Aerial silks originated in France in 1959, with Cirque du Soleil incorporating them into their performances beginning in 1987. Since then they’ve proliferated as an elegant and dynamic performance art that combines poses, inversions and body movements to tell dramatic and evocative stories.

In the past decade, silks have also emerged as a fitness option, with aerial silk gyms cropping up worldwide.

Jenna Algeo was introduced to aerial silks a few years ago. With no background in weight training or dance or choreography, she really didn’t think she had the strength to do silks.

“Yeah, if you're just starting out, it can be really intimidating,” Algeo said. “But it definitely is something that builds up over time, the strength for it and everything. But at any fitness level, [you] can do

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