New Student FAQ
There are no prerequisites to taking an aerial class, and we do not have weight, fitness, or age limits for adults (ages 13+ unless instructor permission is given to a younger student). Youth classes are limited to ages 5-13.
We recommend taking a beginner trial class to start off. This 80-minute class lets you try out silks and trapeze to see what you like best.
After that, we recommend taking a 7-8 week series class: Intro to Horizontal or Intro to Vertical. There are no prerequisites for these classes, so you don’t need to have taken beginner trial class to sign up.
It is best to register as far in advance as possible, to ensure that you have the spot you want. Some of our classes fill up weeks in advance. Registration for series classes closes when the first class of the series has begun. E-mail info@stlaerial.org if you’re having trouble registering!
Aerial classes are 80 minutes, and fitness classes are 60-80 minutes depending on subject matter. Classes may have as few as two or as many as eight students. Class time is spent warming up, learning new skills, watching others to observe form and technique, and doing conditioning exercises.
For your first class, we recommend wearing close-fitting workout clothes that cover the armpits and backs of the knees. Yoga pants/leggings and a t-shirt would be an appropriate outfit. Please do not wear jeans or any other clothing with metal or sharp elements. You will need to remove all jewelry except small earrings. We work in bare feet, so be prepared to take off your shoes!
Make sure to come hydrated and bring a water bottle.
If it is your first class, we ask that you arrive 10 minutes before your class start time to find your way around and get situated. We start all classes at their scheduled time even if all students are not present, so please try your best to be on time.
Payment Policies
Except in the most extenuating of circumstances, we cannot offer refunds for any of our services. In cases where students have given us sufficient notice (48 hours+ for drop-in classes, private lessons, and Open Studios, 4 weeks+ prior to the first class for series enrollments), we can offer an account credit for the amount paid that can be applied to future classes. We do make exceptions for serious injuries or illnesses. For questions about a cancellation or refund, e-mail us at info@stlaerial.org.
To reserve a space in series classes, drop-in classes, open practices, private lessons, parties, or workshops, students must pay in advance. For series classes over $200, we allow students to make two payments, but both payments must be received before the series begins.
We have gift cards available. Please purchase them here or email info@stlaerial.org if you have questions or would like a custom amount.
You can make up a series class by taking one of our drop-in fitness classes, or by doing a free open practice.
Please sign up for your makeup class or open in advance, using the coupon code provided by your instructor. You may only make up one class per session unless specified otherwise. Your makeup opportunity will expire at the end of the first week of the following session.
If there’s more than one section of your series class, you can ask the instructor about dropping into the other section. You may also be able to drop into a class at a level below yours.
It’s best to sign up online in advance for all classes, workshops and open practices that we offer. This way, you can sign the waiver online and get reminders about classes. If you’d prefer to pay by check or cash, please email us at info@stlaerial.org to inquire.
Studio Policies
Dress appropriately for your apparatus. For most aerial apparatuses, proper attire means close-fitting workout clothes that cover the legs, underarms and waist. Sliding on fabric or rope with bare skin can lead to burns!
Do not wear jewelry, grommets, zippers, or any other objects that can snag or damage the equipment, yourself, your fellow students, and/or your instructor.
We only allow students 13 and up into our regularly scheduled drop-in and series classes. On occasion, an instructor may make exceptions for specific students.
If there are no students signed up for a drop-in class twelve hours prior to the class start time, the class may be cancelled. If you want to ensure that we keep a class on the schedule, please sign up in advance.
Please make sure that you arrive at SLAC on time for your class. You will be required to warm up for 15 minutes no matter what time you arrive, so if you’re five minutes late to class, you’ll miss five minutes of instruction because you will still be warming up when class begins.
If you are more than 15 minutes late to any class, you are welcome to stay and observe, but you will not be allowed to participate.
Safety Rules
Open practice is for people who have at least a rudimentary knowledge of aerial arts and who can work on their material without instruction. It is not a playground. If you have no aerial experience, please sign up for a trial or drop in class or an intro series to build your foundation in aerial arts, then come practice what you are learning at open studio.
Open practice is for you to practice what you learn in class; do not attempt to execute new moves or to teach other students. The safest way to learn any aerial or circus skill is with a qualified instructor. We do not recommend ANY other method of learning aerial or circus skills.
Do not attempt to rig any equipment, unless you’ve been given permission and instruction on rigging your own apparatus. Please ask a staff member if you need equipment adjusted for any reason.
With hard floors and bare feet, glass or ceramic containers are not worth the risk. Please bring water in other kinds of containers. Only water is allowed in the practice area. No other drinks, food or gum allowed.
Be respectful and kind to the instructors, employees, your fellow students, the studio, and yourself.
No photography or video recording is allowed without the express permission of the person being photographed or filmed. No shoes on the mats or apparatus. Please be considerate with cell phone use.
In a space with shared apparatuses and training space, it is important that all students practice good hygiene. We request that everyone avoid heavy fragrances and lotions.
Do not walk under apparatuses while they are in use. The people in the air have the right of way! Always be aware of your surroundings.
In a space as small as SLAC, students must share equipment and mats. Please do not request more than one apparatus at a time.
Please arrive to class on time and ready for warm-up. If you are attending open studio, you must warm up on your own in the studio before beginning aerial work. Come hydrated and stay hydrated!
Absolutely no training under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If your instructor suspects that you may be compromised in this or some other way (i.e. injury, illness, or severe sleep deprivation) you may be asked to sit out.
Ask for assistance if you are unsure about a move or trick or need spotting. Never train alone and always use a crash mat! If you are injured during class or open practice, inform an instructor immediately.
Everyone must sign a waiver before attending class, training, or engaging in any activity at SLAC.
Code of Conduct
Shorter version
St. Louis Aerial Collective (SLAC) is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, age, race, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form.
This code of conduct applies to all SLAC spaces, including our studio, offices, performances, Facebook pages and parties, both online and off. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be sanctioned or expelled from these spaces at the discretion of the staff.
Some SLAC spaces may have additional rules in place, which will be made clearly available to participants. Participants are responsible for knowing and abiding by these rules.
Longer version
St. Louis Aerial Collective (SLAC) is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone. We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form.
This code of conduct applies to all SLAC spaces, including our studio, offices, performances, Facebook pages and parties, both online and off. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be sanctioned or expelled from these spaces at the discretion of the staff.
Some SLAC spaces may have additional rules in place, which will be made clearly available to participants. Participants are responsible for knowing and abiding by these rules.
Harassment includes:
- Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, age, race, or religion.
- Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment.
- Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names.
- Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviour in spaces where they’re not appropriate.
- Physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “*hug*” or “*backrub*”) without consent or after a request to stop.
- Threats of violence.
- Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm.
- Deliberate intimidation.
- Stalking or following.
- Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes.
- Sustained disruption of discussion.
- Unwelcome sexual attention.
- Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others
- Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease.
- Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect vulnerable people from intentional abuse.
- Publication of non-harassing private communication.
SLAC values the safety of every member and student. However, SLAC prioritizes marginalized people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort. Staff reserves the right not to act on complaints regarding:
- ‘Reverse’ -isms, including ‘reverse racism,’ ‘reverse sexism,’ and ‘cisphobia’
- Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you.”
- Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial
- Criticizing racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions
Reporting
If you are being harassed by a member of SLAC, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact the staff at info@stlaerial.org. If the person who is harassing you is on the team, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. We will respond as promptly as we can.
This code of conduct applies to SLAC spaces, but if you are being harassed by a member of SLAC outside our spaces, we still want to know about it. We will take all good-faith reports of harassment by SLAC members, especially staff, seriously. This includes harassment outside our spaces and harassment that took place at any point in time. The abuse team reserves the right to exclude people from SLAC based on their past behavior, including behavior outside SLAC spaces and behavior towards people who are not in SLAC.
In order to protect people from abuse and burnout, we reserve the right to reject any report we believe to have been made in bad faith. Reports intended to silence legitimate criticism may be deleted without response.
We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse. At our discretion, we may publicly name a person about whom we’ve received harassment complaints, or privately warn third parties about them, if we believe that doing so will increase the safety of SLAC members or the general public. We will not name harassment victims without their affirmative consent.
Consequences
Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.
If a participant engages in harassing behavior, staff may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including expulsion from all SLAC spaces and identification of the participant as a harasser to other SLAC members or the general public.