Hey there. I'm a total noob to this stuff- took a few static trapeze lessons with Nimble Arts. Have another one coming up, and going to try silks too... I'm totally addicted and i want to DO THIS, maybe not for a living or anything but hot damn, if i could perform somewhere someday that'd tickle me a million shades of pink.....

Anyhow, i have this nagging desire to be able to hang a trapeze in my house. I know people have done it, of course i'm not sure how safe it would be and obviously i don't want to kill myself. However, i'm in CT (right smack dab in the middle of all the major places to practice!) and there's nothing close enough to practice daily, short of piking under the bar repeatedly on the chin-up bars at the local playground (pathetic i know.) And i know i'll never get good at this unless i work my ass off.

So anyways. I have these high ceilings (on an angle, the highest i could hang anything is about 13 feet - put a swing any higher and i'd run the risk of hitting my loft). I just have no idea if there's anything strong enough in my ceiling to hang off of (a beam or what have you.) Or- if there is a way to make a freestanding type of rig that would fit in the room (i haven't seen one that will. it would have to be custom, probably.) Obviously i'm not gonna attempt to do this myself, i'd find a rigger or at least a *very* experienced aerialist who has done this sort of thing before.

I'm just looking for advice as far as if this is a safe thing to do or if i should just get the idea out of my head. I wouldn't practice alone, and of course i would invest in some hefty crash mats. But by all means, if you folks think this is a TERRIBLE IDEA... say so! I don't want to get myself into trouble.

So, anyone with any experience, stories, tales of tragedy, etc, come forth. I want to know what you think and if this is something i should even attempt...