Nestled at the base of Camelback mountain, inside The Phoenician resort’s recreational area known as The Park, a unique adventure awaits both guests and locals. For a limited time (through the month of April, to be exact) you can “fly” at The Phoenician.
It’s true! The Phoenician has brought the talented group from I.FLY Trapeze to hold 90-minute trapeze classes every Tuesday through Sunday. These classes are offered to anyone age four years and older. They teach participants everything they need to know to go from standing on the ground watching a demonstration to completing a wrist-to-wrist catch!
I took my daughter Mylan and her friend Cameron to try the class one weekend.
Located next to the tennis courts, the trapeze apparatus is quite impressive. It reaches high into the sky and there are giant ropes and rigging in every direction holding it secure. The guys with I.FLY Trapeze were welcoming and joked around to ease some of the tension among those who were less than sure about this experience.
Each participant was fitted with a belt that was essentially their safety harness while they were “flying.” There was a brief class held on the ground with a short demonstration of what each person would try first and then the fun began.
To get started first you have to climb the ladder (which is very tall) and get to the platform (which is very small) where Max was waiting to hook up that safety belt to a line that Paul on the ground would be handling.
When it was Cameron’s turn, he grabbed the trapeze, unclenched his toes from the edge of the platform and with a small hop he was swinging! He listened to the orders of “hands on, knees up, let go, look behind you” so that he could go from hanging to getting his legs hooked around the bar and then be able to let go so that he was hanging upside down. From that position he received the orders of “hands up, legs down, three big kicks, let go” to get back to the hanging position and get the momentum to do a flip dismount on the trapeze. He landed on the net and after walking across it, learned how to dismount that too. He enjoyed it but admitted one of the hardest things was to do what the instructor was telling you to do, at the moment he was saying it. Timing is most critical in this sport, and when you are hanging up high off of a tiny bar, it is hard not to second guess what someone is telling you and just to trust the instructions.
Mylan was next and was at a bit of a disadvantage because she had to remove her glasses, leaving her mostly blind. They told her what to focus on once she got her legs through the bar, and she admitted that she wasn’t exactly sure where she should look because she couldn’t see it! She had some “trust issues” with the directions as well, and didn’t get the force behind her kicks in the dismount and essentially floated to the net with Paul at the guideline letting her down easy.
The star of the class turned out to be 15-year-old Lena Fleisch. She made all the movements look effortless. When I mentioned to her mother, Denise, that it was obviously not her first time on the trapeze, she told me that Lena had started flying 2 1/2 years ago. She was taking trapeze lessons at a place but, unfortunately, that went out of business. Because her mother knew how important this activity had become to Lena, she had an 8-foot trapeze rig with a trapeze bar and an aerial silk installed in the living room ceiling. When a friend told them about the class offered at the Phoenician, she immediately signed Lena up.
“This is the best activity for Lena. It’s a perfect fit for her. She is focused on her craft and wants to do the flying trapeze for the rest of her life. She loves the freedom she has when she’s flying. This activity gives her strength and flexibility. I have tried flying, and it’s not for me. It’s not for everyone,” Denise said with a smile.
Everyone received several more turns, each time getting better and better as the I.FLY crew gave them feedback on their performance and tips like how to kick with their legs straight to get the momentum for the flip dismount.
Then came the “final exam” – a wrist-to-wrist catch! At this point, Mylan and Cameron opted for an “incomplete.” Mylan admitted that she enjoyed what she learned and was proud of herself for trying it out but, echoing Denise’s sentiments, acknowledged, “it’s not for me.”
We decided to settle in and watch the rest of the class as each one successfully completed a wrist-to-wrist catch with Efe from I.FLY. As each individual dismounted the net, the bystanders would erupt into cheers. It was really amazing to watch everyone, regardless of their age or athletic ability, go from never having flown on a trapeze to doing a mid-air catch in just 90 minutes. The crew at I.FLY are a great group of instructors.
If you want to cross “flying trapeze” off your bucket list or direct your child’s daredevil tendencies in a safer direction, I.FLY Trapeze will be teaching classes through April at The Phoenician. Registration is required at iflytrapeze.com or 480-599-2345. You can also sign up for group packages or workshops. For spectators, like myself, the I.FLY team and select students will performing at The Phoenician on April 8 at 7 pm, where you can watch with your feet firmly planted on the ground.
