For the intermediate and advanced aerial students of the John Cooper School, the dance floor was not on the floor at all.

Instead the group of nine dazzled audiences with a performance in aerial silks, an acrobatic art form commonly associated with Cirque de Soleil.

The art form requires tremendous upper body strength, as performers hoist themselves up a long silk train attached to the ceiling.  They then use the silk in a series of contortions and dance-like movements.

The John Cooper School has one of only two silk performance schools in the Houston area. Today’s program included one group number and three solos, all of which involved aerial acrobatics.