OUR TEAM
AILEEN CREAGH
Owner/Instructor
Aileen experienced the life-changing power of pole dancing and aerial arts in 2013. Since childhood through college and into her first pregnancy, Aileen was a gymnast and lifelong dancer. Though she holds a Masters Degree in Speech Language Pathology, Aileen spent most of her adult life as a full-time mother to her five kids. In 2013, Aileen lost 75 pounds and discovered pole dancing on a whim when a friend invited her to a local class. To say it was not what she expected is a gross understatement. The confidence, strength, and friendship she found helped her maintain her health, confidence, peace, and happiness. By 2014, she was an elevatED and FlyGym certified instructor, and gold medal (levels 1 and 2) competitor.
Aileen finds amazing joy in both her own dancing and the strength and confidence she sees in her students and fellow pole athletes. In 2019, she started having conversations with fellow and former students, instructors, and studio owners about the idea of opening a brand new aerial studio in Stamford, CT. As of August 2020, the studio became a reality and despite the Covid pandemic, opened for in-person classes! Besides her children, it is the happiest thing she ever did.
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In addition to her elevatED Pole 1 and FlyGym certifications, Aileen is a certified and licensed Liquid Motion 1.0 and Heels instructor.
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Personally, Aileen's friends, students and fellow aerial athletes know her for her purple hair, her love of cupcakes, sparkly things and her 2 rescue dogs, and her eternal refusal to act her age.
She is committed to a happy life for herself and her children, and as many hours in the studio with her friends and students as possible!
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MILA BARTOVA
Instructor
Mila came to the US from a little town in Czech Republic over 20 years ago. She is a former ballroom dancer and has been working in the fitness industry for over 20 years as a certified personal trainer and a group fitness instructor. She devoted her life to helping people become healthier and happier through fitness. She discovered pole dancing 10 years ago and was instantly hooked.
“Pole dancing has it all - your fitness will be challenged like the hardest of strength programs and the flexibility of gymnastics while you discover the beauty of dance movement and the freedom of self expression. Since I fell in love with pole my life has never been the same. Being a part of the pole community allowed me to meet many amazing women and men dedicated to the fitness lifestyle. And being a teacher gives me the pleasure of feeling an accomplishment every time I see that particular smile on my students’ faces, the smile that says “I did it, I did something I never thought I could do!” I love seeing my students improve and thrive and I love cheering them on from their little moments in class to their big moments on a stage.
Mila holds the following certifications: Climb & Spin (Pole Fitness), ElevatED (Pole Fitness), Fly Gym (Aerial Fitness), NASM Personal Trainer, ACE Personal Trainer, AFAA Group Fitness Instructor.
ELIN WATERSTON
Instructor
Elin grew up in the dance world, starting Ballet at age 3. She went on to study many styles of dance including, Jazz, Lyrical, Theater Dance, Highland Dance, Latin, Ballroom, and Bellydance. In 2008 Elin began practicing yoga and it became an important complement to her dancing - each discipline improving the other. The concept of combining elements of dance, yoga and aerial arts, led her to Aerial Yoga and Rope Wall Yoga.
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Elin’s interest in movement, anatomy, alignment, and functional mobility is apparent in her classes. She believes it’s of the utmost importance to keep the body healthy and moving as it is designed to move. This belief led her to study Yin Yoga and Thai Yoga Bodywork and add therapeutic elements to her teaching skills.
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Elin loves the feeling of freedom and joyfulness that all styles of movement provide, and movement’s ability to change and empower people. She is an avid student as well as a teacher and likes to find fresh, creative ways to approach her practice. She is happy to share her love of all things movement with her students.
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Elin holds the following certifications: Om Factory Aerial Yoga, 200HR E-RYT® Vinyasa Yoga, YACEP®, Grounded Aerial™ Bungee Dance, Fly Gym Aerial Fitness, Climb&Spin® Pole Dance, LaBlast® Ballroom Fitness, Matt Phippen 30 Hour TT, Biff Mithoefer Yin TT, Shai Plonski Thai Yoga Bodywork TT
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Additionally, she is the founder of Luna Aerial™ (aerial yoga teacher training program). And if all of this isn’t enough, she is a brand Ambassador for Altar Ego (15% discount code end1212) and Svelte Belle (20% discount code Elin).
PAULA DITIMI
Instructor
Paula has been involved in aerial arts for 11 years of pole fitness and 7 years of lyra. She walked through the doors of her first pole studio for fun and fell in love with the way it challenged her. Paula started teaching pole to pay for her own pole addiction. She was taking classes 6 days a week when she bought a pole for her home, but there was nothing like in-person instruction. That is when she was presented with an opportunity to teach that changed her. Paula enjoyed poling through both of her pregnancies, and says moving through her pregnancy was the only time her body felt good.
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Paula is an Xpert Pole certified instructor. Her favorite aerial moment is watching a newbie fall in love with pole.
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“Dance is my therapy, IF you catch me in my zone with my eyes closed. Whatever you see in that moment I won't be able to do again, so make sure you're recording!”
ACCRO BRANDON
Instructor
Brandon started pole dancing in 2008 when he started dating a girl who happened to be a pole and aerial performer. Little did he know it would lead him deep down this path! In 2011, he started competing professionally.
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Shortly after Brandon started doing competitions, he moved back to San Diego and started teaching at his local studio. As he started traveling for competitions, he would also hang around and do workshops at local studios or locations of friends in the community.
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Some of Brandon’s best moments on stage have been with other individuals but also as he started to believe in himself, and started getting paying gigs, international contracts and working for Cirque style companies!
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Brandon holds certifications from Acro Yoga Montreal, as well as being a Liquid Motion Master Trainer.
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One of Brandon’s personal favorite aerial experiences was cruising the Caribbean with Norwegian Cruise Lines doing aerial and pole.
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“I Hope to meet you all soon. I love to have fun, train hard, and learn new things and pass all of that along to my students!”
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JENI JANOVER
Instructor
Jeni Janover is the passionate founder and owner of Liquid Motion®. She is known for her highly technical but very attainable and entertaining approach to teaching. People flock to Jeni's classes not just because of her long list of credentials, but because of her students' success rate. Her approach is always as follows: SAFETY, EDUCATION AND THEN FUN. Jeni believes that actual knowledge of one's body and understanding how to apply proper techniques gives students the power to find the individuality in their dancing.
Jeni describes her style of dancing and teaching as a combination of science, logic, life, love, sex, and raw emotion, not to mention experience. She believes that knowledge, exploration, and education are the keys to bringing this ever-growing unconventional aerial and dance community to the forefront of modern culture.
ANDREA GRAVES
Instructor
Andrea began pole dancing 8 years ago after completing her undergraduate in medicine & psychology at UCF. She started as a cardio fitness instructor as a change in pace from the rigors of pre-med life. She was asked to sub for classes in an aerial fitness studio and the rest is history.
She has taught ballroom at Arthur Murray, been a student of jazz and belly dance as well as played multiple instruments including the piano and drums.
She’s performed for Black Girls Pole & PoleSport Organization. Her movement is fluid and musical. She is Liquid Motion, CirqFit Lyra certified, and Climb & Spin pole certified.
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Andrea is also an intuitive reader and life coach with a Reiki and Thai Yoga Bodywork certification.
Andrea is passionate about the healing power of movement & energy medicine. She guides women to embrace their divine feminine, to bridge the Mind Body & Soul.
DOMINIQUE URSO
Instructor
Dominique has been involved in pole fitness for 8 years. She was a competitive gymnast when she was younger, and after college she was looking for exercise other than just the gym, a place where she could make new friends that shared the same interest. Dominque started teaching in 2013. She felt teaching would help her excel in our industry, network with other successful women, and build her confidence. She claims she is actually really shy (introvert) even though she might not come off that way.
Dominque has many memorable moments in her aerial journey, but a standout memory happened at one of her competitions. She blanked out 3/4 way through her routine and had to freestyle the rest. It was the first time she really felt like she failed, and it happened again the following competition. After that, she learned that nothing goes the way it’s supposed to on stage, so success is how you recover and make it work in the moment.
One of Dominique’s favorite aerial moments was her first competition at the Atlantic Pole Competition, by Pole Sport Organization. “I don’t know why, but I had the most confidence going in-maybe it was a beginner thing.”
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Outside of the studio, Dominique is the owner of Aerial Dancewear, a designer/illustrator in the beauty and fashion industries, and a dog mom. Also those who know her know how much she loves to eat! Orchids are her favorite flower.
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Dominique holds pole certifications from Xpert & elevatEd.
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CORY MURPHY
Instructor
Cory has been a dancer for 17 years, and he has training in hip hop, contemporary, African, jazz and even pole and aerial hoop. He has danced on countless stages performing in shows such as La Cage aux Folles, Xanadu, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat and more. What Cory loves to do even more than perform is teach dance.
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“The expression of dance is healing, so let’s use it to heal ourselves, then the world.”
ARIELLA RAHBANI
Instructor
Ariella joins EAF’s fabric team, teaching both aerial and mat yoga. In her words: “I have been practicing yoga for 13 years, and teaching for 4. I have been practicing aerial yoga for 4 years, and teaching for 3. I got into aerial yoga after my 200 hour yoga training. I was looking for more ways to deepen my practice and feel in love with aerial yoga. I became certified through Om Factory and have been teaching ever since!
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I started teaching because I realized that the aerial aspect accompanied my yoga training perfectly and I wanted to share my passion for aerial with other students.
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I own Rose Yogi LLC, my own yoga and wellness brand. I have my 200 hr RYT certification from Yoga Culture, aerial yoga certification through Om Factory, silks certification from Air temple arts, 20 hr Flexologist training for one-on-one assisted training, 20 hr Pilates mat certification from Equinox Inc, and currently finishing up my masters degree to become a Nutritionist.
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My favorite aerial moment is seeing the look on a student’s face when they have finally stuck a new move/transition/pose that they had been working on for a while and seeing the proud look come over their face.
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I love to dance, travel and be around good people and energy and let those times roll."
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ASHLEIGH DIAZ
Instructor
Ashleigh has been pole dancing for over 8 years. She got started when a friend invited her to take a class for fun randomly, and then she was determined to get good at it. She fell into teaching because she was such a stellar student at her home studio and eventually progressed from literally zero skills to instructor. She enjoys teaching because she started as “normal folk” with no real athletic/dance training, so she enjoys and relates to helping the students realize their abilities. She brings a different view/approach to teaching than a life-long trained dancer/gymnast.
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Ashleigh is a certified with Wendy Traskos’s Climb and Spin Pole Dance Education and has a Basic Life Saving certificate.
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On a personal note, Ashleigh loves cats and basically anything else with 4 legs. She is very outdoorsy, and enjoys trying new ways to move and be challenged. Ashleigh’s goal is to live a happy healthy life, and help her students do so too!
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ASHLEY AMY
Instructor
BIO COMING SOON!