Algebra Blessett is Addicted to Aerial Silks

Algebra Blessett Nobody But You

Algebra Blessett Nobody But You

We’ve all seen Pink flexing her aerial silks skills at the Grammys and various other performances but she’s not the only fly singer with a passion for aerial arts. Enter Algebra Blessett. The Grammy-award winning Atlanta native recently released her newest album, Recovery, but she also knows how to fly.

She defies gravity in the video for her lead single, “Nobody But You,” as she dangles alongside special guest Chef Roble on the silks (pictured above). Her silks moves is the perfect complement to the airy but soulful nature of the song and it’s hard to not be mesmerized.

She got into silks after receiving a gift certificate to a trapeze school a few years ago. Once there, she saw beautiful ribbons dangling from the sky and just like that her passion was ignited.

Naturally, I asked her about her skills during a recent interview and what fuels her love affair with silks. She also shares a recent milestone in her practice and gives advice to potential newbies. It goes a little something like…

What sparked your interest in aerial silks?
I’ve always been a fan of the arts. I’ve been going to Cirque du Soleil since they started just to see it. I really didn’t even put two and two together until I actually took that class. Per the video I had been doing it for a year and a half or two years but the first time I performed it on stage, I couldn’t have been doing it more than 9 months, which is not safe at all [laughs].

How often do you get to nurture that part of your passion?
When I’m not on the road I try to find places out of the city. There’s a place here in New York that I go to when I have time but there’s different training things you can do without having to be hanging from the air. You have to keep your stamina up because once you don’t do it for a while, it’s like not running for a month and then trying to do a marathon.

What do you love about it?
The pain [laughs]. You’re in all this pain but then after you heal you’re stronger so I love the end results. I’m infatuated with the progress and I love learning new moves. You know how it is, you’ve taken trapeze, so it’s like, once you figure out the things that you can do in the trapeze you can do the same thing in the silks.

What was the last victory achieved in your progress with the silks?
Doing a wheel down like, knowing how to actually wrap yourself in it and then role down to the ground without holding on. That’s fun.

Any advice for the curious about why they should try it.
Try it and if you find something that you love don’t get discouraged and go at your own pace. A lot of times, you’re in a room with other people that are working out much faster and they’re advancing much faster; some are slower but it’s kind of like yoga, you really advance at your own pace because your body is doing so much work and you’re moving parts of your body that you’ve never used before but you figure out your pace and go at your pace and learn it and stick with it.

Read more about Algebra Blessett’s new album over at The Hollywood Shuffle there’s definitely playlist potential on her album.

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Starr

Starrene Rhett Rocque is a former member of Dumbledore's Army who now enjoys gallivanting at pole, yoga and dance studios. She also occasionally fantasizes about becoming a shotgun-toting b-movie heroine.