Freestyle skydiving

Freestyle skydiving is a competitive skydiving discipline where one member of a two-person team performs acrobatic manoeuvres in free fall while the other one films the performance from a close distance using a helmet-mounted camera.

History

The first ever international skydiving competition was held in 1990 and was directed by World Freestyle Federation. In 1995 the sport gained much popularity across the world and had 62 teams from over 24 countries participating in this competition. This soon made way for World Cup of Skydiving in 1996. Freestyle was first performed by Deanna Kent and others for her husband Norman Kent's 1989 film "From Wings Came Flight". It became a competitive skydiving discipline in the early 1990s and became an official FAI sport in 1996.

Indoor freestyle skydiving

Indoor freestyle skydiving, also known as skydancing, is another form of the sport, made possible since the development of vertical wind tunnels in 1964.

The 1st competition to create a mandatory routine with music was at the Wind Games 2016. Lise Hernandez Girouard, who was the pioneer of this new performing art, was invited by Windoor to help organize this 1st freestyle competition. She wrote the rules, guided the athletes and the tunnel on how to set up and use the equipment, also she was the head judge. International competitors Leonid Volkov (Russian) took gold, Maja Kuczyńska (Poland) took Silver and Guillaume Boileau (Canadian) took bronze. Although the movements appear fluid and effortless, they require great strength and control. During this competition, there wasn’t mandatory movements to perform. It consisted of 3 routines. The 1st one was executed at low speed flow. A second routine at a high speed and the third routine music should be included. Among the judges they included professional dancers to be able to evaluate the musical performance. The routines include gymnastic moves, balletic type Ts, somersaults, twists and splits.

Amy Watson was entered into the] at age 11 by completing 44 360-degree horizontal spins in one minute.

Competitions

On March 23, 2014, at the 2nd Canadian Indoor Skydiving Championships at SkyVenture Montreal, Lise Hernandez Girouard performed the first ever wind tunnel dancing performances, live and synchronized with music that she, the audience and the judges listened to during the competition.

A number of competitions based on indoor skydiving have emerged, such as the FAI] since 2015 and the Windoor Wind Games since 2014. There are also efforts underway to bring Bodyflying to the Olympics.

The Sky Dancers: How Music Took Flight in Freestyle Indoor Skydiving

The evolution of human flight has been a story of relentless innovation, often driven by practical needs, yet frequently blossoming into unexpected forms of recreation and artistry. Freestyle indoor skydiving, a discipline that blends the athleticism of aerial acrobatics with the grace of dance, all set to music, stands as a vibrant testament to this trajectory. Its creation was not a single event but a confluence of technological advancements, pioneering spirit, and the artistic desire to push the boundaries of human movement. This report traces the journey from the first vertical wind tunnels to the emergence of "skydancing" as a captivating competitive art form.

I. Overture: The Dawn of Indoor Flight and Artistic Expression

The ability for humans to fly, unencumbered, within an indoor space is a relatively recent phenomenon, born from scientific inquiry and later adapted for thrill-seekers and athletes.

A. From Research Tools to Recreational Skies: The Birth of Vertical Wind Tunnels

Vertical wind tunnels (VWTs) were not initially conceived for human flight as a sport. Their origins lie in the early 20th century, serving as tools for scientific and military aerodynamic research. A significant, albeit isolated, early instance of human flight within such a device occurred in 1964, when a NASA scientist involved in the Apollo Space Programme experimented with flight in a VWT at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. While this event demonstrated the possibility of human suspension in a vertical column of air, it was decades before the concept was harnessed for recreation.

The true genesis of recreational indoor skydiving can be traced to Canadian paratrooper and inventor Jean St-Germain. Motivated by a desire to provide a safer and more effective freefall practice environment for his children and parachute students, St-Germain constructed the world's first VWT specifically for recreational human flight in either 1978 or 1979 near Montreal."How Indoor Skydiving Works: The Science & History of Vertical Wind Tunnels". Skydive Perris. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 2025-05-17.</ref> His design thoughtfully included a central air column with a padded area around it to ensure flyers' safety should they exit the airflow. The name for this innovative venture, "AERODIUM," was affectionately coined by St-Germain's own children, underscoring the family aspect of its inception.

These early commercial tunnels, like St-Germain's, often utilized a simple mechanism, such as a DC-3 engine powering a single propeller from below, with enthusiasts paying a few dollars for a minute of flight. A pivotal technological advancement came later with SkyVenture's innovation: a system employing multiple propellers placed above the flight chamber. This design pulled air through a closed chamber, creating a more consistent and wall-to-wall airflow. The first commercial SkyVenture wind tunnel, embodying this improved technology, opened its doors in Florida in 1999. This technological leap was crucial; the refined, stable airflow provided by such systems was a non-negotiable prerequisite for the intricate body control demanded by freestyle maneuvers, especially those synchronized with music. The earlier, likely more turbulent, tunnels would have made such precision nearly impossible. Furthermore, the advent of these advanced tunnels allowed skydivers to train extensively, often "24/7", dramatically accelerating skill development and paving the way for indoor skydiving to evolve into a distinct sport. Today, companies like iFLY are globally recognized for their leadership in VWT technology.

B. Taking Flight: The Emergence of Bodyflight as a Sport

The act of flying a person's body within this artificially created atmosphere is termed "bodyflight". It is a sophisticated skill, relying on subtle changes in body shape and muscle engagement to navigate the air column vertically and horizontally, and to execute various maneuvers or "tricks". The wind tunnel environment offers a unique advantage over traditional skydiving: the ability to practice bodyflight skills for extended periods, unconstrained by the brief freefall time of an actual jump. This extended practice transformed the VWT from a simple freefall simulator into a dynamic "movement laboratory." Here, flyers could experiment, refine techniques, and push the boundaries of human aerial capability in ways previously unimaginable. This intensive experimentation was a direct precursor to the development of complex freestyle routines.

Foundational body positions such as "Boxman, Mantis, Sit-Fly, and Head-Down" became the building blocks of this new aerial vocabulary. Initially, VWTs were often utilized by outdoor skydivers to "correct or improve stable bodyflight issues" experienced during jumps. However, the unique properties of the tunnel environment soon fostered a shift. It became clear that the tunnel was not merely a tool for fixing outdoor skydiving problems but a space for exploring entirely new dimensions of human flight. This exploration led to the birth of "freeflying"—where skydivers use their bodies in numerous orientations, not just the traditional belly-down position—as indoor skydiving began to influence its outdoor counterpart.

C. Freestyle in the Open Sky: The Roots of Aerial Acrobatics

The concept of freestyle, or acrobatic flight, first took root in the open skies. Freestyle skydiving as a distinct discipline emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, characterized by one member of a two-person team performing acrobatic maneuvers while the other filmed the performance with a helmet-mounted camera. Deanna Kent, often known as "Skydancer," is widely recognized as a key pioneer. Her 1989 film "From Wings Came Flight" showcased a departure from conventional freefall positions, which until then were primarily belly-to-earth or a simple tuck. Kent's creative exploration of human flight "paved the way for other disciplines".

Around the same time, Olav Zipser was also experimenting with non-traditional forms of body flight, founding the Free Fly Clowns in 1992 and later opening the first school dedicated to modern skyflying. The nascent discipline quickly gained traction, with the first international freestyle skydiving competition being held in 1990 under the aegis of the World Freestyle Federation. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world governing body for air sports, officially recognized freestyle as a sport in 1996, hosting its first World Cup that year and the inaugural World Championships in 1997.

Interestingly, these early outdoor freestyle experimentations drew inspiration from established aesthetic sports, with skydivers adapting maneuvers from acrobatics and ice-skating. This demonstrates a common thread in the evolution of artistic sports: the adaptation of existing artistic vocabularies to new environments and mediums. Furthermore, the integral role of the cameraflyer in outdoor freestyle, whose footage was essential for judging, underscored the visual and performative nature of the discipline from its very inception. This early emphasis on visual spectacle was a precursor to the spectator-focused appeal of indoor freestyle performed with music.

II. The Wind Tunnel Canvas: Freestyle Moves Indoors

As vertical wind tunnel technology matured and facilities became more widespread, the artistic and acrobatic elements pioneered in the open sky naturally found a new home indoors.

A. Adapting Artistry: Early Indoor Freestyle

The controlled and repeatable conditions of the VWT proved ideal for refining the complex maneuvers of freestyle. This transition was not merely an adaptation but a catalyst for further evolution. Indoor skydiving began to significantly influence traditional outdoor skydiving, with the development of "Freeflying"—utilizing the body in a multitude of orientations beyond the conventional belly-to-earth position—being a direct outcome of this crossover. This created a dynamic interplay, a symbiotic evolution where the intensive practice within tunnels fostered skills and styles that were then taken back to the sky, pushing the boundaries in both environments.

Indoor freestyle, sometimes referred to as "skydancing", began to carve out its own identity. The unique advantages of the VWT—freedom from weather constraints, parachute deployment concerns, and the severe time limitations of an actual skydive—allowed for an unparalleled focus on pure bodyflight artistry. This specialized environment naturally led to the development of distinct indoor disciplines, including "Solo Freestyle" as a competitive event. The very existence of disciplines "specially developed for indoor skydiving competitions," such as Dynamic, further highlights this trend of specialization driven by the unique characteristics of the tunnel environment.

B. Pioneers of Indoor Aerial Dance (Pre-Music Focus)

While Deanna Kent and Olav Zipser laid the foundational groundwork for freestyle and freeflying in the open sky, the specific individuals who first translated these complex aerial ballets into the purely indoor realm, before the formal integration of music, are less explicitly chronicled in broad historical accounts. However, their work built directly upon the innovations of their outdoor counterparts. The development and refinement of various bodyflight forms, such as the "Boxman, Mantis, Sit-Fly, and Head-Down" positions, by numerous flyers contributed to the expanding vocabulary of indoor freestyle.

It is evident that a period of gradual adaptation and intense experimentation occurred as flyers brought outdoor freestyle concepts into the VWTs. While not always individually named in overarching histories, these athletes collectively constructed the bridge from acrobatic skydiving in the open air to dedicated indoor freestyle. The accounts of skydivers using tunnels to train "24/7," leading to the birth of freeflying, imply a phase of focused development of non-traditional flying techniques within the tunnels, setting the stage for the next artistic leap.

III. A New Rhythm: The Genesis of Musical Freestyle Indoor Skydiving

The fusion of music with the already artistic movements of indoor freestyle marked a transformative moment, elevating the discipline to a new level of expressive potential and audience engagement.

A. The Visionary Spark: Lise Hernandez Girouard's Pioneering Performances with Music

Lise Hernandez Girouard, a Canadian flyer, stands out as the pivotal figure in the creation of musical freestyle indoor skydiving, effectively birthing the concept of "skydancing" as a new performing art. Her journey to integrate music was characterized by bold initiative and persistent advocacy.

The first widely recognized public performance of indoor freestyle synchronized with music occurred on March 23, 2014. Competing in the Neo-Freestyle category at the 2nd Canadian Indoor Skydiving Championships held at SkyVenture Montreal, Girouard took a daring step: she "surprised judges, competitors and the spectators by hacking the sound system, playing her music inside and outside the tunnel while she performed". This act of audacious, unsanctioned innovation was more than just a performance; it was a powerful proof of concept that dramatically demonstrated the viability and profound appeal of flying to music. It forced the idea into visibility.

Undeterred and passionate about the potential of this fusion, Girouard continued to champion the concept. In November 2014, she performed with music at the 1st FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving in Austin, Texas. This more formal presentation on an international stage had a significant impact: following this event, music was officially adopted as an optional element in the FAI's freestyle rules. Lise Hernandez Girouard's progression from a grassroots, disruptive demonstration to influencing the regulations of international governing bodies underscores the profound impact a single, dedicated visionary can have in shaping a new artistic sport. Her contribution went beyond performance; she was an architect of the emerging discipline.

B. The Crescendo Moment: The Wind Games 2016 – Music Takes Center Stage

While music had become an option in FAI events, it was The Wind Games, an annual tournament organized by Windoor [2, 3], that provided the stage for the true breakthrough of musical freestyle. In January 2016, The Wind Games, held in Empuriabrava, Spain, became the first major international competition to mandate a routine performed to music in its freestyle indoor skydiving event.

Recognizing her pioneering work, Windoor, particularly Pro Flyer manager Anne Maxwell, invited Lise Hernandez Girouard to play a crucial role in organizing this landmark competition. Girouard helped write the rules for the musical freestyle event, guided athletes and tunnel operators on equipment setup, and served as the head judge. This decision by Windoor, heavily influenced by Girouard's vision, acted as a powerful "forcing function." By making music a requirement, the competition compelled athletes to actively engage with musicality, choreograph routines, and develop innovative ways of flying that harmonized with rhythm and melody. This significantly accelerated the development of "skydancing" as a defined and distinct discipline.

Leonid Volkov (skydiver) freestyle competition featured a unique three-round format: one round at low speed, another at high speed, and a third where music was to be included. Crucially, the judging panel for the musical round included professional dancers alongside technical skydiving experts. Among the judges were Adam Mattacola, a freeflyer with technical knowledge, Dolo Yglesias, a dance performer and instructor bringing artistic expertise, and Lise Hernandez Girouard herself, bridging both worlds. This interdisciplinary judging panel was a clear statement of intent: musical freestyle was to be evaluated not only on technical flying prowess but also on artistic merit, interpretation, and the crucial harmony between movement and music. This legitimized the "dance" aspect of this burgeoning art form.

The event was a resounding success, with Leonid Volkov of Russia capturing Gold, Maja Kuczyńska of Poland taking Silver, and Guillaume Boileau of Canada earning Bronze. The performances, particularly those by Volkov and Kuczyńska, were not just technically impressive but also deeply emotive and captivating, leading to viral online sensations. Volkov's winning routine, for instance, utilized a combination of three distinct musical pieces: a waltz from the movie "A Hunting Accident," the soundtrack "Clubbed to Death" from "The Matrix," and "Lux Aeterna" from "Requiem for a Dream". As reported, "Just 36 hours after the event, over 28 million people had watched the video of Leo Volkov's winning performance... Maja's video went crazy, with 20 million views on one Facebook page alone". This sudden and widespread global exposure catapulted the new discipline into public consciousness far beyond the traditional skydiving community, acting as a massive promotional catalyst and solidifying the appeal of musical freestyle.

C. Formalizing the Art: The FAI and the Inclusion of Music in Competitions

Following Lise Hernandez Girouard's influential performance at the 1st FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving in Austin in 2014, music was integrated as an optional component for freestyle routines within FAI-sanctioned competitions. The FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving series, which commenced in 2015, along with other significant events like The Wind Games, began to provide regular international platforms for this evolving discipline.

Current FAI rules for Artistic Events, specifically Solo Freestyle, stipulate that a competitor can choose to fly their free routine to music. The FAI Solo Freestyle rules, exemplified by the 2022 version, detail the parameters for the "Free Routine: a routine composed of moves chosen entirely by the Performer. The competitor may choreograph the routine to a chosen music." These rules also specify the working time for free routines that incorporate music, typically ranging from 75 to 90 seconds.

The FAI's approach to incorporating music was notably more gradual, with an initial optional inclusion, compared to The Wind Games' decisive mandating of a musical round. This reflects a common dynamic in sports development where independent events can often be more agile and experimental in driving innovation, with larger governing bodies subsequently adopting successful changes into broader official frameworks. While event-specific mandates like that of The Wind Games 2016 were hugely influential, they did not immediately translate to universal compulsion in the FAI's overarching rules, where music in free routines remains an athlete's choice, albeit a popular and defining one.

Table 1: Timeline of Key Milestones in the Creation of Freestyle Indoor Skydiving with Music

Date/Year Range	Event/Development	Key Figures/Organizations	Significance for Musical Freestyle	Supporting Citations
1964	First recorded human flight in a VWT	NASA Scientist	Demonstrated human VWT flight feasibility, though not for recreation.
1978/1979	First recreational VWT built	Jean St-Germain (Aerodium)	Made indoor freefall accessible for training/recreation, foundational for the sport.
1989	Deanna Kent's "From Wings Came Flight"	Deanna Kent	Pioneered outdoor freestyle/freeflying concepts, breaking from traditional skydiving.
Early 1990s	Outdoor freestyle skydiving competitions emerge	World Freestyle Federation, FAI	Formalized outdoor freestyle as a competitive discipline.
1999	First commercial SkyVenture VWT opens	SkyVenture	Advanced VWT technology provided better airflow for complex maneuvers.
March 23, 2014	Lise H.G. performs with music at Canadian Champs	Lise Hernandez Girouard	First known public performance of indoor freestyle synchronized with music, a "proof of concept."
Nov 2014	Lise H.G. performs with music at FAI World Cup (Austin)	Lise Hernandez Girouard, FAI	Music becomes an optional element in FAI freestyle rules after this demonstration.
2015	First FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving	FAI	Established a regular international competition series for indoor disciplines.
Jan 2016	Wind Games mandates musical round in Freestyle	Windoor (Anne Maxwell), Lise H.G.	First major competition requiring music, formally launching musical freestyle as a distinct competitive event. Judges include dancers.
2016 onwards	Viral performances, FAI rule codification	L. Volkov, M. Kuczyńska, FAI	Increased public awareness; ongoing development of rules and judging criteria for musicality and artistry.

IV. Choreographing the Competition: Evolution of Rules and Judging for Musicality

The introduction of music necessitated new frameworks for competition and evaluation, blending technical aerial skill with artistic interpretation.

A. Defining "Skydancing": Early Judging Criteria for Music and Artistry

The pivotal Wind Games in 2016 served as the crucible for defining how musical freestyle would be judged. Lise Hernandez Girouard was instrumental in drafting these initial rules and establishing the judging criteria. The composition of the judging panel itself was a novel approach, designed to balance the multifaceted demands of the new discipline. It included Adam Mattacola, a freeflyer providing technical expertise; Dolo Yglesias, a dance performer and instructor offering artistic insight; and Girouard, whose experience spanned both domains. This diverse panel was crucial for navigating the inherent subjectivity that arises when judging artistic sports, ensuring that both the difficulty of the aerial maneuvers and their harmony with the music were given due consideration.

The FAI's general approach to scoring Artistic Events like Solo Freestyle involves awarding points, typically on a scale of zero to ten, for both technical performance and artistic presentation. These scores are then combined, with significant weight given to creativity, overall artistry, and the performer's appropriate use of the available space and time. Notably, the 2016 Wind Games did not prescribe mandatory movements for the musical round; the focus was on the holistic performance across the three distinct routines (low speed, high speed, and the musical interpretation). The very inclusion of music as a central element pushed athletes beyond merely executing difficult tricks. It encouraged them to consider flow, rhythm, emotional expression, and even storytelling in their routines, as exemplified by Leonid Volkov's performance, described as a "theatrical one-man production" with "extraordinary musicality". This mirrors observations in other disciplines, such as aerobatic model aircraft flying, where music guides pilots to develop aerial sequences that specifically complement their chosen soundtrack.

B. The Ongoing Development of Musical Freestyle as a Competitive Discipline

Since those formative events, the rules and structures for musical freestyle in indoor skydiving have continued to evolve. Current FAI Solo Freestyle regulations, such as those from 2022, now incorporate both Compulsory Routines and Free Routines. The Compulsory Routines consist of pre-defined sequences of moves and are performed without music, providing a standardized baseline for assessing technical skill across all competitors. The Free Routines, in contrast, are composed entirely of moves chosen by the performer, and it is here that music can be optionally integrated, allowing for maximum creative expression. This dual structure—compulsory elements for objective technical comparison and free routines for artistic freedom—is a common evolutionary path for artistic sports seeking to balance fairness in judging with the encouragement of innovation.

To aid in the judging process, performers are now typically required to submit videos of their Free Routine(s) to the judging panel in advance of the competition. This allows judges to familiarize themselves with the planned content and complexity of the routines. The FAI continues to sanction World Indoor Skydiving Championships for Artistic Events, solidifying freestyle with music as a recognized and respected international discipline.

Beyond the competitive sphere, the artistic potential of flying to music has spurred further conceptual developments. The idea of "Atmodance" (Atmospheric dance) has emerged, described as a unique fusion of wind tunnel flying and modern dance. Atmodance emphasizes the "harmony of the music, the lights and movement" to create a "hypnotic effect on the viewer," aiming to make "everyone's oldest dream, flying comes true in front of the viewers' eyes". This concept, along with mentions of efforts to bring Bodyflying to the Olympic Games, suggests an underlying ambition for broader mainstream recognition. Music plays a critical role in this pursuit, making the sport more accessible, emotionally engaging, and ultimately more captivating for a wider audience.

V. Encore: The Legacy and Impact of Music in Indoor Skydiving

The integration of music has irrevocably transformed indoor freestyle skydiving, elevating it from a display of technical skill to a rich and expressive performing art.

A. How Music Transformed the Sport and Spectator Experience

Music infused indoor freestyle with new layers of artistry, emotion, and narrative potential. It was the catalyst that transformed a series of technical maneuvers into what is now aptly called "skydancing" or even "Atmodance". For the athletes, music provides more than just a background; it offers a framework for choreography, influences the rhythm and flow of their movements, and can significantly enhance motivation and attentional focus during performance. The process of selecting music and developing aerial sequences to complement it becomes an integral part of the artistic creation.

For spectators, the impact has been equally profound. Music makes the performances more engaging, relatable, and emotionally resonant. The synergy of movement with melody and rhythm can create a powerful, almost "hypnotic effect," drawing the audience into the performance on a deeper level. The viral success of early musical freestyle performances, such as those by Leonid Volkov and Maja Kuczyńska at the Wind Games, vividly demonstrated music's power to captivate a global audience, many of whom had no prior connection to skydiving. Music, in this context, acts as an "emotional amplifier" and a "narrative guide," capable of transforming abstract aerial movements into a tangible story or an evocative emotional expression, making the spectacle far more accessible and memorable than purely technical displays of skill.

This co-evolution of athletic skill and musical sophistication continues. As flyers become more technically proficient and comfortable with performing to music, the complexity of their musical choices and the depth of their choreographic integration naturally increase. Early performances might have used music more as an accompaniment, but mature routines now often demonstrate a profound symbiosis between movement and sound, with athletes and choreographers exploring intricate musical structures, rhythms, and emotional nuances that demand the highest levels of both technical execution and artistic interpretation. Leonid Volkov's use of three distinct and evocative musical tracks in his 2016 Wind Games performance hinted at this sophisticated approach to musical storytelling from a very early stage in the discipline's formalization.

B. The Birth of a New Performing Art

Freestyle indoor skydiving performed with music is more than just an evolution of a sport; it represents the emergence of a new and unique performing art form. It is a discipline that demands an extraordinary combination of extreme athleticism—requiring immense strength, precision, and control —with the grace, expressiveness, and choreographic intelligence of dance.

Pioneering athletes like Lise Hernandez Girouard, Leonid Volkov, and Maja Kuczyńska were instrumental not only in developing the techniques but also in showcasing this new art to the world, capturing imaginations with their aerial ballets. The vision for organizations such as "Indoor Sky Dancing," a concept aimed at the further development of this performing art, indicates a commitment to nurturing its artistic dimensions.

This new art form inherently challenges traditional notions of dance by liberating it from the ground and launching it into a three-dimensional air column. It redefines the "stage" and expands the known possibilities of human movement in harmony with music. While rooted in the niche world of skydiving, the sheer visual beauty, innovative movement vocabulary, and profound artistic expression of musical indoor freestyle give it a compelling potential to appeal to audiences far beyond sports enthusiasts, reaching those who appreciate dance, gymnastics, and other forms of performance art. The comparisons to "gymnastics or synchronized swimming routines, but, oh-so-amazingly suspended in air" highlight this broader artistic connection and suggest a promising pathway to wider cultural relevance.

See also

• Bodyflight
• Freeflying
• Parachute
• Skydiving
• Dropzone

External links

[1]- winddance.com

[2] Danser dans le vide… made in Montréal- Journal Metro de Montreal

[3] - How did World Cups and World Championships in INDOOR skydiving become accepted by the International Parachute Commission (IPC) and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

[4]- 2nd Canadian Indoor Skydiving Championships at SkyVenture Montreal. Firrst ever wind tunnel dancing performances, live and synchronized with music.

Catching up with Lise Hernandez- Skydivemag.com

Artistic Events - FAI international parachuting commission (Freestyle Skydiving, Sky surfing & Free flying)