Gravity Always Wins: My Most Memorable Aerial Mishaps

We all know aerial arts can be risky business. Even when taking safety precautions; well….accidents happen. We circus artists are also no stranger to injuries. That’s why, over the years, we’ve developed so many great practices around injury prevention. (side note: when I started aerial arts 22 years ago, no one knew what “prehab” was )

Still, no matter how much we prepare, none of us are completely accident-proof. Every aerialist who’s been in the game long enough has their fair share of “whoops” moments—I’m very blessed that all my injuries have been recoverable. Every single one has taught me something valuable. So, here are some of the mishaps that shaped me—what went down, how I got back up, and the lessons that stuck with me.

Injury: 2004 – Sprained neck from falling off a trapeze at Circus School

What happened:

Rehearsing for our end-of-session show at Circomedia, my duo partner’s legs accidentally released out of her knee hang while she was holding me. She tumbled off the bar and landed on top of me. I heard a scary “crack” in my neck and for a moment…I thought the worst. Luckily, it was just a sprain. But I was heartbroken that I wouldn’t be able to participate in our final show.

What I learned: I don’t know what I don’t know. Ask for expert guidance

My duo partner and I thought that just because we had learned how to mount with the base in catcher’s hang, we could simply change the basing position and apply the same techniques. We didn’t realize HOW much more advanced basing from a knee hang was vs. basing from a catcher’s hang.

Key point: We did not run this past our coaches first. This was a classic rookie mistake and it could have ended up a lot worse.

Injury: 2005 – Broken tailbone from falling off a yoga swing with no mat

What happened:

I fell off a yoga swing! Yes, you heard that right. Well, it was a bit more complicated, as this particular yoga swing had a pulley element and we were rehearsing for a performance. Still, they were extremely low to the ground and we were practicing over a wood floor with no mat. One side of the pulley slipped from my grip while I was experimenting, and I landed HARD on the wood floor, directly on my sacrum.

I was a young and excitable aerialist….so what did I do? I iced my owie, drove 2 hours to an aerial workshop, did 2 hours of aerial, and drove back.

Unfortunately the outcome of this one was pretty bad. I had to sit on a donut for about 5 years to avoid the pain. I later had a Pelvic PT tell me I had most likely broken my tailbone and it healed itself “crooked.” There’s aerial moves that I will never be able to do, as they put too much pressure on the tailbone.

What I learned: Use a mat whenever possible – as a default

Nowadays I use a mat whenever I can. Even if I’m low. Even if I’m doing things I’m comfortable with. EVEN when I perform. Yes, there are times when I’ll choose to go matless, but it needs to be a very intentional choice, and for a very good reason. As a rule, if I’m training, teaching, and ESPECIALLY experimenting, I will use a mat. (type and thickness will vary, depending on the application)

And yes, that includes any aerial yoga where my body leaves the ground.

Injury: 2015 Fell during a workshops demonstrating what NOT to do

What happened:

This one was pretty funny actually, but very unexpected and jarring in the moment. I was teaching a workshop and demonstrating exactly why a certain grip was a bad idea when—WHOOPS—I proved my point a little too well. I fell right off the silks, in front of everyone! The good news: I had a big ol’ crash mat and didn’t get hurt at all (except my ego ) While this was the least impactful fall I had, it was definitely the most embarrassing.

What I learned: Accidents can happen with simple moves, no matter how experienced you are

By this point, I had 12 years of experience and had demoed this exact mistake plenty of times before. But this fall was a humbling reminder that experience doesn’t make you invincible—sometimes, it just makes you forget to stay present. Also, be careful demonstrating common errors.

Injury: 2022 Back Injury – Cause unknown

What happened:

I bent over. That’s it. Anyone who has had their back “go out” knows exactly what I mean by this. I bent over, and all of the sudden was in excruciating pain.

This one was a doozy….I was grounded for 8+ months. Those who took workshops from me during that time will remember I was teaching everything via pre-recorded videos.

It took me about 1 to 2 years to recover from this one and I owe it all to my amazing PT and a ton of dedication from my end. (an hour of PT per day)

What I learned: Body balancing is KEY, your older self will thank you

Although the cause of this particular injury was ‘unknown,’ through the recovery process I untangled a lot of important clues about my body. I truly believe that most of this could have been avoided through better body balancing. What do I mean by that?

• Balancing sides of the body
• Balancing strength and flexibility
• Balancing push and pull
• Balancing lower body strength vs upper body strength (I had neglected my legs / hips)

Whelp! I hope some of my missteps can serve as some good reminders, and potentially help you to avoid similar events. At the end of the day, aerial arts—like life—is all about calculated risks. We train, we prepare, we do everything we can to stay safe, but sometimes, things still go sideways. The key is learning from those moments, adapting, and getting back up (preferably with a little more wisdom and maybe a well-placed mat).