I thought barre was expensive and then I found flying trapeze. How in the world do you afford a $45 a pop class? Well, I don't really know, but I'm trying to figure it out.
1) A special occasion is a great time for a first class. I did my birthday class there. it was easy to justify the $100 down payment as a birthday expense. (And it paid for the class for me and my sister.) My friend and I went back when she graduated college. And just getting off your butt to try it out can be the hardest part.
2. One class equals dinner out. So I tried not bring my lunch to work every day and go out to eat with the husband less. That put me at 1 or 2 classes a month.
3. Give up gym memberships. I gave up my $144 a month barre membership, and instead started running and going to the student gym. That saved me enough to do a trapeze workshop.
A lot of the ladies that go seem to have well paying jobs (doctors, business owners, medical sales) and/or well paid husbands. A few don't have children, some do. Some of them go on vacations with flying trapeze. That sounds amazing. I might have to get a consulting gig or something before I can do that. (My vacations tend to be cheap ones visiting family.)
Flying trapeze isn't cheap. It's a two hour class of 8-9 people. It's an expensive operation, so I understand the cost, there's
1) The rig. High flying trapeze, nets, ropes, ladder, bars, tape. Lots of pricey equipment. The electricity, water, rent etc.
2) Insurance. I don't even want to think about this one
3) Staff. Three people work every class. Usually one of the owners, who have each been doing this for 20 or so years. They're highly trained and the only ones who can work the safety lines for the more advanced tricks. They usually call the tricks (yell up to you telling you what to do and how to move and when). There's also someone to work the board (the take-off platform). This person clips you into the safety lines and helps you take-off. There's a third staffer—to switch out on board or lines, or to catch at the end of class. They train athletes to work in these positions, but the training is intense, so I don't imagine it's a minimum wage job to work at flying trapeze.
4) The fact that 8-9 people are booked for 2 hours with three staff members. That's a really low ratio. (Not the same as a barre class with one teacher and 30 students doing the same workout every single day.)
4) The price of operating the website, and booking app.
And I get a lot out of these two hour classes. Quite honestly I learned more in three classes than I did an entire 9-week series at static trapeze. It's definitely worth the $45. But it's not a cheap hobby.
I do hear sky diving is more expensive though ;)
