Since her aerial journey began, she has taken classes in silks, slings and lyra/hoop as well as a few classes in rope, trapeze and straps. She has had the honor to take workshops from Lisa Natoli, Tanya Burka, Allie Cooper, Jenn Bruyer, Alex Allen and Brent Holzapfel, and she participated in aerial straps teacher training with Aaron Kozloff in 2019. She has performed on silks as an amateur in the 2017 Southern Fried Circus Fest in Dallas and received third place in the 2018 St Louis Aerialympics all-star lyra division.
When she is not noodling around with her friends on some random aerial apparatus or cheering on others at the studio, she likes to spend time with her German Shepard Laska, Maine Coon Loki, and Mark (her human). She loves playing Bioshock or Silent Hill and trying new hobbies including embroidery and crochet. She has also worked as a barista on and off for the past 16 years and is often seen with a caffeinated beverage in hand.
Alison found trapeze in her late thirties and discovered a love of exercise, performance and act creation she never knew she had. “Trapeze was hard and painful. But it spoke to my inner weirdo who felt like an awkward loner, marginalized by conventional team sports, and I kept coming back. I want anyone who has felt like they could never be an athlete, anyone who has ever felt body shamed or that they weren’t fit for sport, to know that they’re welcome in the aerial community and that THEY CAN DO THIS.” At Bumbershoot Aerial Arts in St. Louis, Alison produced and performed in 3 successful aerial student showcases. She has received aerial teacher training from Born to Fly™ Aerial Teacher Training, and additional training in trapeze, handstands and acrobatics from École de Cirque de Québec.
Sandra has both taught and taken classes from Circus Day Foundation and from Bumbershoot Aerial Arts. She has taken classes and workshops through NECCA, Frequent Flyers, Aircat Aerial Arts, the Circus Center of San Francisco, ALOFT Circus Arts, Circus Flora performers and from ENC graduates.
Having performed both as a freelance aerialist, and as a traveling member of the Beggars Carnivale, her specialties include Static Trapeze, Single Pointe Trapeze, Aerial Silks, Corde Lisse, Aerial Hoop, Stilt Walking, and Silent Comedy. She collects rubber ducks and marbles. Plz consider inviting her to be in your DnD campaign.
Always looking to innovate and find new outlets for her creative energy, April paired her love of circus with her building experience to become the head rigger for Bumbershoot Aerial Arts, where she also worked as a coach, sharing her love of circus. “Aerial Arts feed all parts of my soul, from the physical and mental challenges of doing the art, to the joy of creating and storytelling with circus bodies in my choreography, to the satisfaction of imparting my passion to others,” she says.
Along her journey she has been a ringmaster, a public speaker, a youth coach, and a monthly circus show producer. She is hands on in all her endeavors, and you are likely to find her in the air, at work and at play.
She has trained in silks, rope, hoop, trapeze and slings. Although she has a strong background of trapeze, slings quickly became her main aerial focus. She believes it combines the best of all the apparatuses and anything is possible on a sling.
A comprehensively certified Pilates instructor by day, she loves the strength, confidence, and movement that aerial provides and also how it forces her out of her comfort zone on a regular basis. But most importantly, it’s a lot of fun! She has added aerial yoga/Pilates to her repertoire and is really excited about teaching it to kids and adults of all ages. She also stays up to date on the latest research on fascia and its role in movement and attends as many workshops and lectures on the subject as possible.
A mother of five, including two bonus kids, she spends her off time trying to keep up with her rambunctious little people.
Trainings:
- Bumbershoot Aerial Arts Beginner/Level 1 teacher training fabric/trapeze.
- Lead Coach Silks Intro, Silks 1, Kid’s and Tween classes. (Trapeze, Silks, and slings.)
- Level 1 Aerial Yoga certification at Aircat Aerial Yoga Boulder Circus Center, Boulder, Co.
- Nimble Arts beginner fabric teacher training.
- Born To Fly Youth Aerial/Aerial Yoga teacher training