Suspended from trees

One student group has been unable to find a place to meet on campus because a wall of insurance problems stand in the way, despite efforts that have lasted more than a year.

The activity in question involves floating 20 feet above solid concrete, supported only by silk fabrics secured with rope, while performing flips and precarious tricks. Aerialists, or tissue artists, are people who make art with their body, said Andrew Blankfield, a second-year math student. A small group formed on campus to practice the moves.

But after administrative intervention, the aerialists have been prohibited from practicing anywhere on campus.

Last year, eight students assembled under the supervision of more experienced aerialists in the open gym at the John Wooden Center. For six months, these students practiced for three hours, twice a week.

“(Aerial artist centers) were always too far from home and too expensive,” said second-year undeclared student Shauna Klebesadel. “At UCLA, it was in the gym and free. The mats and equipment made it a safe place to practice.”

Klebesadel always had an interest in tissue artistry but never had the means to learn it until she came to UCLA, she said.

But administrators asked the students to stop practicing in the open gym in the spring because of concerns about safety, liability and supervision. After they were banned from the open gym, Klebesadel and her fellow aerialists scrambled to find a new place to practice. The group went to parks in Westwood and tried signing up for aerial classes, but these inconvenient and expensive trips could not substitute for the Wooden center, Klebesadel said.

Then the aerialists got creative. They began hooking silks up to trees around campus. The group invested in ropes and equipment to secure themselves to elevated structures, but it could not afford safety mats.

This quarter, the aerialists were practicing on trees near Janss Steps when Assistant Dean of Students Kenn Heller stopped them. Safety was an issue because the students were not practicing with mats. He encouraged them, however, to appeal to be readmitted into the Wooden Center.

Students cannot practice the aerial arts on trees because the hanging of objects on university trees or structures not designated for that purpose is not allowed, Heller said. If someone were to get injured on university property, it would turn into a liability issue for the school, he added.

As a result, the students travel to parks off campus and studios nearby Westwood to practice aerials while hunting for a permanent space. Klebesadel said the most recent warning came out of the blue, as no major injuries had taken place.

There is no standard certification for professional aerial artists who want to supervise students, and general insurance policies do not cover this sport because it falls under the jurisdiction of circus arts, said Wendy Motch, associate director of program operations for UCLA Recreation. Aerials have been dismissed as a club sport and as a class.

In an email to the aeralists, Jason Zeck, assistant director of UCLA Recreation Competitive Sports, said they could not practice in the gym because the current layout of the gym makes aerials unsafe. They need a certain amount of buffer space necessary to prevent injury in the event of a fall or problem executing a trick.

That space does not exist in the Yates gym, Motch said.