The Spanish web is an aerial

circus skill Circus skills are a group of disciplines that have been performed as entertainment in circus, sideshow, busking, or variety, vaudeville, or music hall shows. Most circus skills are still being performed today. Many are also practiced by non-per ...

in which a performer climbs and performs various tricks on an apparatus resembling a vertically hanging rope. It is similar in appearance and performance style to the

corde lisse Corde lisse is an aerial circus skill or act that involves acrobatics on a vertically hanging rope. The name is French for "smooth rope". In English-speaking parts of the world, it is also referred to as "aerial rope". Description ''Corde lis ...

, but with the addition of loops on the rope for hands or feet, permitting one to perform a variety of spinning motions. The name refers to both the apparatus and the performance.

Rope structure

The apparatus is akin to a larger

kernmantle rope Kernmantle rope () is rope constructed with its interior core protected by a woven exterior sheath designed to optimize strength, durability, and flexibility. The core fibers provide the tensile strength of the rope, while the sheath protects the ...

. Unbraided cotton or polyster-blend rope is pulled through a soft, round, cotton sleeve two inches in diameter (a "web"). An eye is made in one end of the web, to which a swivel is attached. That is suspended at one end from the overhead

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are ...

. Towards the top of the web, a hand, foot or neck loop is attached to the main rope through which a performer will secure an ankle, wrist or their neck and be able to hang freely while spinning.

Performance

In a typical Spanish web performance, there is a climber (or flyer) and a web setter. The web setter typically kneels on one knee, and the climber can climb first on the setter's thigh before ascending the web. Once the climber has ascended the web, the web setter can spin the web around the performer, creating enough

centrifugal force In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It is directed away from an axis which is paralle ...

to push the performer into a near-horizontal position. Web setting is a specialty skill in its own right, with a lot more difficulty than one might expect. While spinning, the climber can hold on to the web in addition to hanging from the loop or can release the rope and spin that way. With the addition of an extra swivel attached between the loop and the web, it is possible for the performer to also spin separately from the rope. Spanish web skills are often combined with the skills of

, which does not utilize a loop or a web setter, but is a stationary rope which the performer winds into different knots around the body, performing various drops and locking positions. One of the rigging challenges with Spanish web is arresting the torquing forces involved. These forces must be arrested within the rigging systems and that usually involves extra

guy line A guy-wire, guy-line, guy-rope, or stay, also called simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to a free-standing structure. They are used commonly for ship masts, radio masts, wind turbines, utility poles, and tents. A thi ...

gusset plate Gusset plate is a plate for connecting beams and girders to columns. A gusset plate can be fastened to a permanent member either by bolts, rivets or welding or a combination of the three. They are used in bridges and buildings, as well as oth ...

s, diagonal bracing and other such techniques.

Related to

Corde lisse Corde lisse is an aerial circus skill or act that involves acrobatics on a vertically hanging rope. The name is French for "smooth rope". In English-speaking parts of the world, it is also referred to as "aerial rope". Description ''Corde lis ...

Aerial silk Aerial silks (also known as aerial contortion, aerial ribbons, aerial tissues, fabric, ribbon, or ''tissu'') is a type of performance in which one or more artists perform aerial acrobatics while hanging from a specialist fabric. The fabric may b ...

References

External links

Simply Circus Aerial Arts Information
Circus skills {{theat-stub