Lire & STYLE. Have a fitness tip or recipe to share? Contact the editor at lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Run away with the circus Aerial silbs for adrenaline junkies Julia _ Siedlanowska Staff Writer hree months ago | discovered a fantastic and fun way to work out, and I haven't been able to stop since. Aerial silks require strength, flexibility, and endurance. After my first class, my muscles were hurting for days, but there was something about the activity that had me excited week after week. Two years ago, my instructor, Svetlana Mitsuko Delous, experienced a similar pull to the craft. “T actually hated silks for the longest time! They require a lot of upper body strength, and coming from a dance background, arms weren't my strongest point,” says Delous. Originally specializing in trapeze and aerial hoop, Delous wanted to expand her circus skill set. “Tt wasn’t until I started performing and meeting other professional aerialists that I noticed that although most aerialists have one or two types of apparatus they specialize on, most high-level aerialists are able to perform on aerial silks rather well, even if it is not their specialty,” she says. As with any activity, your positive impressions of it largely rely on a good instructor. “1 love introducing people to circus and all it has to offer. I love watching students succeed and get excited over new accomplishments,” says Delous. “With silks in particular | like being able to relate to any student that is having hard time learning a skill at first, because I definitely started out that way when I first tried. I try to be very encouraging and let my students know of my own experience and that it is indeed possible to get skills if you don’t give up.” I know that in my experience, such encouragement has been welcomed wholeheartedly. “Silks gets very fun once you know how to work with the fabric, and the hard work definitely pays off with some adrenaline-packed drops or gorgeous static skills that are embellished by the way the fabric flows around the aerialist,” Delous says. Last week Delous guided me through my very first bungee—a move as terrifying as it sounds. After climbing up the silk (about 20-feet off the ground) you bind your feet and let go. The effect is that you hang upside down as if from a bungee cord. After a lot of shaking and screaming, I found that I was still alive when I let go (a success in itself), although it didn’t get any less scary the second time around. “Honestly, any circus discipline requires dedication to push past the initial stages where everything seems hard and impossible, in order to move on to exciting tricks, dynamic skills, and drops. But once you have persevered and stayed in class, you can officially say you have one of the coolest hobbies around,” says Delous. “And as a bonus, it’s amazing fitness and conditioning tool without having to do repetitive exercises at the gym.” Although my classes are at Circus West in Vancouver, Delous also teaches at The Circus Lab Inc. in Langley, a school she co-founded and now co-owns. “Working at Circus West has been an awesome experience from the start, as their atmosphere is incredibly supportive to both staff and students. Their learning space is also amazing: because it is surrounded by arena-style seating, you always feel like you are in the centre ring of a circus, even when you are just training.” Delous highly recommends any of Circus West's classes. For me, I hope to take partner acrobatics next. Anyone interested? Julia Siedlanowska tumblic around in the air | Photo courtesy of Josh Martin Consumption junction How we can reduce our throwaway lifestyle— starting with shoes Aidan Mouellic Staff Writer here do shoes, cellphones, computers, and Ziploc bags go when we have used them up? I don’t know for sure, but it’s probably a landfill somewhere. Our attitude towards how we consume goods is wrong and has to change. I'll use shoes as an example of how our buying habits are detrimental to the health of both our planet and our wallets. The main purpose of shoes is to make life more bearable while walking on rough surfaces—but since we moved past that simple goal, shoes have become a major 10 fashion statement. Look around at the sort of footwear trends we see now: most of us are wearing athletic shoes made in sweatshops overseas. I had been wearing colourful shoes like this for some time—until I had a revelation. I was thinking about my favourite pair of Nike shoes even get my Nike’s sole repaired at the cobbler. My favourite kicks are built to die young, and that’s why I am done with athletic shoes for daily wear. The famous Copp’s New West Shoes on Columbia Street that closed earlier this year and then burnt to the ground last month was a seller of Dayton pair of handmade, stylish shoes is rather romantic, but it makes a lot of sense. Leather boots are way cooler than whatever is likely on your feet right now, plus you save the expense of constantly having to buy new shoes. If you invest in a quality pair of kicks that are made using timeless techniques, such as My favourite Ricks are built to die young, and thats why lam done with athletic shoes for daily wear. that I wear almost everyday. They developed a hole in the toe rather quickly, and now the sole is wearing out. Then I started to think about the shoe repair shop in New Westminster that I used to pass by often. How many cobblers were around before athletic shoes became the norm? I pay a lot of money for disposable shoes, and I can’t go Boots. Dayton Boots is a local company which makes a variety of shoes built to last. Terry Brine, who was the owner of Copp’s, says that “It’s not unheard of to have guys who get eight, 10, or even 12 years out of their Daytons.” In that time period | would likely go through 20 pairs of athletic shoes. The notion of purchasing a properly welted soles which can be replaced, you will be able to bring your shoes to local businesses that can repair them. There is a time and place for athletic shoes; if you’re out running or playing basketball, then wear some high-tech inflatable shoes. You will get a lot more life out of those shoes if you wear them solely for their intended purpose. I’m not an environmentalist, economist, or marketing man. I’m just a guy who thinks it’s illogical to buy shoes that are made in crappy working conditions overseas, sent here on giant boats, and then sold in a giant corporate chain, only to be used for less than a year before being thrown out. A lot of consumer habits today are illogical, likely due to how illogical our minds are; we're more concerned with staying current with trends than anything else. I'd like to start a revolution, with its foundation based on footwear. If we buy things that last, buy things that are produced locally, and buy quality products that support their local workers, then our communities will be much better off; and better communities create a better world.