SONYA SMITH

Artistic Director

I am a former monkey bar junkie, competitive hurdler, backpacker, aerial dancer and body geek. Starting to dance at the ripe age of 17, I avoided many of the body image pitfalls of dance training, able instead to celebrate dance's balance of athleticism and artistry. Since 1999 I have taught movement to children and adults; from creative movement to bungee dancing, mixed aerial apparatus to ballet, contact improvisation to vertical “wall” dancing.  Teaching young people to embrace the powerful capacity of their bodies and making space for complexity of their evolving identities, feels profoundly important in this tumultuous time. The joyful, challenging, exhilarating world of aerial training lends itself perfectly to this empowering work.

Continuing education is essential for myself and all of our instructors. I have completed aerial teacher training with Frequent Flyers, Paperdoll Militia’s for Level 1&2 Aerial Fabric, and Level 1 Sling certification as well as  45 hours of Lecture and Ground Teacher Training in addition to 20 hours of Adaptive Aerial Silks/Sling/Hammock Teacher Training as a part of the  Hours of Circus Arts Therapy® Training  Level 1 & 2 at the Circus Arts Institute.

One of my favorite things to do is to facilitate creation for both youth and adults.  In 2017 I developed the Aerial Tea as a thoughtfully facilitated works-in-progress showing and feedback event for performers of all genre (based on Fieldwork). It is an extension of the way I encourage my youth students to find and share their voices in a safe environment before putting themselves out in public. Performing is such a rich opportunity to be seen, be yourself (or someone else!), and be celebrated for the risk. 

In order to satisfy my own desire for physical dancing, theatricality, storytelling and authentic representation I have been privileged to work with many companies and artists across the country including BANDALOOP, Zaccho Dance Theatre, Flyaway Productions, Michelle Ellsworth, Gesel Mason, Lizz Roman and Dancers, Dance Brigade, Sara Shelton Mann, and Eat Cake Productions. I am forever grateful for the many opportunities I have had working with powerful women, creating interesting, challenging and diverse work.  I am so excited to share my breadth of knowledge gleaned from two decades performing professionally, a Masters of Fine Arts in Dance with an emphasis in Aerial Dance, Pilates and GYROKINESIS certificates, and unending curiosity about what is possible.