Aerial Taxonomy Course Catalog
This series of courses has been developed by Rebekah Leach, who has been studying and researching aerial theory for over 15 years. As a previous mathematician and nuclear physicist, her brain is programmed for analyzing. She loves to teach complex systems, and the study of fabric and sling have certainly given her plenty to do for a lifetime! 

Selected topics from this catalog are presented each year in our annual Aerial Traincation, which are 2 week-long events typically in May or June, where participants create their own creative work over the course of a dedicated week. The other even that just started is the annual Aerial Nerd Conference (typically around Oct or Nov), which allows participants to sample the courses in workshop style over the course of 2 weekends. 

PLEASE NOTE: For the upcoming Aerial Nerd Conference, you do not need to send in the video for the prerequisites. But if you have any questions on the prerequisites, please ask! 

Sling Taxonomy 101:
BASE Wraps of Sling

Prerequisites: Must be an intermediate or advanced level on sling. You must have at least 1 year of experience on sling or enough time to have established a large vocabulary on sling. You must be able to know your own body limits, when to do or not do a skill. 

This mini-course will focus on building the prerequisites for all the rest of these courses. The major vocabulary covered will be: seatbelt, catcher's, body wrap, crossback straddle, hip corset and knee corset. This workshop will start working on various entries so that you can understand how each wrap is built.

Sling Taxonomy 102:
Actions of Sling

Prerequisites: Sling 101 OR know the following sling skills: catcher's, seatbelt, half catcher's, half seatbelt, hip corset, body wrap, knee corset and crossback straddle.

This mini-course will focus on building the understanding of the possibilities at each junction.  In that workshop, it will be necessary to understand some classic transitions that we will cover in this class. We will go over the major transitional actions of knee hooks, threading, slicing, rolling and more.

In order to prepare for Sling Taxonomy 200 series, we will specifically cover: head & feet entries to catcher's (and where-else this applies), windshield-wiper transitions, russian rolls, transitions in & out of knee corset, specific rolls, and more.

Sling Taxonomy 103:
Seatbelt Theory

Prerequisites: Must be an intermediate or advanced level on sling. You must have at least 1 year of experience on sling. More is preferred. You must have a large vocabulary already established on sling. You must be able to know your own body limits, when to do or not do a skill. ​

This mini-course will focus on breaking down seatbelt, understanding its components and then this will lead to the creation of various entries and exits for seatbelt. Within this concept includes various entries for half-seatbelt. 

Sling Taxonomy 104:
Body Wrap & Hip Corset Theory

Prerequisites: Must be an intermediate or advanced level on sling. You must have at least 1 year of experience on sling. More is preferred. You must have a large vocabulary already established on sling. You must be able to know your own body limits, when to do or not do a skill. ​

This mini-course will focus on understanding how the hip corset wrap is built and taken apart. Body wrap is a part of this process.  Entries and exits will be a part of this study. 

Sling Taxonomy 105:
Knee Corset Study

Prerequisites: Must be an intermediate or advanced level on sling. You must have at least 1 year of experience on sling. More is preferred. You must have a large vocabulary already established on sling. You must be able to know your own body limits, when to do or not do a skill. ​

This mini-course will focus on understanding how the knee corset is built. This will lead to various entries and exits for knee corset. We will also discuss similarities and differences to the hip corset. 

Sling Taxonomy 106:
Crossback Straddle Study

Prerequisites: Must be an advanced level on sling. You must have at least 2 years of experience on sling. More is preferred. ​You must already know at least one entry into crossback straddle and have a large knowledge of skill vocabulary. Must have a good understanding of hip corset and various entries and exits to hip corset.

We will study various entries and exits to the crossback straddle. Another way to look at a crossback straddle is as an "extended hip corset." We will use this to break down the theory of this wrap. We will also make numerous connections to other skills.

Sling Taxonomy 107:
Side Back Balance Study

Prerequisites: Must be an advanced level on sling. You must have at least 2 years of experience on sling. More is preferred. You must have a large vocabulary already established on sling. You must be able to know your own body limits, when to do or not do a skill. ​You must already be familiar with side back balance.

We will study entrances, exits, and the theory of the side back balance. This is one of Rebekah's personal favorite skills! It's just a go-to! There are days when everything ends here. We will explore why and how this is!

Sling Taxonomy 110:
Belay Study

Prerequisites: Must be an advanced level on sling. You must have at least 2 years of experience on sling. More is preferred. You must have a large vocabulary already established on sling. You must be able to know your own body limits, when to do or not do a skill. ​

In this course, we will study how we create belays on sling and how to vary and explore them. A lot of it will be worked out on the ground first. 

Sling Taxonomy 200:
The Two Worlds of Sling - Reverse Skills

Prerequisites: Sling Taxonomy 101​ OR Send in a video performing the following skills: catcher's, seatbelt, half catcher's, half seatbelt, hip corset, body wrap, knee corset and crossback straddle

​This mini-course will cover an overview of the connections of seatbelt, body wrap, and hip corset. This will then be compared and contrasted with catcher's. Each one opens up half of the world of sling. Discover the secrets of these reverse skills and how to know which half of the world you are in at any given moment. 

Sling Taxonomy 201:
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Prerequisites:  catcher's, seatbelt, half catcher's, half seatbelt, hip corset, body wrap, knee corset and crossback straddle

​This mini-course wil??

Sling Taxonomy 202
Two-Way Property Introduction

Prerequisites: Sling Taxonomy 101​ AND Sling Taxonomy 102 OR Send in a video performing the following skills: catcher's, seatbelt, half catcher's, half seatbelt, hip corset, body wrap, knee corset and crossback straddle. Also include a video of you performing showing a variety of transitions including rolls of various sorts. 
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Sling has the very unique property of being able to go "two ways" no matter where you are and what the transition. Rebekah refers to this as the "two-way" property of sling. Come dive into this deeper and explore some examples in action. This course is an overview of the concept and focuses on skills that are easier to grasp this concept -- focusing more on the "headside" and "feetside" complementary transitions.

Sling Taxonomy 203
Two-Way Property Gets Asymmetrical

Prerequisites: Sling Taxonomy 202
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Here we study the harder "two-way" transitions that are based on the idea that transitioning one leg is equivalent to transitioning the torso plus the other leg. 

Sling Taxonomy 204
Rearranging Actions (& Understanding Equivalences)

Prerequisites: The 100 series​
We will find what is the essential qualities of a sequence by looking at what actions comprise the sequence. Then, we will start to understand how to create "equivalent" sequences or rearrange actions. 

Sling Taxonomy 301
Analyzing Skills - Puzzle Prep

Prerequisites: Sling Taxonomy 101​ OR Send in a video performing the following skills: catcher's, seatbelt, half catcher's, half seatbelt, hip corset, body wrap, knee corset and crossback straddle. 
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This course will help you start to break down skills in order to build them up again. We will focus on all the major base positions. This course will help you start to solve puzzles of sling, which is what the entire 300's are focused on. 

Sling Taxonomy 302
Puzzles in Catcher's & Seatbelt

Prerequisites: Sling Taxonomy 101​ OR Send in a video performing the following skills: catcher's, seatbelt, half catcher's, half seatbelt, hip corset, body wrap, knee corset and crossback straddle
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This course is a puzzle-intensive! You will be asked to solve all kinds of puzzles. Each group will present different answers and it will be fun to see what everyone comes up with.  This course is very different each time it is taught. 

Sling Taxonomy 303
Two-Way Property Puzzles

Prerequisites: Sling Taxonomy 202  OR Send in a video performing the following skills: catcher's, seatbelt, half catcher's, half seatbelt, hip corset, body wrap, knee corset and crossback straddle. Also include a video of you performing showing a variety of transitions including russian rolls. 
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Come treasure hunt as you explore a number of puzzles regarding the two-way property of sling. These puzzles will all ask a similar question but have very different answers depending on who is in class! 

Fabric Taxonomy 101:
BASE Wraps of Fabric

Prerequisites: Must be an intermediate level on fabric (clean inversions, repeated over and over during the 2 hours). You must have at least 2 years of experience on fabric or enough time to have established a large vocabulary. You must be able to know your own body limits, when to do or not do a skill. You should go into this course knowing 90% of the skills already. 

This course will help make sure that you understand the terminology that will be used in all future fabric taxonomy courses. The major vocabulary that will be covered will be: same-side wrap (catcher's), opposite-side wrap (catcher's), hip key, hip hitch, thigh hitch, knee lock, thigh lock, outside hip hitch, s-wrap, z-wrap, double catcher's, knee tangle, crossback straddle and others.  

We will start to understand the basic building blocks and common denominators for all aerial fabric skills. We will discuss the webs that we will start to weave as we give an overview of how every skill is connected! 

Fabric Taxonomy 102:
Actions of Fabric

Prerequisites: Fabric 101 OR Send in a video performing the following skills: catcher's, OS wrap, s-wrap, z-wrap, double catcher's, hip key, hip hitch, outside hip hitch, crossback straddle, knee tangle, and a belay.

This mini-course will be overview of all the major actions in aerial fabric. For future courses, it will be important to understand a variety of options at each junction. Some of the transitions that we will cover here include knee hooks, slicing, tail swaps, tail switches, pole swaps, threading, rolling and grip options. We will discuss the concept of "equivalences" and complete brainstorming sessions on that topic.

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Fabric Taxonomy 103:
Hitch Theory

Prerequisites: Fabric 101 OR Send in a video performing the following skills: catcher's, OS wrap, s-wrap, z-wrap, double catcher's, hip key, hip hitch, outside hip hitch, crossback straddle, knee tangle, and a belay.

This mini-course will be overview of all the major hitches in aerial. We will cover inside and outside hitches, headside and feetside hitches. We will focus heavily on thigh hitches and waist hitches. Hitches lead to the ability to roll and so we will also address u-locks and rolling. 

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Fabric Taxonomy 104:
Crossback Straddle Theory

Prerequisites: Fabric 101 OR Send in a video performing several crossback straddle entries.

This mini-course will be overview of all the major entries to crossback straddle, but more importantly, how they all do the same thing! Once a deeper understanding is established, you will be able to create your own entry to crossback straddle. 

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Fabric Taxonomy 105:
SS, OS & S-Wrap Study

Prerequisites: Fabric 101 OR at minimum, be familiar with OS wrap, SS wrap, and s-wrap. 

This course will focus on ABC and AB deconstruction of skills, using the catcher's series as our basis for study. We will start to see how we can build wraps from the tail-upwards or pole-downwards. We will also study the connections between these skills. 

We will also solve puzzles such as how to get into these wraps from various starting points or what it looks like we we slice over these wraps, etc. 

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Fabric Taxonomy 106:
Double Catcher's Study

Prerequisites: Fabric 101 OR Send in a video performing at least 2 double catcher's entries and 3 entries to crossback straddle. It is also recommended that you take Fabric Taxonomy 103.

This course will focus on ABC and AB deconstruction of skills, using the catcher's series as our basis for study. We will start to see how split silks wraps can be build one silk at a time, and how we add in the second silk. We will also study the connections between crossback straddle and double catcher's. This will lay a great foundation for belay and the future study of crossings and concept of entrapment of the second silk. 

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Fabric Taxonomy 107:
Hip Key Study

Prerequisites: Already be very familiar with hip key. Have stamina to do lots of hip key things.

This course is all about making the hip key family tree. We will break down how to make the hip key, and as time allows, where you can go with it.  

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Fabric Taxonomy 108:
Knee Lock Study

Prerequisites: Fabric 101 OR have an understanding of hip key, thigh lock, hip hitch, and knee lock. 

This course will focus on entries for knee lock and the properties of split silk skills. 

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Fabric Taxonomy 109:
Thigh Lock Study

Prerequisites: Fabric 101 OR have an understanding of hip key, thigh lock, hip hitch, and knee lock. 

This course will focus on entries and understanding of the thigh lock, which is what you get when you slice in a leg over a hip key. We will discuss entry methods, and look at the properties of split silk skills. 

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Fabric Taxonomy 110:
Crossings & The 2 Types of Belays

Prerequisites: Fabric 101 OR Send in a video performing several entries to crossback straddle, double catcher's and belay. 

This course will allow you to look at all crossings in a fresh perspective. This will combine ideas that are vital to understanding crossback straddle, double catcher's,  belay and others. We will look at what it means to have a silk "trapped" under another silk and how this influences our options. This workshop will also be a unique focus on how fabric. This course will focus on understanding of the two basic types of belay: headside and feetside. How to identify them, exit them, and build them yourself. 

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Fabric Taxonomy 111:
Apply

Prerequisites: Fabric ?

This course will allo??
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Fabric Taxonomy 200
The Two Worlds of Fabric - Reversing Skills

Prerequisites: Fabric 101 OR Send in a video performing the following skills: catcher's, OS wrap, s-wrap, z-wrap, double catcher's, hip key, hip hitch, outside hip hitch, crossback straddle, knee tangle, and a belay.

This course will start the understanding of the fact that there are two worlds that are reverse of one another, just like on sling, although not as simple. You have one world in which skills such as catcher's and hip key live. Then you have a completely different and reverse world in which reverse hip key and seatbelt lives. This reverse world is harder, so that will be our next focus of exploration!

This course will cover the vocabulary of break beats (hip hop climbs), reverse knee hooks, inside & outside seatbelt and more. 

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Fabric Taxonomy 201:
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Prerequisites: S?

​This mini-course 

Fabric Taxonomy 202
Split Silks Study

Prerequisites: hip key, thigh lock, knee lock, double catcher's, etc.
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Fabric has the unique property of having two separate silks to manage. The focus in this course is to feature skills that split the silks and then start to create your own unique split silk skills. You can use this in combination with any of the Fabric 100 series to create new wraps or entries into base positions.

Fabric Taxonomy 203:
Slicing & Swapping in Hip Land

Prerequisites: knee lock, thigh lock, hip key, hip hitch and outside hip hitch. 

This course will make the connections between every possibility that we can do in hip key land. This revolves heavily around skills such as hip hitch, outside hip hitch, hip hitch seat, thigh lock, etc.

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Fabric Taxonomy 204
Rearranging Actions (& Understanding Equivalences)

Prerequisites: The 100 series​
We will find what is the essential qualities of a sequence by looking at what actions comprise the sequence. Then, we will start to understand how to create "equivalent" sequences or rearrange actions. 

Fabric Taxonomy 301
Belay Puzzles

Prerequisites: Fabric Taxonomy 107 OR send in a video demonstrating 4 different belay entries that include 2 headside belays and 2 feetside belays. 
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This course is a puzzle-intensive! You will be given prompts and asked to create a belay from there, and other such shanigans. You should walk away with two major understandings: how you can create a belay from any crossing and how you can also create a reverse belay from that same crossing.