RingStar Studio: Swords, Silks and Circus Arts

Although the sword-fighting group Ring of Steel had resided in the U-M Student Theatre Arts Complex for 23 years, director Chris Barbeau says the group had definitely outgrown its longtime home.

 

"We sort of grew to fit the space, like growing inside a bottle," Barbeau says. "While the rent was very attractive and the location was in some ways convenient, it was in other ways terribly inconvenient. We shared a parking lot with the stadium, so we couldn't utilize the facility during the day at all and we couldn't use it on any game nights."

 

This spring the group found a space on Ann Arbor's south side for its new location, dubbed Ringstar Studio. The building is a physical expansion of Ring of Steel's space, with a 16-foot ceiling and 41 feet of mirrors on the wall. But it also represents a widening of the group's overall scope, as it incorporates a variety of equipment not just for swordplay, but for circus arts, stunt work and general fitness. Ring of Steel members funded the studio partly out-of-pocket and partly with an IndieGoGo campaign that raised over $3,000 for the project. 

 

"We were looking for a place where this club can meet, but we only need it three days a week," says Ringstar director and Ring of Steel member Diane Miller. "So we thought we might as well rent it out to other groups. We're trying to get it to be a place where you can come and do your circus stuff, but also do your exercise. People can just use the space in any way they see fit."

 

Most of the studio is covered with padded flooring that interlocks like puzzle pieces. Huge crash pads for gymnastics are piled in one corner; in the opposite corner there's a tall container full of spears and poles. Flowing strips of fabric and a large hoop hang from the ceiling for use in the circus arts of aerial silk and lyra. And, of course, there's a pile of large black cases filled with hundreds and hundreds of swords. Barbeau says he's seen a decline in the fitness of his average sword-fighting student over the 40 years he's been teaching, and Ringstar's upgrades are a way to change that.

 

"The star athletes are as good or better as they've ever been, but the middle has all gone," Barbeau says. "By adding some of these other arts we're trying to give a wider range of options for people to train, as well as sneak in greater core strength and greater dexterity."

 

Ringstar is still in the process of ramping up its full schedule of classes and events in the wake of its late June opening, but the studio has already begun adding several regular events in addition to weekly Ring of Steel meetings. The Ann Arbor Performance Dojo regularly uses the space for a variety of circus arts. Open gym sessions draw a few participants three times a week for general fitness and conditioning exercises. The studio also currently offers a handful of classes, including aerial silk, partner acrobatics and break dancing. Miller says aerial silk has so far been the most popular offering. 

 

"Some people are like, 'exercise is boring,'" Miller says. "But aerial silk just looks really cool."

 

Lena Von Moltke, 13, is one of the first to get in on Ringstar's aerial silk offerings. Although she hasn't done any acrobatics or gymnastics previously, she discovered aerial silk through a friend who had silks set up in her apartment. Although Von Moltke has only taken three lessons from Miller, she shows impressive skill as she hangs suspended from the length of fabric. She begins with one leg stretched out below her, the other supported by silk, contorting until she winds up hanging completely upside down. Von Moltke says she enjoys the unusual twist on gymnastics, and that Miller is "really funny" as a teacher. 

 

"Just by doing aerial silk once a week, you will notice increased strength," Miller calls out as Von Moltke practices. "And stamina. And flexibility. And attractiveness."

 

Although opening a full-fledged gym and offering classes might seem an unlikely outgrowth for a sword-fighting troupe, it's entirely natural for Ring of Steel. Barbeau notes that the troupe's activities have always been open to the public. And Miller recalls that it didn't take long for her to start teaching swordplay to others when she joined the group in 2008.

 

"It's not just doing the stunt work, but teaching people how to move," she says. "We'll do fights and provide the entertainment for people, but most of what we do is teaching. Our philosophy is the best way to learn is to teach."

 

Coincidentally, another local circus arts practice space -the Ann Arbor Aviary- opened earlier this year while Miller was in negotiations for the Ringstar space. But although there is some crossover between the two facilities, Miller feels they can coexist happily.

 

"So far, with the exception of the aerial silk, I think our class offerings are different enough that we're not competing with them," she says. "I wouldn't want to compete with them."

 

Miller says Ringstar stands out from the average gym because circus arts and swordplay provide a uniquely fun way to get some serious exercise. Unlike other exercise forms, she says, you're not just working out - you're mastering a skill.

 

"When you take up an art, whether it be aerial silk or circus arts or pencil drawing or arc welding, you eventually reach a flow, a kind of Zen point, a transcendent point where it isn't the silk; it's part of you," she says. "It isn't the sword; it's you. And that's a really rewarding feeling to have."

Patrick Dunn is an Ann Arbor-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Metromode and Concentrate.

All photos by Doug Coombe

Hey! Like this story? Then you should "LIKE" Concentrate on our Facebook page.  Click here to show us a little like and... we'll like you back.