Whitstable’s Airhedz Aerial Training

Airhedz Aerial Training was born in 1999 when Whitstable resident Tina Carter left the circus to set up on her own.

 

Offering Mixed Aerial (fabric/silks, hoop, and trapeze) classes at the Whitstable Sports Centre, CommunityAd spoke with Tina to discuss all things aerial.

 

For readers who might not know, can you tell us more about your background in the circus and experience in aerial yoga and mixed aerials?

I’m Tina Carter, and I run Airhedz Aerial Training. I ran away to join the circus after sensibly completing my first drama degree at the University of Kent. My partner (www.fourfishdesigns.co.uk) and I had founded the Kent Circus School, running juggling and circus workshops in Whitstable and across Kent, when a leaflet dropped into our home about travelling with a circus school. I desperately wanted to join, and Steve said, if you’re going, so am I. So we packed up a tiny caravan and started our 6-year travelling circus life.

We returned to Whitstable in 1999 and I struggled to find a way to continue circus work, housed in four walls. Today, aerial training is available in most towns and cities; in the late 1990s it was difficult to find somewhere as it was such a new phenomenon outside of the circus big top. Thankfully, the Whitstable School and Active Life both took a leap of faith, and I have been fortunate enough to teach and train at the Whitstable Sports Centre now for a staggering 25 years! (Okay, that makes me feel really old now!)

 

What made you start Airhedz and can you tell us what your classes and courses consist of?

At first, I found a place to train, so I could continue to work professionally in shows across the globe. People saw me training and started to ask if I would teach them. Then the teaching became more interesting and more important to me than the performing, and Airhedz was born.

Mixed Aerial Classes take place in Whitstable and involve aerial fabric (long pieces of colourful fabric that you climb, wrap up in, and tumble), trapeze (a bar attached to long ropes), and aerial hoop (metal ring usually on a swivel). Supported by Sorrell Dowling, I teach a basic repertoire on all the equipment and guide people to work to their strengths and interests wherever possible. The classes are diverse in nature, and I pride myself in trying to be as inclusive and accessible as possible, within the limitations of the form and space.

Aerial Yoga works with low-hung wide fabric hammocks. I teach this at Soul Solutions in Faversham. I create sequences blending aerial actions with yoga movements and breath focusing particularly on strength, balance, flexibility, and mobility. These classes are for adults only.

 

What would you say have been your proudest moments since starting Airhedz?

Most recently, I am incredibly proud of my co-teacher Sorrell Dowling, who started aerial yoga with me just before the pandemic. She had never done aerial before, and had no connection to the circus, but soon became hooked, and now I couldn’t run Airhedz without her. I have taught her how to become an aerial coach, and she continues to teach me how to engage with people in different ways, keeping me on my toes, challenging and supporting in equal measure. I am proud of us both.

 

What do you enjoy most about training in Whitstable?

When the Activity Studio was built, it transformed the experience of teaching and training at the Whitstable Sports Centre. We were able to shut off the noise from other users, and no longer had to fend off stray footballs lobbed into the space whilst hanging precariously upside down! The Active Life staff are fabulously supportive, and the school have allowed me to keep my equipment suspended on their roof all this time!

There are still some challenges with access to space but Whitstable has enabled me to do what I love for a quarter century (yes, I feel old again). I get to teach young children, teenagers, and adults alike. In that time, I have seen students leave to train professionally, start their own businesses, teach their own communities. I still get immense pleasure in hearing them squeal with excitement at achieving a new aerial action – and that’s just the adults!

 

How can interested readers enquire to find out more about Airhedz?

Do check out my website: www.airhedz.co.uk. I try to keep it updated! You can also sign up to my irregular newsletter from the home page. If websites aren’t your thing then feel free to give me a call on 07973 480770.

 

Do you have any long term-plans for Airhedz over the next 5-10 years?

I used to want to have my own circus space. Now, I’m happy to continue teaching my aerial yoga and mixed aerial classes in Faversham and Whitstable and sign-posting people out to others like Simia Circus in Ashford who have just done that. I’d like to train more teachers and volunteers to support our sessions, and to run a few more weekly classes. I love taking my mobile workshops to community groups (e.g. Bright Shadow’s Zest groups for people living with Dementia), and look forward to bespoke projects in unusual spaces.