Open silks class at the Sky Box. — Photo by Sarah Pappalardo

Many of you know the House of Yes as a performance space at night. During the day, the space is a fully functioning school for aerial acrobatics and performance arts known as the SkyBox.

To preface: I have never done an acrobatic thing in my life. I could barely land a cartwheel as a child. To me, exercise involves propelling myself forward as quickly as possible until I am forced to stop. But I got the most killer workout from a beginner silks class this week, where I learned how to climb, twist, and flip around using two silk ropes hanging from a 30-foot truss. An hour on the silks gave me a better full-body workout than I’ve had in years. It was one of those workouts where (after a couple of tries) you actually look good when you’re doing it.

	The SkyBox at the House of Yes 342 Maujer Street Find classes
	Jordann Baker on the silks. (House of Yes)

While I may have looked as awkward as Tiger Woods’ apology speech at first, the beginner silks class was a great opportunity to see what a few weeks or months of practice can do – there were some beginner students that were genuinely impressive to watch. For anyone looking for performance art that’s both physically challenging and creative, silks is an excellent skill to learn. Everyone got plenty of personal attention in the class, which is usually about 4-6 people at most.

One of the goals of the SkyBox is to develop students into experts of static aerial performance — in which the bar doesn’t move or swing — which is what you’ll see in many of the nightly shows at House of Yes. Anya Sapozhnikova is one of the organizers and performers at the space, and I had the pleasure of taking my first silks class from her this past week. Anya told me that many of her students come from a dance or performance background.

But with enough practice and basic physical ability, anyone can learn the basics: her partner at the SkyBox, Jordann Baker, was a runner and a rower in college, and began aerial training only three years ago. Now, she teaches classes full-time and performs at the House of Yes, among other venues. Jordann, Anya, and a handful of others teach static trapeze, lyra (the aerial hoop), rope, cloud swing, straps, and silks. But, Anya adds, “if its movement based or performance related, and there are three or more people who want to learn it, we can probably find a teacher to offer [a class] in it.” 

Some of those extra workshops have included clowning, acting, vogueing, pole dancing, and ballet. 

The SkyBox is one of few places in Brooklyn with 30-foot ceilings and a brand-spanking-new truss that allows for some amazing performance opportunities. Bushwick, we’re lucky to have a space like this in the neighborhood.