Workshops & Retreats
Intensify your Knowledge
Workshops are a fantastic way to offer new or unique perspectives to aerial students at any level and any location. These opportunities allow students and professionals alike to hone their craft, explore different pathways, and create connections between their skills and an audience. Contact Jen to schedule workshops at your studio. She is available for travel nationally and internationally. Private and semi-private sessions could be offered as well.
Retreats
Aerial & Burlesque Retreat
Prescott, AZ
- Aerial and Burlesque workshops at a unique smattering of studios
- Hiking and lakes and local excursions to calm your mind and connect with nature
- Aerial Photo shoot so you have memories to take home
- Victorian lodging to enhance the burlesque appeal
- Extra fun stuff like a Welcome Party, Goodies and surprise activities
"Mile High Flip & Tease" instructors
Jen Martin
As a performing arts professional, Jen has spent most of her career in New York City. Her choreography and performance credits span all areas of the entertainment world including stage, film, television, music videos, web-based productions, and industrials. Jen’s credits are numerous, and include work for ABC’s Good Morning America, Pepsi, Johnnie Walker, Armani, and Broadway Cares. After years of performing, Jen found her niche in aerial dance. She is a founder and choreographer of AERA Dance, a past Board Member of the U.S. Aerial Championships, the creator of the “Red Velvet” aerial dance class for Crunch Fitness, and the former Director of Aerial Programming for New York City’s Body & Pole. Jen has authored aerial hoop and hammock instructor training programs, and has choreographed and performed with the performance duo, Lyracle. She loves working with both traditional and custom aerial apparatus, and finds that a background in dance helps to uniquely position her to combine and meld dance, aerial and acrobatics throughout the industry. Recent projects include co-creation of the Forbidden Garden Experience, a variety show that includes aerial, burlesque, live music and projection mapping, in addition to creating solo acts for a variety of shows within Arizona.
Monica Alexandra
Monica started her career in Phoenix, AZ, performing and co-choreographing for the WNBA’s PHX Mercury hip hop squad. After her season with the hip hop squad, Monica was selected to model and perform in a state sponsored anti-tobacco campaign and commercial, and was hired as a performer for the Legends show held at Casino Arizona. She then moved to Los Angeles to continue pursuing her modeling and dance career. While there, she performed on a promotional commercial for Nip Tuck, modeled and performed for Paul Mitchell Paris and New York fashion shows, and performed numerous shows for Spanish-American actress, comedian, and flamenco guitarist, Charo. After a couple of years in Los Angeles, Monica moved to Las Vegas and performed at Planet Hollywood in a show produced by Emmy Award winning Broadway director, Jerry Mitchell. She continued to develop her career working with artists like Pitbull and Marc Anthony. She has been able to grace the stage of the world renowned burlesque show, Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce, and has continued to excel her burlesque career here in Arizona and around the country.
Retreat FAQ
Additional workshops on the schedule include:
- “Feathers, Fans, and Femme Fatales”
- “The Tease and Please Chronicles”
- “Shimmy and Strut Soirée”
Here are some potential workshops on schedule
- Floor2Air Fluidity – Aerial Dance
- Lyra Exploration (lyra)
- Criss Cross Sling Sauce (hammock)
- Pole Burlesque (pole)
- Silky Smooth (silks)
We are trying to make this super accessible! Here are the pricing options:
- King Bed: $1,550
- Queen Bed: $1,500
- Twin Bed: $1,450
- Retreat local or find your own housing $1150
The price includes:
Downtown Victorian Accommodation (king, queen and twin bed options)
- Daily Burlesque Workshops
- Daily Aerial Workshops
- Bonus class opportunities (think pole, chair, heels, posing)
- Photo Shoot
- Welcome Party
- Local hiking excursions
* Travel, transportation and food are to be purchased separately by you, though we are researching healthy prepaid food options.
We can recommend shuttle transportation and shared rental cars for those arriving/departing the airport at similar times. Prescott is a 1.5-2 hr drive from PHX.
The tentative schedule is as follows:
Thursday 4/25
— 4pm Arrival and welcome party
Friday 4/26
— 8-10am Aerial session
— 11am-1pm Sexy session
— 1-3pm Lunch/Explore
— 3-5pm Burlesque session
— 6-8pm Sunset picnic
Saturday 4/27
— 8-10am Aerial session
— 11am-1pm Sexy session
— 1-3pm Lunch/Explore
— 3-5pm Burlesque session
— Evening opportunity to enjoy nightlife in downtown Prescott
Sunday 4/28
morning hike / lake
— 9-11am Burlesque session
— 11am-4pm outdoor photo shoot
— 5-7 aerial session/ performance party
Monday 4/29
— Early hike
— Potential morning aerial session
Workshops
Aerial Dance
- Level: All levels; can be used for fitness based classes
- Time: 1-2 hrs
- Apparatus: Aerial Hammock (Sling)
- Requirements: Rigging point 10’ or higher, single point hammock sling with swivel, dance flooring
Aerial Silks
- Level: Must have beg/int aerial experience (invert from the air), basic familiarity with fabric apparatus via silks or hammock
- Time: 1-2 hrs
- Apparatus: Silks
- Requirements: Rigging point 14’ and higher, crash mats
Aerial Lyra
- Level: Organizer needs to choose in beg/int, int/adv in advance (beg/int - mostly below and inside hoop, int/adv - includes top bar and span)
- Time: 1-2 hrs
- Apparatus: Lyra
- Requirements: Rigging point 10’ or higher, crash mat under each apparatus, need to communicate single or double tab apparatus plus length of round sling connection
Aerial Sling Pathways
- Level: Must have beg/int aerial experience and basic familiarity with fabric apparatus
- Time: 1-2 hrs
- Apparatus: Aerial Hammock (Sling)
- Requirements: Rigging point 12’ and higher, single point hammock sling with swivel, crash mats
Let’s Get Twisted
- Level: Must have aerial sling experience
- Time: 1-2 hrs
- Apparatus: Double Sling or Dance Straps
- Requirements: Rigging point 12’ or higher, single point double sling or straps, crash mats, need to communicate about rigging set-up
Sling Choreography
- Level: Must have aerial experience
- Time: 1-2 hrs
- Apparatus: Aerial Hammock (Sling)
- Requirements: Rigging point 12’ and higher, single point hammock sling with swivel
Floor2Air Fluidity
- Level: Must have aerial experience
- Time: 1-2 hrs
- Apparatus: Silks, Lyra, Hammock/Sling, Pole, Lollipop, Custom Apparatus
- Requirements: Rigging point 12’ or higher, pending apparatus
Eye Candy
- Level: All levels
- Time: 1-2 hrs
- Apparatus: Any apparatus or none at all
Performance Prep
- Level: All levels
- Time: 1-2 hrs
- Apparatus: Any apparatus or none at all
