FAQ's

If you are new to pole dance and fitness, this is the place to start your journey. All aspects of strength and skill building are taught in this ground-based class, with an eye toward getting you up the pole and touching the ceiling! Whatever your goals are for your aerial journey, this class will give you the foundation moves, strength, vocabulary and variety to start creating your own movement style and goals. No shoes in this class, please, we want to focus on acclimating your body to the pole! ALL LEVELS WELCOME.

If this is your first aerial class, come dressed as you would for any yoga, fitness or dance class. If you are taking a pole class, you will eventually need to “show some skin”, since skin is what sticks to the pole! Even a tank top and bike or running shorts can work. As you advance in your skills, confidence and motivation — and you will advance in all three — you will want to have more skin accessible by wearing things like a sports bra and shorter shorts. If you are taking classes on the ground, or hammock or hoop classes, you will most likely want to stay covered in regular yoga or workout tops and bottoms. Rings, bracelets and dangly jewelry will need to be removed for class. They can damage the equipment and interfere with your safety. On class days, please refrain from using oil based lotions, fragrances, and sunscreens. These items will make both you and the equipment slippery!

Most of us walk into our first aerial classes feeling very inadequate in some form of strength: core, upper body, lower body, or all of the above! You do not need any of those to come and take our classes, but you WILL develop full body strength as a result of taking our classes. All of our classes are full body weight workouts, no matter which class(es) you take. The more classes you take, the stronger you will become, not because it is a prerequisite, because it is a result.

Now that you have a collection of foundation spins, walks, mounts and dismounts, let’s get you strong and UP THAT POLE! This class will focus on combining on-the-pole skills, working higher up the pole, and inversion preparation get you ready to get UPSIDE DOWN. Levels 1 and up welcome, instructor approval required.

So you are feeling good, finding a groove with some good skills, transitions and flows in your toolbox? Let’s get you upside down! In this class we will continue to work on developing sequences of skills and transitions both on the pole and to and from the pole, while learning and incorporating various inversion skills into your pole flows and dancing. Levels 2 and up welcome, instructor approval required.

We take your safety seriously, it is very literally our first priority. All of our equipment is of the highest quality and is being professionally rigged and installed to the highest safety standards. In the current climate of the Covid 19 pandemic, we are closely following state and federal guidelines for safe business practices. Our studio is being built as the guidelines are being created, so it will suit the safest practices of distancing, separate entry and exits, time for cleaning between classes, and disinfectant and disposable supplies. You know polers use a lot of alcohol to clean the poles under all circumstances anyway! It is possible that initially we will not be able to offer fabric-based equipment (aerial yoga/hammock) or aerial hoop (due to the taped wrapping). We are looking into powder coated hoops that don’t require taping. We are also looking into other hard-surface, easily disinfected equipment like yoga wheels, inversion trainers, and RingThing, to keep you in the air and upside down! As an additional precaution, we will likely ask students to bring in their own “soft” supplies for the foreseeable future: yoga mats, blocks, and straps. We can do this: we can come together and enjoy our sport and our community while we keep each other and ourselves safe and healthy.

If you are already solidly inverting from the ground, and able to do sequences of 3 or more tricks/skills on the pole, come work on your aerial inversions and more advanced skills and sequences, including spinning pole. In this class we will focus not only on clean basics, foundations, and transitions, but on more physically challenging skills and sequences. Levels 3 and up welcome, instructor approval required.

Our classes are all 60 minutes of fun, challenging, motivating WORK. Most classes will begin with approximately ten minutes of stretching and warm-up activities. From there we move on to instruction in the skills being targeted. Students are given time to work on the skills, ask questions, and get feedback from the instructor. In most classes, there is then a “flow”, or a connected progression of the target skills to music. Again, there is an opportunity to receive feedback from the instructor and practice independently. At the end of most skill and choreography based classes, there is an opportunity to “freestyle”, or dance on your own to music for a few minutes. This is an opportunity to find your own style, create sequences of your favorite movements and skills, and play with musicality and new styles. If it is a strength or flexibility class, the entire class will consist of exercises and stretches to make your body a stronger, more flexible dancing machine! Most classes end with some sort of a guided cool down or light stretch. Our instructors are each amazing and unique and bring their own style and flair to each component of their classes. Try them all!

File this along with “what if I have no strength?” Here at Empowered Aerial Fitness it is our firm belief that if you can move, you can dance. It is not years of dance training, or some special skill or talent, that makes you a dancer. It is dancing. Dancing makes you a dancer. We further believe that you should move how you want. There is no right answer, or wrong answer. There is only you, the music and your movement. It helps to point your toes, though!

Pole fitness, dancing, and aerial arts are for ALL BODIES. PERIOD. Full disclosure: not only can it be fun to wiggle your jiggle, that stuff can help you stick to the pole! So bring it all! Your body may change as you get further along your pole/aerial/dance journey. You will certainly get stronger -- but as long as you are in possession of a body, then all dancing is for you.

No. Not ever. Full stop.

We invite you to try any and all of the classes marked “all levels welcome”. If you have previous experience, please speak with a member of our instructional team before you sign up for class so we can make sure you get the most out of your experience! We ask that you do not show up for a class for which you haven’t previously been approved. The few minutes before class are busy and precious to students and instructors, and aren’t ideal for a class placement conversation. Thanks!

Under non-pandemic situations, the answer would be just yourself, your grips, and your attitude! In current conditions, however, we have to do things differently. Please supply your own “soft” items: yoga mat (most classes), blocks & straps (flexibility and conditioning classes).

YES! We love to host a party! What do you think the disco ball is for? We can accommodate parties of various themes and sizes. You are welcome to bring food and decorations as well. We ask that you do not arrive under any chemical influence or consume any alcohol during class. Not only is it very unsafe for everyone, it violates our insurance and our lease! Please save the adult beverages for after your party.