Liberty High School is commonly recognized as an artsy school full of many creative students. Most of these students participate in in-school programs at Liberty, such as dance, choir, band, graphic design, ceramics and so on, but a few of them have their own niches outside of school. Maya Fallon, a junior at Liberty, has a unique niche of her own.
Dance is a frequently taken elective at Liberty and even just a common hobby for many students outside of school. While Fallon has been working on improving traditional aspects of dance for about three years, she’s been training for a distinct division of dance known as aerial arts and contortionism for ten years.
This form of dance involves the performance of acrobatic movements and poses while being suspended in the air. Aerialists are suspended by different apparatuses such as silks, lyra, trapeze, hammocks, straps or ropes. Using these, aerialists perform various movements, involving different drops, spins and contortions.
Considering the fact that Fallon’s parents own Dragonfly Aerial company, she has practically grown up in the aerial scene. She spends a good portion of her days training and practicing.
She shares, “I spend about 3-5 hours a day [training] six times a week, so about 18-22 hours a week.”
Within her training alone, Fallon already has a lot of hard work to put in. With all of the time and physical work that she needs to do, she can easily become exhausted and worn out.
Fallon shares her physical struggles within her training, stating “Something challenging for me is the strength building and the burnout that comes with the work. Since I’ve been doing it for so long, I’ve been struggling with burnout lately.”
This is a huge commitment within itself, and it affects other aspects of her life as well. Outside of her training, Fallon sometimes struggles to find ways to balance other parts of her day-to-day life. Making time for school, homework, friends and other hobbies can be difficult when so much time and energy is devoted to only one aspect of her life.
Though it can be difficult, she still manages to make time for all of the people and things that she cares about. She is provided with an amazing support system, made up of communities both within aerialist and outside of it.
Though there are different struggles to compensate for, Fallon is proud to share her love for the work she does.
She claims, “My favorite part would definitely be how artistic I can be. I really just love to perform; it’s one of the happiest places for me!”
Throughout the year, Fallon has one to two big performances to look forward to. Other than that, she has a few smaller events in which she gets to showcase her talent to different audiences – one of these events being the “Labor Day Lift Off” in Memorial Park, which took place earlier this September.
After high school, Fallon’s aerialist aspirations will only continue, for she’s already been offered different positions. She states, “I’ve been hired for a cruise line contract with Aida Cruise Lines. I plan to perform with them for a number of months after I graduate High School!”
Fallon has an undying adoration and passion for aerialist and has promising plans for her future within the business. Day by day she puts in the effort to improve her work, while simultaneously continuing to show up and be present for her friends and loved ones.
