Emily Rodgers set her sights on aerial in high school after hearing her sister brag about trying the dance style on vacation. She tried flying trapeze for the first time and was immediately hooked.
“My first class was so exciting I was shaking the whole time, not out of fear, but out of raw thrill,” Rodgers said.
With almost 10 years of aerial experience, Rodgers now teaches trapeze classes at Salem Aerial Dance Company on Northeast Silverton Road. The studio’s owner Kim Choeychan opened the company in July 2022 and hired Rodgers as a teacher one year ago.
Rodgers has a special love of flying trapeze because of how high in the air it takes her.
That paved the way for her to learn other types of aerial — a movement artform which brings acrobatics to the air and combines dance and gymnastics. Rodgers thinks aerial takes the fun from both and forgoes the rigidity and rules. Beyond critical safety guidelines, people can experiment with aerial to their heart’s desire.
“It started out as a hobby, but then I just loved it so much that whoever I was taking classes from couldn’t get rid of me, so I just ended up teaching,” Rodgers said.
The Salem studio offers classes in hoop, trapeze, silks and sling for kids and adults. The hoop and trapeze are separate attachments to hang from the ceiling. Silks and sling are different styles using the same 100-foot piece of fabric.
Kim Choeychan, owner and artistic director of the company, leads an all-female staff at the studio. Rodgers said women are most of the students, but people of any gender are encouraged to try it.
At summer evening classes, pop songs and laughter float out of the dance studio’s open garage door as one class seamlessly transitions to the next. Students and instructors chat and cheer on those who are still suspended in the air, practicing on the apparatus.
The studio’s adult classes make aerial accessible and fun, changing it from intimidating to welcoming. Rodgers said that adult classes give adults a space to tap into childhood joy by giving them the tools and safety to play however they want.
The excitement and demand from the public has been mostly for the studio’s youth program, which has about 80 students, according to Rodgers. Their adult program began in January 2023 and has around 30 people who participate regularly. Class sizes range from three to eight people.
Youth students between 5 and 18, can participate in recreational classes or the youth performance program. The youth program prepares two annual performances and will be performing at the Englewood Forest Festival on Saturday, Aug. 10.
Some aerial students have previous experience in dance or gymnastics, but people who have never done the splits or taken a dance class are more than welcome.
“If you’re doing something that you’re bad at, we can still appreciate that you’re doing it anyway,” Rodgers said. “It doesn’t always have to look pretty, that’s not always the goal in aerial.”
People are initially drawn to aerial because it looks impressive and exciting, Rodgers said, but before looking graceful, students learn the basics, like how to hold onto the silks. Another key lesson for students is knowing how their bodies feel when on the apparatus.
Being on a trapeze or hoop can disorient some people, and instructions may no longer make sense while hanging upside down. When this happens, the instructor or other students step in with simple instructions or explanations to reorient whoever is on the apparatus.
Adult classes have a natural sense of community throughout the exercises and challenges. Even while balancing atop a hoop mid-air, women chat casually and cheer others on as they try new skills or sequences, a combination of several movements and skills.
“You have to become friends with someone when you’re sharing a space and you’re experiencing the same challenge together at the same time, and you’re helping each other,” Rodgers said. “You can’t not become friends. I think that’s why it’s really great for adults because so much in our lives is competition.”
Beyond its successful youth program, the studio aims to give adults a space to be themselves and enjoy something for its own sake.
“It’s for everybody, and it’s for every body. You don’t have to look like a gymnast to come to a casual adult aerial class,” Rodgers said. “Finding that conduit for movement, natural movement is really therapeutic.”
The company offers group classes and private lessons. The company’s Instagram and website has information about what classes are available and how to schedule them. Those interested in classes or want to learn more about the studio can call or text the studio at 971-599-6381.
Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].
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Madeleine Moore is working as a reporter at Salem Reporter through the University of Oregon’s Charles Snowden internship program. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon in June 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
