News

Now through December 1st, we are running a special Small Business Saturday promo through our website. We try our best to keep aerial training affordable year-round, so there’s not a lot of room for discounts. But once a year we make an exception for Small Biz Saturday because small businesses are a big deal! Shopping local is always better than buying from corporate chains, but finding the goods you want locally can be  tricky.  So allow us to point you to The GUGA shop, a local online store with awesome fitness apparel and accessories (the name stands for Get Up, Get Active).  This shop is Buffalo-based, woman owned, and black owned — all things we want to support at B.A.D. and we hope you do too.  Plus the tees, leggings and crop tops are all super cute!                      So here’s the deal: Purchase any item valued at $20 or more from The G.U.G.A. Shop www.thegugashop.com and email us (buffaloaerialdance716@gmail.com) your receipt by December 1st. We will send you a code for 20% off any B.A.D. class pass.  This includes single class

By Jess Bennett Last February, BAD put on a spectacular student showcase, and thanks to our generous audience, ticket sales afforded us a brand new trapeze. As your resident trapeze specialist, I was given the honor of speccing and placing the custom order for the new apparatus. She was going to be beautiful – dressed all in black, long, nine-foot ropes included. She arrived to my home March 14th…and everything shut down March 16th. So for three months, she and I were roomies. Having a trapeze at home was convenient for at-home video-making purposes (see floor trapeze here), but trapezes and trapeze artists are meant to be in the air, and we were grounded. A grounded aerialist is not a happy camper. Aerial is so much more than exercise or a side job to me. It’s my therapy, creative outlet, stress management, and one of my biggest passions. The studio often feels more like home than where I reside and the team is my family. There is nothing like being in the air. I started gymnastics training when I was three years old. My body doesn’t know what it is to NOT be in the air

** Due to COVID-19, we have postponed this event.  We will reschedule them as soon as it is safe to do so.  Thank you for your understanding**   Natalie has trained extensively at both NECCA and in Montreal Quebec, and travels internationally to teach workshops. Natalie combines her deep knowledge of “how stuff works” from her engineering background with her creativity and love for silks to come up with an innovative method for creating and teaching aerial sequences. Check out her website: https://www.nataliecronin.com/ 11:30-1:00 Loops, and Tension Locks (Intermediate) Learn to seamlessly transition between hitches, loops, and tension locks to create fluid movement on aerial silk. This workshop will explore pathways into and out of thigh hitches, loop splits, knee loops, standing loops, and more! New sequences and climbs will be learned in the workshop giving students a lot of ideas to play with after the workshop. 1:30-3:00 Creative Drops For All Spaces (Intermediate) Discover how to bring exhilaration drops on aerial fabric to performance venues and training

Miniseries are even better when you get to star in them!  All new for 2020, Buffalo Aerial Dance is offering 3 week series on specialized topics – including a new 100% non-intimidating beginner class.  We’ve planned the miniseries through May already, and we’ll repeat favorites or add new ones as we get feedback.  Check out all the options below.  Also, FYI the plural of miniseries is also miniseries. January 8, 15, 22 – Absolute Beginners Class (ABC) Mixed Apparatus (silks, trapeze, lyra) Jan 29, Feb 5 & 12 – Inversion Bootcamp All levels, beginners welcome.  Mixed apparatus. Feb 19 & 26, March 4 – Harnessing Momentum Intermediate Level.  Trapeze and Lyra. March 11, 18, 25 – Absolute Beginners (ABC) Mixed Apparatus (silks, trapeze, lyra) April 1, 8, 15 – Artful Exits Intermediate Level.  Silks (and possibly some rope). April 22, 29, May 6 – Express Yourself  All levels, beginners welcome. Any apparatus, floorwork. PRICING – $40 for ABC and $50 for all other series. These are specialty classes and

“You only get to be a beginner once,” is one of my most favorite things ever said to me by an aerial coach.  Her point was that being a beginner is something to be enjoyed, not something to hurry past.  One of the most frequently asked questions I get is “How long does it take to get good?”  which is exceptionally difficult to answer for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I have no idea what you consider “good” and what I consider “good” comes in many forms.  Second of all, people progress at very different rates.  Never having met you, I have no idea how your unique body is going to function in the air. Third of all, even if we can establish the previous two points, I do not know how consistently you’re going to train.  I can give you a very very very very rough average of a beginner student who comes to class at least once weekly as well as open gym at least once weekly is likely to be able to perform a Level 1 or Level 2 act in a student showcase after about 1 year — but we have fabulous students who

World class hand balancer Gretchen In Motion is coming to Buffalo to offer two amazing workshops! Thursday October 17 – 700-9:00 Active Flexibility – Southtowns Studio Saturday October 19 – 2:00-4:30 Handstands – Northtowns Studio About Gretchen: Gretchen “In Motion” Ernst has been balancing around the world for the past decade. Her training began in San Francisco with subsequent studies in Montreal and the Ukraine. She has toured with Carson and Barnes Circus, Opus Opera and most recently Celebrity Cruises. She delights in being upside down and encouraging others to do the same! Workshop Descriptions: Active Flexibility (all levels) For anyone wishing to increase flexibility safely and effectively. Experience working with alleviating joint pain and that “stuck” feeling. Come with questions! theory and exercises for active range of motion improve lines focus on legs and feet with time for back bends if desired Handstands (all levels) pre-requisite: must be able to kick up to handstand against the wall handstand specific warm up

Hello Everyone, First of all, thank you so much for being understanding and supportive of the changes taking place at the studio.  It’s been a rather tumultuous month, and we’ve reached the twilight of our time at the Alt Theatre, a bittersweet moment for sure.  The seating and flooring will be disassembled on Tuesday 7/30.  We are holding classes as usual through Sunday, July 28.  Please check our social media accounts for any updates (the easiest way to post last minute changes if need be).  Secondly, We’re very excited to announce 2 new spaces that we’ll be using shortly: Metts Dance studio in West Seneca and a space adjoining Flips gymnastics in Lockport (north East Amherst).   After searching high and…high for suitable spaces, these were the definitely best fit for our needs!  We are also awaiting completion of a new facility in Elmwood Village; the plan is to have a B.A.D. studio there in the start of 2020.  Whether we’ll maintain the Northtowns and/or Southtowns locations in addition to the Elmwood location is undetermined at this

For many starry-eyed newbies, part of the allure of aerial arts is the potential to share your newfound skills with friends, family, and perhaps eventually larger audiences. Other budding aerialists prefer to keep their training more private and personal for quite sometime and maybe indefinitely. For those of you who do want to take center stage, you were probably excited to find there’s a few relatively easy aerial poses that look gorgeous and make you feel like a superstar right away. The other 97% of poses get progressively more challenging, but nevertheless, the dreaming has already begun. If you’re dreaming of your name in lights, I’m certainly not going to stop you, but I will encourage you to plan your steps and draw an honest path from goals to accomplishment. OK, step 1, come to class for at least a couple months Step 2, when you feel ready and when your instructor gives you the green light, sign up for a student showcase. Showcases are great because they offer a ready-made avenue from goal to accomplishment: practicing a certain sequence of moves until you can

Tis the season!  Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, or something else, the holidays have a strange way of affecting us.   Throughout the month of December, homes and offices are decorated with shiny balls and tree parts, party invites come in multiples, and the traditions of gift giving and overeating never seem far from our minds.  In addition to the usual stuff, aerialists may find themselves facing some unique problems during the holiday season. I’ve compiled a little collection of what those might be. #1 The Music Christmas songs might be insanely annoying, but you find yourself choreographing moves to them in your head anyway.  It’s just something we do with any music with dynamics that can be interpreted into drops, spins, and dramatic gestures.  If you’re anything like me, it can prove very difficult to restrain yourself from busting out into choreographic ideas in the middle of Christmas dinner — or any other holiday gathering. #2 The Scrapes Try not to wear this look to the holiday party. Winter brings some relief from the display of bruises

Buffalo Aerial Dance was created from a combined love for aerial arts and the city of Buffalo.  After 5 years, it fills us with holiday cheer to see our local aerial community growing strong.  To celebrate, we are offering a Small Business Saturday Sale.  Share some of that holiday cheer with yourself or your friends and family – purchase a B.A.D. gift certificate this holiday season! Details: Our 3, 6, and 10 class passes and all gift certificates are 15% off.  Gift certificates can be purchased in the amount of any class pass, as well as $60 or $100. A private lesson for 1 or 2 people is $60 and that is a popular choice.  Gift certificates expire one year from date of purchase.  Class passes are good for either 45 day (3 class) or 90 days (6 & 10 class) from the date of first use.   Please note: If you purchase a gift certificate intended for a kids session, redemption of the certificate depends on the availability of space in these classes.  A new kids session starts in January; these classes are very popular and have a cap of 6 students.  If they fill up