Learn To Fly

By Amanda J. McGee

An excerpt from “The Angel of Emerald City,” published in Emerald
Currents Magazine, October 2029.

“I think they call it flying because it uses all the same muscles,” Anael says. Above, a shout, “Ready! Hup!” and a shadow sails through afternoon sunbeams. We are in the high halls of the flying trapeze studio where Anael — who prefers to be called An in her new life — trains and teaches. The space smells of sweat and something vaguely sweet and dry, a scent that might be found in a concert hall or an old schoolhouse. An’s agreed to meet me here to discuss her experiences as one of the most infamous residents of the City of Seattle in anticipation of her upcoming show “Learning to Fall,” which will be her Artistic Director debut and is scheduled to open on November 1st. The interview came with a condition: I have to fly with her later, a euphemism for the act of flying trapeze.