Founder /  Director /  Facilitator  / Coach

~ B.A. Psychology

~ 200 HR RYT (Anusara) 

~ Beginner & Intermediate Aerial Silks Teacher Certified (Born to Fly)

 

Sarah grew up in a  rural river town in Northern California, called Coloma. Her love for adventure sports and nature has led her to call some of the most beautiful places in the world home- such as Lake Tahoe, The Big Island of Hawaii, and Portland, OR.  In contrast to her mutable, wanderlust lifestyle, her life’s purpose is firmly rooted in a deep-seated belief in the transformative power of movement practices, such as aerial, dance and yoga. Likewise, she sees traveling as a vessel to true healing and human potential through the character-defining, real world learning that arises from new experiences in exploring foreign places. 

 

In 2019, she moved from Hawaii to Portland to pursue A-WOL Dance's program, FlyCo, to diversify and level up her aerial training which focused on dance trapeze, sling, lyra, duo lyra, partner acro, and contemporary dance. Currently, she teaches at 3+ studios in the Portland Metro area and loves to travel to teach workshops. Her specialties are strength-based moves and conditioning, choreography and musicality. As a yoga teacher she is trained in the Anusara tradition, and uses this same intuitive and heart-centered approach in her aerial classes to make them supportive, inspiring, and accessible to all who attend. In the performance realm, she has been a freelancer since 2017, and has scaled both the corporate and creative worlds- with clients ranging from MTV Productions, Adidas, High Times, Burning Man Festival, private parties, weddings, night markets and festivals. 

 

Sarah has led a dozen retreats that originated from her home in the South Kona jungle, that branched out to locations in Mexico and Guatemala pre-covid. She sees retreats as a beautifully potent week with the ability to create not only community, but ripples of positive change to bring home to our "normal" lives. In the future, she is excited to grow as an artist, coach, world traveler, entreprenuer and advocate of the amazing aerial world. She feels that Explore Aerial Retreat is a breath of life in the aerial community- a place where we can drop our baggage and expectations at the door. It’s a creation close to her heart and she knows it will travel far and wide! 

Co-Founder / Assistant Director / Facilitator  / Coach

~ B.A. Fine Arts

~ ACE Certified Personal Trainer

 

Shaina grew up around the South between swamps and beaches in Alabama, Louisiana and Florida. Early on her adventurous spirit called her to explore her natural surroundings, ballet classes, ice skating and studies in music. As a small-town girl, she craved to travel the world, and eventually moved to central Florida to get her B.A. in Fine Arts. During these studies, her movement practice expanded to various forms of dance, fitness and yoga but she soon discovered the world of circus, and her passion for aerial arts unfolded through both of these worlds colliding.

 

She moved to New York to complete a professional training program at Urban Circus NYC, and learned cross discipline skills that encompassed multiple aerial apparatuses, flexibility, and strength training. Upon graduation, she began her career as a full-time performing artist on the west coast which included the festival circuit; particularly, Symbiosis, Eclipse Gathering, Hulaween, Imagine, and Paradiso. She also has experience entertaining at dinner theaters, corporate events, theatrical productions, and the like.

 

Alongside her performing career, she became a circus educator in 2015. She combines all of her passions for a uniquely creative approach to aerial training, focused on movement quality, musicality, line making, and technique in the air. She continues to broaden her training and expertise, and now holds a certification for personal training specializing in calisthenics and strength training. Most recently, she is on track to complete 200 hour YTT certification and loves hatha flow and yin yoga to incorporate a more gentle, restorative practice to balance out the yang of aerial training.

 

After nearly a decade of practice in her field, she's now performed and taught in 17 different countries across the globe, sharing her love of movement and wellness. She hopes to ignite passion in others and is dedicated to helping people feel confident, to unlock their fullest potential and live their best life. She feels that Explore Aerial Retreat embodies a deeper connection with the self and fellow aerialists alike. It brings about growth, expansion, and gives us the tools to overcome obstacles or blocks in not only our training journey, but also at a spiritual level and in our waking lives.