Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2011

Forget last year’s fitness fad, the makudake “just-wrap-it” diet. If you want to be light as a feather, you should try out some of the latest aerial exercises and sail through the sky while you shed those pounds.

Aerial silk, a.k.a. aerial tissue or ribbon, is an acrobatic performance in mid-air by contortionists who wrap, twist in and out, fall, suspend and pose on long fabric hung from high ceilings. Aerial ring is a similar type of performance except, you guessed it, it involves a metal ring, that is hung by wire from the ceiling. Another, bouncier, option is bungee, which equips you with two flexible rubber ropes to hop around the stage.

Even complete beginners can get into these aerial larks at Aerial Art Dance Project (AADP) in Kinshicho—Japan’s first aerial performer’s training school, established in 2005 by Kumiko Wakaida. Their 9.6m-high aerial gym, Ku, one of the largest specialist studios around, has been the training ground for all kinds of students; some of whom even went on to the dizzy heights of Cirque du Soleil.

Observation is welcome if you reserve by phone or email. However, first timers eager to try can reserve online for a trial class (¥4,200 for aerial silk; ¥5,250 for ring). All levels over the age of 16 are welcome to take classes with AADP’s professional instructors. English-speaking instructors are available for one-on-one lessons (¥10,000/hour).

B20 Sumida Park Studio 1-1-10 Yokogawa, Sumida-ku. Tel: 03-3610-5859. Email: info@aerial-artdance.com. Open Mon-Sat 10am-2:30pm & 4:30-8pm. Nearest stn: Kinshicho. www.aerial-artdance.com.