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KrisAnn Krause dangled from a pair of silken ribbons, spun around and struck a pose to uproarious applause.

Its like you are flying, Krause said.

Le Sueurs Your Time Fitness hosted Night at the Circus Saturday, a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation.

The fundraiser featured games, a silent auction, raffles and a series of showcases for circus arts performed by students and instructors.

Circus arts is a blanket term for a wide range of activities. At this fundraiser, visitors were treated to shows of aerial silk dancing, pole dance and lyra hoop performances.

Krause, who runs the fitness studio, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was 27.

It changed my life, she said.

However, she was able to get in contact with the Arthritis Foundation, whichconnected her with resources to support her and help reduce her symptoms. Through the foundation, Krause was able to connect with doctors and get treatment to help her carry on with life.

The Arthritis Foundation is an advocacy organization that supports arthritis research and acts as a support system and community to those suffering from the condition. Arthritis causes painful inflammation and stiffness in joints. In some cases the condition can make it difficult to move, write or perform other basic tasks.

Now 38, Krause has become a big supporter for the Arthritis Foundation, and used this event as a way to help support itscause.

Betty Harsma, a fitness instructor who works with the studio, helped organize the event, and announced prizes for the raffle and the silent auction at the end of the night, as well as introduced all of the performers.

Christal Lustig has been training with aerial silks for about a year, and she used her performance to show off what she can do on the dual ribbons.

Its really an adrenaline rush, Lustig said, adding that she liked the full body work out.

For some of the performers, it was the first time they had shown off their moves in front of a crowd. Kim Dvorak has worked with Your Time Fitness for 12 weeks, and said that her husband and son had never seen her perform before the fundraiser.

Dvoraks aerial silk routine took her high off the floor, slowly rotating upside down before she threw out an arm as a counter balance. After she disengaged from the silken ribbons, she said she was happy with her show.

It went so much better than practice, so thats all you can really ask for, she said.

Her husband, Rett Dvorak,was impressed and happy to see his wife finally perform after only seeing pictures for months.

At the end of the night, instructor Teresa Tebbe and Krause both got on the rings, treating the crowd to faster-paced aerial performance that saw the two spinning and flipping in sync with each other.

The event also featured a raffle that gave out a variety of prizes including discounts on workout sessions at the gym and gift certificates to local businesses. The silent auction featured prizes donated by local businesses, with some of the prizes going for over $70 by the time the auction closed.

Reporter Ben Farniok can be reached at 507-931-8576 or follow him on Twitter @LNHben.

Link:
High-flying acts: acrobatic workout raises funds for arthritis - Southernminn.com

This entry was posted on April 23, 2017 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Arthritis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |