They fly through the air with the greatest of ease

When two good friends invited me to join them for a trapeze class, I said "Sure!" I was the kid with the shaky arms on the uneven bars who was completely traumatized after gym class. No matter. I took the pictures. Monday's trapeze acts by my buds Zena Polin and Kelly Collis Fredrick were totally off the hook. Zena started out with such trepidation she took off the harness and started heading back toward the ladder. But she calmed down and performed--due to the patient and capable instructors on the platform talking her down ( up in this case). Kelly was flying high right out of the gate. Co-founder Dave Brown instructed the "first-timers" around the low trapeze bar before they hit the big time. All 10 students were able to fly through the air; the final swing culminated in a "catch," where the students fly off the trapeze, clutch the hands of the swinging instructor who is swinging upside down on an adjacent trapeze and then hang from his very able hands. Real circus stuff. Kelly felt exhilarated. Zena was amazed. She went from having a bad case of nerves to thinking she would not be able to do it to executing a perfect catch. Amazing day, awesome instructors--Mary Kelly stands at the helm shouting instructions to each flyer for a solid two hours. Got a need for speed or an adrenaline rush? Sign up. Our class today was completely sold out. washingtondc.trapezeschool.com

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