June, the over 6-feet-tall, 27-year-old native Washingtonian enrolled in a two-hour trapeze class.
Washington, DC, joins New York, Boston and Los Angeles as cities with their own trapeze school. The school moved this summer from Baltimore where it had been teaching young and old to fly at the Inner Harbor since 2004. The school had been searching for a year-round site to put up its heated tent. A call from DC Mayor Adrian Fenty’s office offered a chance to move to the Nationals Park Riverfront on a year-round basis. The school, temporarily located downtown this summer, will be moving to Capitol Hill’s Navy Yard in the near future. It hopes to be offering classes this winter at its new home.
Corey said he didn’t grow up compelled to run away with the circus, even though he remembers the excitement of watching the Ringling elephants parade down East Capitol Street for the annual April circus show. He says, “I think we all at some level want to fly. We want to reach new heights and not be held back by our bodies or circumstances.”
“Our students may come and do it once, or they make it a part of their weekly activities,” Ms. Sam Loss says. Sam is the media coordinator for the trapeze school. She went on to say, “Dancers, gymnasts and yoga devotees find the trapeze a really fun way to incorporate their athletic skills and flexibility with a new form of workout.”
In Corey’s class of 10, there was a mix ranging from first-timers to seasoned veterans. He found the experience “awesome” but physically a little more challenging than he initially thought. “Flexibility is as important as strength,” says Sam, “and we have 6-year-olds through 80-year-olds up on the platform.”
Corey says his trapeze school lesson gave him “a really great respect for body awareness and coordination.” He thinks it could help him in rock climbing and kayaking activities. “Not to mention,” he adds, “the bragging rights around the office the next day are priceless.”
He predicts, “It is going to become a great Washington pursuit, because in less than two hours you can do something that will become a great memory for life. You can fly.”
For more information on the Washington, DC’s Trapeze School of New York, including rates and class schedules, go to washingtondc.trapezeschool.com or phone 410-459-6839. Questions can be e-mailed to dcinfo@trapezeschool.com.
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