Aerial Rigging Fundamentals

Online Zoom class with Craig Lewis

Upcoming Class Dates:

Thu, May 16th 1:00 PM EST: Register Now ($45)
Thu, Jul 25th 9:30 PM EST: Register Now ($45)
Thu, Oct 3rd 1:00 PM EST: Register Now ($45)
Thu, Dec 12th 1:00 PM EST: Register Now ($45)
Thu, Feb 20th 9:30 PM EST: Register Now ($45)

A $15 discount is available for people who have taken the class before, and would like to retake the class. I'm constantly making improvements!

NOTE: If you are a beginner aerialist, then I very strongly urge you NOT to rig at home, or practice aerial arts without a professional aerial instructor. It is absolutely imperative, as a beginner, that you find a local reputable aerial studio to train at. Aerial arts are extremely dangerous. Some of the dangers are obvious. Many more are not. If you are signing up for this class because you want to rig at home as a beginner aerialist, you will certainly still learn a lot from this class - but you will be disappointed by what you learn. There is simply no safe substitute for training by a professionally trained aerial instructor.

This class is a safe space to ask any questions, and is taught in a non-judgemental way for students of all backgrounds and levels of knowledge. There are no stupid questions!

Who this class is intended for:

This class is primarily intended for:

Aerial Students
Aerial Instructors
Aerial Performers
Aerial Studio Owners
Aerial Performance Company Directors
Aerial Program Directors

This class might in some cases also be useful to:

Riggers
Stagehands
Technical Directors
Any stage performer who works at height or works with rigging
People in tangentially related industries, such as rock climbing, caving, vertical access, high angle rescue, structural engineering, etc.

Course Topics:

Fundamentals:

Static vs dynamic forces - how much force does an aerialist create?
Safety factors / design factors
ANSI E1.43 2016: 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
Pause for questions

Two different mechanical advantage pulley systems, including a 3:1 and a 4:1.

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
Pause for questions

Hardware:

Carabiners
Swivels
Rescue-8s
Fabric Bells
Shackles
Spansets
Pulleys
Rope
Steel cable
Chain
Quicklinks / maillon rapide
Beam clamps
Butterfly Lift
Pause for questions and requests. We could discuss ratchet straps, eyebolts, O-rings, pear rings, rigging plates, daisy chains, amsteel, gacflex, webbing, etc.

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:

Much like part 1, 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.

Three hours is only enough to scratch the surface of aerial rigging. 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. If you're a beginner / intermediate aerialist who wants to rig for yourself at home, you are likely to be disappointed with what you learn in this class. But you WILL learn some things!

Class cost: $45. You MUST sign up online in advance! Space is limited to 25 students.

Please email Craig Lewis at info@NightOwlCircusArts.com with any questions.

A recorded version of the class is also available for $55 - but the live class is a better experience, and strongly recommended.

This class generally runs about three hours.

About the Instructor:

Craig Lewis was first introduced to aerial arts through San Francisco Circus Center in 2009. Coming from a previous lifelong background in rock climbing and caving, he was immediately drawn to the rigging and safety elements of this art form. He has trained as an aerialist primarily on silks since 2009, completing the majority of his initial training at Aerial Space in Asheville, and acting as a rigging assistant at Asheville Aerial Arts.

In 2013, Craig founded Night Owl Circus Arts (NOCA) in Johnson City, TN. At the time, NOCA was just Craig teaching one silks class per week, but today it has grown to become a larger aerial studio with 20 instructors, two locations, and over 70 classes per week. Today NOCA is over 10 years old, and has taught over 10,000 total classes for over 3,000 students.

As NOCA's grew, Craig continued to further his rigging knowledge through many avenues. Dr. Delbert Hall is a mentor of his, and Craig trained extensively under him, both as a regular student in his classes, and as an assistant on many rigging projects. He has also trained under Todd Spiering, Brett Copes, and Jonathon Duell. In 2021, Craig spent two months touring with A Magical Cirque Christmas as their acrobatic rigger, overseeing aerialist safety and also acting as a Butterfly Lift Operator in 46 different proscenium theaters.

Craig has been an organization member of American Circus Educators (ACE) since 2020, and now serves as a member of the Safety Committee. He also serves as the Festival Site Director for the International Jugglers Association. He remains active in the caving and rock climbing community through the Campus Recreation department at East Tennessee State University, where he is on staff as a group fitness instructor, and a certified belayer. He attends Old Timers Reunion (OTR) annually, and maintains NSS and TRA membership.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced nearly every aerial studio in the US to shut down. During that time, many desperate aerial students started rigging at home, and, in many cases, doing so in ways that were unsafe. This inspired Craig to offer an accessible class to cover the basic fundamental information that these aerial students desperately needed to know about rigging in order to stay safe. He never expected the enormous response he got to this class! Over the three years that followed, Craig taught over 50 of these classes to over 400 students. In 2022 he and Dr. Delbert Hall collaborated on two cotaught "Aerial Rigging for Prosceniums" classes, and in 2023, he created a "Part Two" to build on his fundamentals class.

Craig has also taught an in-person version of the class at various studios around the US, including Buffalo Aerial Arts in Buffalo, NY and Challenge Aerial in Atlanta, GA. He also routinely offers consultation services to aerial studio owners on rigging, as well as the business aspects of running an aerial studio.

Craig believes you should always keep learning. One of his favorite things about teaching is when he gets to learn something new himself during a class! He is passionate about helping aerialists, instructors, and aerial studio owners learn about safety, and he strives to help raise the bar of safety across this industry.