Flying through the air like an acrobat from Cirque du Soleil may not be as impossible as you might think. Next week, Rebekah Leach, owner and teacher at Aerial Works, Castle Rock, will be opening a dance studio that gives interested youth and adults the chance to learn to dance in the air.
A recent transplant, Leach is excited about the opportunity to show the dance that drives her with the community. “I have spent the last ten years really studying, developing and writing curriculum for those who want to learn aerial dance,” Leach says. “Before moving here, I taught aerial dance for years at various studios in California. It’s my passion.”
The instruction Leach has developed eventually takes people, of all levels, above the ground. “Although it helps, I realize that not everyone has gymnastics or dance experience and can easily learn these tricks from day one,” she says. “They just need to be somewhat fit and have a desire to learn.”
This month, students will finally take to the air within the walls of her new warehouse space-a place that has been transformed into an impressive acrobatic training ground. Each of the workshops offered will expose them to aerial movement with the use of different apparatus.
“We have four different apparatuses to use (ropes, silks, straps and hoops) that are suspended from metal trusses,” she notes. “Silks are probably the one that people who have seen Cirque do Soleil might easily recognize.”
Those who sign up need only bring their enthusiasm and wear proper gear. “Tight layers of leggings, and then yoga pants, will help protect you from bruising and form fitting tops are best,” says Leach. “The one thing about aerial is that you can expect to go upside down, so a big t-shirt will just fly up.”
And while Leach is confident in her abilities to teach, her hope is that there are people who same adoration for moving through the air. “I know there may be challenges ahead of me, but this is something that I love and I’m ready to tackle this new chapter.”
Aerial Works
1050 Topeka Way, Unit 1
Castle Rock, CO 80109
303-578-6456
*The first adult workshop begins on 6/13. The first youth workshop begins on 6/18*
For more info: www.aerialworkscastlerock.com
