Adriane Baequi-Nddare Interview, AAU Community Member

Adrian Baequi-Nddare on fabric
Adrian Baequi-Nddare on fabric

What is your favorite apparatus?
Aerial Silks and Aerial Hammock

What do you love about aerial arts?
When I was very young I wanted to be a flying trapeze artist, although that calling eluded me later in life I found fire dancing and Aerial Arts. In 2009 one of best friends, who just happens to be my cousin and current Co-Owner of Aerial Arts of Utah, asked me if I wanted to take a class with her and two other friends. I hardly let her finish her sentence and agreed! Not long after that Julianna Hane sold Revolve Aerial Dance to Annie and Debbie and inside of a year I was teaching beginning silks with the newly formed Aerial Arts of Utah!

I am drawn to the relationship between grace and strength. I am inspired by the way the human body takes on a unique signature because of the absence of gravity in the way we usually experience movement. I love the flow that is created, especially on hammock as the perfect circle guides and supports me.

What are you currently working on?
I am working on a solo silks act, as well as an acro yoga duet for the Fringe Festival in August and a Duo Silks act for Aerial Arts of Utah’s annual show, “Flight of Fancy.”

Nancy Carter Interview, AAU Community Member

Nancy Carter duet on trapeze
Nancy Carter duet on trapeze, Flight of Fancy

What is your favorite apparatus?
My favorite apparatus is the human body. Mine, someone else’s, a group of them… bodies are amazing.

How did you get interested in aerial arts?
I got interested in aerial in 2006. I saw a posting for a class with lovely evocative and vague language about flying and such. As a budding professional dancer and climbing gym manager (at that time), I thought that whatever aerial dance turned out to be, I wanted in! That class turned out to be fabrics, which is as good a place to start as any.

What do you love about aerial arts?
I love sussing out how things that appear to defy physics actually work. And I love being able to do things that not everyone can do. (Excuse a little vanity) I do like to be impressive.

What are you currently working on?
Currently I’m working on planning for AAUs summer programs, gathering games for the kids, coordinating instructors, sparking excitement for participants. Other current projects include Directing Student Performing Company’s first Fringe Fest show and reviving a single point trapeze piece for Body Logic Dance Festival in August.

Julianna Hane Interview, AAU Community Member

Julianna Hane on lyra
Julianna Hane on lyra

What is your favorite apparatus(es)?
My favorite apparatus is aerial hoop or lyra, but I really enjoy working on invented apparatus and duo work as well. I’ve recently be re-introduced to the fabric sling through Rebekah Leach, and her take on sling is incredibly interesting and complex.

How did you get interested in aerial arts?
I first saw Cirque du Soleil at Disney World my senior year of high school and loved it! As a sophomore in college I was invited to perform in a “vertical dance” piece in rope and harness at Winthrop University. It was a natural fit – the air just made sense to me, and I was hooked.

What do you love about aerial arts?
I love the way it offers an extension of a stage. Seeing bodies fly through the air is so thrilling to watch, and even more fun to do! It challenges the body in both strength and proprioception, so I never get bored. I also love the creative process, and getting to build shows with fellow aerialists, musicians, actors, etc. I recently joined a performance group in Boulder called Flight Collaborative, directed by April Moore Skelton and Megan Cattau. I’ll be working on a new piece soon, probably an invented apparatus.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently growing the Born to Fly™ Aerial Teacher Training and Certificate Program, and teaching with Rebekah Leach at AerialWorks in Castle Rock, CO. I recently trained teachers in Calgary, Canada. I’m also helping Rebekah develop more curriculum resources for AerialDancing.com.

Teachers: Castle Rock has a whole summer of teacher trainings available:http://www.borntoflyaerial.com/

Megan Gaida Interview, AAU Community Member

Megan Gaida on lyra
Megan Gaida on lyra

What is your favorite apparatus(es)?
It’s a tie between static trapeze and lyra – I just can’t get enough of the steel! I love that so many skills are transferable or adaptable between the two apparatus. And the most fun I’ve had was taking bungee workshops with Nancy, it felt like being a kid again!

How did you get interested in aerial arts?
As a kid, i was always climbing, swinging and tumbling, but i took a 20 year break and forgot all about it. One day i came across the intro classes in a newsletter and decided to give it a go. I fell right back in love, and have been a passionate student ever since!

What do you love about aerial arts?
Where to start? I love that it both challenges and inspires me to be better. I’ve become stronger, fitter and more flexible without suffering through a single dull gym workout! I’ve made friends at the studio, and the support ( both literal and moral!) and encouragement that everyone gives each other is amazing. The creative and performing aspects push me out my comfort zone and have made me a more balanced and confident person.

What are you currently working on?
I’ve been working on heel hangs and side planche for a while, and I will be for a while yet – they are going to take some strong muscles! You can always catch my progress on Instagram @megan.greenie.

Elizabeth Stich Interview, AAU Community Member

Elizabeth Stich
Elizabeth Stich, Flight of Fancy 2014

What is your favorite apparatus(es)?
Fabric, Rope, and Static Trapeze

How did you get interested in aerial arts?
I had the opportunity to learn aerial fabrics from Elsie Smith as a dancer in college. I wasn’t very strong then and it was in Georgia (super humid and sweaty) so I was always sticking to the fabrics and getting frustrated. Years later when I moved to Utah for graduate school, Julianna Hane had just started Revolve Aerial Dance, so I gave it another try and somehow it just clicked.

What do you love about aerial arts?
I love training and teaching aerial arts because it is empowering and gratifying to see tangible progress in myself and my students. In dance, it’s not always so simple to recognize and celebrate achievements. But in aerial work, the difference between not being able to do a certain skill and then attaining it is very clear!

What are you currently working on?
I just finished choreographing the group trapeze piece for the Spring Repertory show, which was exciting because it’s the first time I’ve choreographed for an ensemble with an advanced skill set all on the same apparatus. Next up, I’m working on material for the Santa Barbara Floor to Air Festival, where I’ll be teaching and performing in May.