Jayne Bernasconi is a dancer/choreographer/author/educator/yogi and Artistic Director of Air Dance Bernasconi. She has danced with leading NYC postmodern choreographers including David Gordon, Stephen Petronio, Pooh Kaye, and Bill T. Jones and received an M.A. in Dance Education from Columbia University. Jayne trained and danced with aerial dance pioneers Nancy Smith, Terry Sendgraff and Robert Davidson and danced with Frequent Flyers Productions from 1995-1999. She relocated to Baltimore in 1999 and introduced aerial dance to the Baltimore/DC area. She teaches and performs regularly at the International Aerial Dance Festival here in Boulder since it began in 1999. Jayne is the co-author of the book/DVD “Aerial Dance” with Nancy Smith published by Human Kinetics.Jayne is a pioneer of mixed ability dance and founded ArtsAbility (for kids) and Forces of Ability (for Adults) two dance projects/performing companies that bring mixed ability dance to underserved populations. She established the first mixed ability aerial dance workshop in 2003 at the Aerial Dance Festival. She also invented and introduced Aerial Yoga to the yoga and aerial dance communities at the Aerial Dance Festival in 2003 combining her passions of yoga and aerial dance. Since then it has spread throughout the globe. Jayne is an Adjunct Professor of Dance at Towson University since 2000 teaching courses in aerial dance, aerial repertory, movement fundamentals, composition, modern dance and yoga. She is the subject of the short documentary film on Aerial Dance & Yoga by Jessie Lamsworth. www.jaynebernasconi.com
Veronica Blair started her acrobatic career at the age of 14 with Make*A*Circus, a community based circus. In addition she trained Chinese Acrobatics under Master Lu Yi with the San Francisco Youth Circus. Her first professional performance was at the age of 17, making her one of the youngest professional African-American trapeze artists in the U.S. Shortly after, Veronica was personally selected by Cedric Walker, the founder of Universoul Circus, as a single trapeze artist. Under Mr. Walker’s supervision, Veronica rapidly developed as an aerialist, and was the show’s resident aerialist for 5 years. Veronica has since performed with several other renowned groups and productions around the globe such as AntiGravity, Universal Studios Japan and Warner Bros. Music. She has been a part of Germany’s most successful circus show, “AFRIKA! AFRIKA!”, and was the lead aerialist in KAMAU’s “BooDha” music video with over 100k views on YouTube. Expanding her portfolio beyond performing, Veronica launched the development of “The Uncle Junior Project” in 2010. The ongoing documentary shines a light on the careers of African-American circus performers, including Emanual “Uncle Junior” Ruffin who remained largely uncredited for his contributions to American Circus until after his death. In 2017 she was invited to speak at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival about her experience as producer and director of “The Uncle Junior Project”, and served as organizer and moderator on a panel highlighting the African-American circus experience. She’s also worked with the African-American Art and Culture Complex to stage Entrapment to Entertainment: A Celebration of Blacks in American Circus, a three month exhibition that ran from October, 2013 – January 2014 with over 1,000 attendees.
Jenn Bruyer is a multidisciplinary performance artist, choreographer, and coach. She has a self described ‘cerebral’ performance style and an unquenchable thirst for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the aerial craft. Jenn has always been fascinated by all forms of dance but it wasn’t until she discovered the trapeze that she found her true calling. These ‘Two Ropes and a Bar’ lead her down the fantastic road of circus and into the far reaches of the globe. She has entertained audiences and guided students around the world including over 30 US states, China, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico since 2008. In 2022 she authored “ShapeCraft – The Sacred Geometry of the Aerial Arts”: a holistic study on shape vocabulary and design elements for all apparatus. This will be her FOURTH Aerial Dance Festival!
Gena DuBose is a movement artist, aerial hoop coach and the founder of SOAR Aerial Dance. Lyra has been her passion since 2009. Though Gena was never a trained dancer, she has a natural athleticism that she uses to bring her own style of movement and grace to her artistry. She has spent over 10+ years navigating her path of creativity with a focus on physical awareness, movement capabilities, and how they pertain to the human body. Through trainings in STOTT Pilates, Power yoga, Ashtanga yoga, and ACE, she began to apply everything she had learned to her aerial practice, gaining certifications in each one along the way. Her work with SOAR focuses on bridging the gap between recreational and traditional aerial arts. She teaches students how to thrive using creativity and technique, also helping other instructors expand on their own abilities through teacher trainings and mentorships. She specializes in “Lyra Sequencing,” and is the creator of multiple educational courses for instructors to learn how to enhance their teaching. When she isn’t choreographing or coaching, you can find Gena sewing and creating unique back warmers for movement artists.
Danielle Garrison creates interactive, provocative, and somatic aerial experiences to re-ignite embodied interaction in a post-touch era questioning who and how we can do aerial. During her MFA in Dance at the University of Colorado Boulder, Danielle received a Fulbright artist grant to France, performing creative research on the intersection of aerial, dance and circus. Recent aerial residencies include Mondes Visuels (Chalôn), SenseLab (Montréal), Milieux (Montréal), Nils Obstrat (Paris),) and the Circus Dialogues Project’s 4th encounter. Danielle has performed and/or taught for Aerial Dance Chicago, Frequent Flyers Productions, Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Festival, Les Rencontres de Danse Aérienne, the Berlin Circus Festival, Santa Barbara Floor to Air Festival, Aerial Greece, and the San Francisco Aerial Dance Festival. In 2020, she co-created Aerial Reflexionando (virtual aerial arts colloque) with Ana Prada to support critical exchange on contemporary aerial arts in the Americas.Currently, Danielle is a PhD student in research-creation at Concordia University (Montréal) and the University of Montpellier 3 (France), as well as a 4-year Fulbright Specialist artist.
Danielle Hendricks spent her childhood climbing fences, trees, balance beams and rooftops in Fresno, California. She earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Kinesiology and Dance from the University of Colorado at Boulder where she graduated in 1999. Danielle is a nationally certified Pilates Instructor and has been teaching Pilates for over two decades, primarily in Denver. She was lucky enough to perform, teach, and choreograph with Frequent Flyers for 20 years, as well as perform with other local dance companies. Danielle trained in the art of bungee dance with the “the mother of aerial dance/motivity,” Terry Sendgraff, and has taught bungee dance almost every year at the Aerial Dance Festival since 2005. In 2020, she moved back to the central valley of California, where she continues to teach online Pilates to her many loyal and dedicated students, visiting the Denver area every few months to teach in person and visit family and friends. Teaching bungee is the highlight of her year; there is nothing better than watching sheer joy blossom in the beautiful, bouncing bodies of her students.
Valerie Morris has been a dancer since 1980 and became an aerial dancer in 1996 with Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance. She has previously had the pleasure of performing with Movement Laboratories, Lancaster Ballet, CU Dance Department, Boulder Ballet, Wellington Circus Trust, Empress Stiltdance, Borrillo Entertainment, and is AeroTerra Aerial Dance. Her secret life as a scientist keeps her busy during the day, using stable isotopes to unlock the secrets of global climate change.
Janelle Peters (they/she) is a queer contortionist, aerialist, circus coach, and psychotherapist. Hailing from the SF Bay Area, Janelle has had the privilege to perform, teach, and learn around the US and the world. Their work – be it performing, coaching, or educating about mental health, is rooted in their commitment to the wholeness and humanity of circus artists, students, and audiences. Janelle completed an apprenticeship with the PaperDoll Militia in 2012, is a cast member with the SF-Based Vespertine Circus, and is also known as Cirque_Psych online where they share offerings about mental health, wellbeing, and systemic change in circus and the performing arts.
Nancy Smith originally wanted to be an astronaut or a racecar driver and instead she became the founder & artistic director of Frequent Flyers® Productions since its inception in 1988 and the Aerial Dance Festival since 1999. She teaches Aerial Release Technique (A.R.T.) around the US. Her work with Frequent Flyers has been presented in Boston, Baltimore, California, Louisiana, Virginia, Montreal, Utah, the Bahamas, throughout Colorado, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. She has received numerous awards including “Living Legend of Dance in Colorado” and “Women Who Light the Community” among others. She is Lecturer for CU Boulder’s Dance Dept. Ms. Smith also co-wrote the first book on the history / theory of Aerial Dance with Jayne Bernasconi.
Anastasia Timina first discovered aerial in 2011 as a physical outlet, but quickly fell in love with its creative possibilities. She committed to circus as a career in 2013 and has since performed in shows and taught in studios across the country. She is now the Rigging Manager, Pro-Training Program Coach, Professional Performance Company Member, and Multi-Apparatus Instructor for Frequent Flyers. Anastasia’s movement style is dark and dramatic, a mixture of slow hypnotic movement and fast dynamic sequences. Her emphasis is on fascinating shapes and clean lines all while upholding the illusion of defying gravity. She approaches teaching skills through the incremental progressions of a martial artist, informed by kinesthetics and anatomy. Anastasia enjoys, teaches, and performs all forms of aerial, but specializes in rope. She completed the Aerial Teacher Training Program in January of 2016 and since has been working as a coach to help others discover their potential to fly.
Sam Tribble is a former collegiate, All American gymnast and has been inducted into Sacramento’s Hall Of Fame for outstanding athletes. Sam was the US Worlds Team coach for 2013 and 2015 for the sport of Cyr Wheel and has created the Progressive Axis Training (PAT)tm technique for teaching skill progression for the art of Cyr Wheel. He is certified through the IRV as a technical judge and served on the board of USA Wheel Gymnastics as a technical advisor. Sam coaches athletes of all ages for bodyweight training, alternative fitness and several art forms. Athletes have come as far as Russia, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, France, Switzerland, South Korea and all across the US to seek his personal training and methodology. Sam is a firm believer in Sports Mental Training and is a certified hypnotherapist. Sam continues to travel internationally to perform Acro (Adagio) and the art of Cyr Wheel, in addition to hosting workshops and intensive around the country.
