Phoenix Aerial Art and Pole

Very sassy atmosphere. Sometime a bit too much a bit too judging. But a good place to go cuz most of times everyone has a pole which is pretty nice. They offer diff levels of classes but only a few is on weekends. Wish they had more Sunday classes.

This studio has been a godsend for me. Pole dancing is incredibly challenging, and also incredibly rewarding and exhilarating. After six months of regular attendance I am stronger than I’ve ever been in my life and feel so grateful to have a place to dance & learn & be part of a community.
The Phoenix staff are excellent. The owner, Hana, is serious about her studio and runs a tight ship, which I appreciate. The studio is meticulously clean and organized. The scheduling system was confusing at first, but makes more sense when you realize that class size is strictly limited by the number of poles.
I’m sorry to read about the negative experiences or impressions that some reviewers have had at Phoenix. A couple of the reviewers here commented on being «called out» in class, describing it as a negative experience. Criticism can sting, but it’s a sign that the instructor is paying attention to you and cares enough to try and help you improve.
Overall, the atmosphere is amazingly warm and supportive. This is a room full of women watching themselves in a mirror, all trying to look their best, which sounds like a perfect recipe for cattiness. But instead it is friendly and welcoming, which is a testament to the positive underlying principles of the studio, set in place by Hana and embodied by the staff.
Finally, one tip: If you are new to pole dancing, start with the beginner class, Downy Feathers. The other classes are so much more fun and accessible once you get the basics. The DF class on Saturdays is especially great thanks to the instructor, Gemma, who creates an incredibly fun, playful atmosphere.

I recommend Phoenix Aerial Art & Pole studio in Berkeley to anyone who wants to exercise on a regular basis and to anyone who would like to explore their inner sensuality. The team of instructors are awesome, they are always in a happy mood, extremely patient to guide you in any exercise and to support student needs, in any routine. The different classes (with different instructors) provide their own techniques to keep everyone motivated and on track to success. The atmosphere is always inviting as the place always has a wonderful aroma. The whole studio is very clean, plenty of exercise supplies for the class. The place is very convenient for everyone, be it walking or driving. you may enroll for single classes, 10 classes package and/​or monthly membership are available if needed. I attend at least for 8 classes a week. I love it and I hope you will as well. Try it out.

I have to update this review after going several times. Each time I felt uncomfortable and got «in trouble» for multiple things. Wasn’t even asked politely to «not climb» 10 min before class started, had to hide in the back kitchen while another class went on, my bag supposedly was a fire hazard, no pictures allowed to take of my progress yada yada yada. It’s a weird sassy air in the room and I’m not even allowed to ask others for help when the teacher is busy. Quality instruction but I leave with a bitter taste every time. :-/

I want to say, as a continuing student here at Phoenix, that had I left a review during my first few classes, I would’ve agreed with some of the points made by the low starred reviewers.
Yet, here’s my reason for 5 stars:
After about a year of dancing here I think that many of the lower star reviewers come in with a sense of «I want to be babied through all the steps», because that’s definitely the feeling I came in with when I first started.
Now that I have been dancing for a bit, I am grateful that it didn’t turn out that way — I can feel like I am supporting myself and learning through my trials and errors, with my instructors being more of the insightful overseers that swoop in to save me from either making a fool of myself but MORE IMPORTANTLY make sure I’m doing a move safely. Though I can understand that that method of teaching doesn’t fly for certain people, I appreciate that form of teaching because it lets me be more self-​sufficient, dependent, and confident in myself to be mature enough to understand where I went wrong and how to fix it (or ask for help, there’s no shame in that).
This is also coming from someone who has been corrected many times by the instructors in front of everyone (I know one low reviewer was complaining about that) — honestly, for me that strengthens me: I want to help others who may be making the same mistake as me learn through my mistakes. I will admit that it can be embarrassing and intimidating (especially if it’s from Hana), but I’ll be frank: the instructors are trying to honestly help you 1) be safe, 2) not mess up the studio, and 3) have you learn correctly. Of course this is what I think, and people are free to disagree with me.
On that note, dancing is a form of art, and in art you get critiqued no matter what level of experience you’re at. So I don’t know why people are complaining about this. You do have to come in with a thicker skin (or develop one), be willing to learn from being critiqued, AND you have to not be obstinate. Personally, I want to be able to perform someday, and critiques from my peers and even strangers is what would help me grow.
Having you sit in the kitchen isn’t even a valid complaint — all I will say on that matter is that some people have more confidence than others when dancing and others do not. In this particular case, we’re dancing a sexual-​ized/​erotic/​beautiful type of dance. Being respectful of those that aren’t as comfortable with pole dancing in the safe and controlled environment that this studio provides isn’t even something that should be debated.
The place is clean, the instructors do care (but in their own individual ways), and you get strong, flexible, and sexy.

I got a groupon there a while ago. I have taken pole classes at other places but at this location the owner was condescending and rude and I never went back after trying two classes out. I was very uncomfortable.

If you want to go to a better pole studio, you should try out Studio Botan or Entangle and Sway if you are in San Francisco. They have good classes, friendly instructors, and the instruction is individualized and broken down so that you learn a lot. There’s also a lot of conditioning and stretching to really develop your flexibility and strength. Atomic Allure is also good if you are in the East Bay.
Let me start with the pros. The two instructors that I have taken classes from are good and supportive. I took classes with Gemma for Wing Feathers and Danielle for the Aerial Plumage and Hoop (which they have discontinued)
Now for the cons.
For the pole classes you usually have to sign up weeks in advance to get a class. I am talking about two months in advance if you want to get on the waitlist (not even into an actual class). So if you are thinking about buying a series of classes and then being able to use all your classes before the expiration date don’t even bother. Sometimes they let you know on the day of whether you got into the class. So if you live next door and planned your whole day around going to the class, then this will work out perfectly for you. Otherwise you are out of luck and you have just wasted one of your classes.
There are no late entries into the class once the class has started. It doesn’t matter if you are one minute late or five minutes late or fifteen minutes late. No entry. And you will be charged for the class. I know that this is partially to protect the student since working out without a proper warmup is dangerous, but I don’t understand how come a student cannot warm up on their own and then join the class. The policy may also be in place to avoid disrupting the class, but running out of the back room to send the student away is just as disruptive. I have been to so many dance studios, pole studios, and yoga studios, and I have never seen any studio turn away students for being a few minutes late. So again, if you live right next door to the studio, then this policy is perfect for you. But if you take the bus two hours to get here like I do, or even if you need to drive for thirty minutes to get here, it may not be worth risking the trip. You also cannot observe the class (which I understand) but you also cannot hang out in the back room (What?). Its funny because every single time when I have arrived early at this studio, they make me wait in the back room and they won’t let you into the studio.
The two instructors I had were wonderful, but some of the other instructors are not so. One time I took a class with one of the instructors and at the end the instructor showed us her pieces. We all sat around to watch. Right when the piece ended, the instructor for the next class came to us and said «You all better get your stuff out of the cubbies because your class is over.». And then when our instructor apologized for taking up her class time, she said sweetly «Oh, don’t worry, it’s not your fault».
Two stars for Gemma and Danielle (who doesn’t teach there anymore) However, unless you live next door and like dealing with attitude, then there are better studios out there.

I am a grateful student having spent four months at Phoenix Aerial Art and Pole. The studio is clean and comfortable, very reasonably priced, parking convenient, the friendly community is diverse and instruction consistently excellent. Classes are well structured to accommodate all levels of experience. With pole practice my spirits rise.

The quality of the class I took tonight (wing feathers) was top notch. The emphasis in stretching was well explained, detailed and Hana will take the time to refine you. (you just have to be paying attention)
I suggest everyone come in with an open mind, heart, and take constructive criticism with a grain of salt.
I got my money’s worth. She kicked my butt.
I will update after my 10^th class.

I bought the groupon for 10 classes and just finished my 10^th class. I have mixed feelings. Here’s a breakdown of all the classes I’ve taken:
Plumage Aerial Hoop & Fabric:
Danielle is so nice! The class starts with 30 min stretching and then you move to the aerial fabrics and hoops. I didn’t have the core strength for a lot of the activity we did on the fabrics or hoop. Danielle helped spot me and didn’t make me feel bad about not being able to do a lot of the stuff. I don’t know if I would recommend to beginners because if you don’t have the core or upper body strength, you won’t really be able to do a lot of the moves.
Downy Feathers (beginning pole):
Isabella was the teacher. She wasn’t friendly at all, but I found the class to be fun. There were easy to follow moves with a few challenging spins. Definitely a good intro class. Isabella would get easily annoyed by some of the other girls who were laughing when they attempted some of the moves. As a beginner, I totally get laughing. Some of the moves are really sexy and for a newbie who isn’t used to doing that, it can make you laugh because you feel awkward in the beginning! Isabella made a few comments «Okay…I don’t get why this is funny…» I thought she should lighten up a bit, especially as an instructor of BEGINNERS.
Wing Feathers — Multi Level Pole:
I took this class 3 different times with Hana. You do a 30 minute stretch and then there’s a routine you practice with a 15 minute free dance segment at the end. I’ll agree with some of the comments that Hana is not the most welcoming instructor. She does call you out if you’re doing something wrong and does spend more time with the more advanced or favorite students. I recall in one class, I wasn’t able to do a few of the stretches that well. I talked to Hana in the beginning and told her I’m completely new to everything. Unfortunately she didn’t provide any modifications for me so I wasn’t really doing anything during that particular stretch. She yells over at me «well do SOMETHING!». In my younger years, this would have been really embarrassing for me, but now that I’m older I didn’t really care. Everyone has to start somewhere! I know I’m not flexible and wanted to take this class to get more flexible and learn a new sport — pole dancing! Her demeanor was a little surprising to me since I had read all the 5 star reviews before I started working at the studio. I had a completely different idea of what she would be like as an instructor. Sometimes reading Unilocal reviews can really hype up a place or person, I think that might have been the case here.
Other wing feathers classes I didn’t have any call outs at me, but I wouldn’t say I got much extra attention which would have been nice as a new person. I don’t think this class should say «beginners welcome» because I never felt very welcome in the wing feathers classes.
Tail Feathers Expressive Pole:
Michelle is very nice and very welcoming! I felt very comfortable in her class. I wish she was the one that taught the wing feathers classes. I only went to one of these because it’s so late in the evening and I have a 45 minute commute home (I work close by the studio). You do a 20 – 30 minute stretching warm up and then pretty much go into free dance the rest of the time. My only issue with this is as a beginner, I don’t really know what moves to do. I would have liked to have a routine to follow and practice like in the wing feathers. I thought this class would teach you more about movement to express emotions and even teach you about facial expressions, but we didn’t cover those things in that particular class. If Michelle taught wing feathers, I’d probably be a regular student.
Boa Feathers:
I took this class 3 times. SO FUN! Chesaray is awesome. If you have any questions, she is really nice in answering them without making you feel dumb. I had fun every time! You learn things like twerking, body rolls, how to crawl on the floor, and other sexy moves and spins. I never felt bad about looking really awkward and actually starting getting better. Chesaray will cheer you on if you are doing the moves right which always feels good to hear when you finally nailed it. I wish this class was earlier than 6:30PM. I get off work at 4:30PM and found it too difficult to wait the 2 hours for this class to start. If this was the 5PM class, I’d be there every Monday!
Aerial Conditioning and Contortion:
Took this class once. I had the idea in my head this would help me get flexible faster. So difficult for beginners! Danielle is very kind, but the stretches are too advanced for me. She provided modifications, but it was still difficult for me.
Overall, this place is okay. If boa and downy feathers were at earlier times and if someone else taught wing feathers, I’d be a regular. I wish the instructors were a little friendlier. I still had fun and am glad I tried it! I’d still like to learn pole dancing, but I don’t think this studio is the right fit for me

I almost didn’t give this place a try due to the recent negative reviews. But boy I’m sure glad I gave it a shot. I wanted to address some concerns in addition to what Opal have written:
Price: if you could find a better deal elsewhere, pls share
Parking: my class was on a sat and there were parking everywhere
Instructor: I’ve only has the pleasure of working with Gemma today and she is quite a gem. Maybe I have thick skin but I love it when an instructor care enough to give me her constructive criticisms. I mean How else will one improve and learn if s/​he can’t see her/​his flaws? I haven’t had the chance to work with Hana and the others yet, and I’m looking forward to it.
Scheduling: Would be nice to have more classes available. I would come a couple times a week if there were more openings
Audience: Graceful or not, I do not want an audience looking and judging me while I’m expressing my inner sensual side
Class structure: I could watch Gemma make love to that pole for hours at the end. She was a queen, graceful, strong, sexy, matriculate — an inspiration for me to practice and one day be ¹⁄₁₀^th as good as her. And no I’m not a lesbian nor did they give me anything for backing them up.
Attitude: «you must have taken other dance classes. It shows. I hope you’ll come back and dance with us». Gotta love Gemma :)

When I moved I needed to find a pole studio. This one was close and there was a groupon so I thought I’d try it out. I had the worst experience here. I wanted a place that was welcoming and fun. I think for me the worst part was the segregation between new students and advanced. I want to say the class I took was for all levels. The owner (after a nice warm up) showed us the choreo and then basically had her advanced students learn it on their own, showed the beginners the easy spins, then I was just kind of left there. I knew the basics but wasn’t comfortable enough with names to figure it out on my own. No one offered to help but the bottom line is that is a horrible way to run a class. I was told I was doing moves «wrong» many times by the owner. So it wasn’t right for me. If you want to be a professional dancer then this may be the place for you with the strict dance rules and instruction. If you’re looking for a fun place to work out while learning pole dance I would not recommend this place. And like others have said parking sucks. I had 9 more classes to use on my groupon and never went back.

I wanted to address some of the concerns of other reviewers. I am not an instructor or affiliated with the studio – I am just another person who purchased a Unilocal deal and enjoyed it enough to continue taking classes on a regular basis.
Pricing:
Pole dancing is an expensive art to learn – it’s different from other types of dance/​exercise in that in order to take a class, everyone must have a pole. For example, a yoga studio can accommodate as many people as the floor space will allow. However, with pole, class sizes will be limited to the amount of poles that a studio has (generally 8 – 12).
Parking:
I’m pretty sure there is free parking in front of the studio every day after 6PM. This is sweet considering the earliest class you can take on most days is at 5PM.
Scheduling:
People don’t get priority scheduling in advance – they sign up for the classes in advance. This is the set up of the MindBody business management software that almost every aerial studio in the country uses.
When I first came to the studio, Hana assured me that she’d be able to get me into classes and to come and talk to her if there was a problem getting in.
In the last few months, Phoenix instructors began teaching 2 beginner classes on Mondays in addition to the beginner class on Saturdays. «Wing Feathers» classes are also beginner friendly (of which there are 3 a week).
Early Arrival:
The instructors do not allow you to watch others in the class before because it can affect the comfort level of the class. The classes are made for people to learn, and students are encouraged to explore their own sexuality. Being watched can make people feel self-​conscious and uncomfortable.
Shoes:
On a general note, you can’t wear shoes in any dance studio, unless the shoes are specifically for dance (think ballet shoes, jazz shoes, and in this case, heels for pole dancing)
Private Lessons:
They do give private lessons.

Let me start off by telling you that I was really excited to try this place. I even talked a friend to signing up for classes with me. We purchased a deal off of Unilocal,which was a mistake — it turns out that they usually have better deals on
or groupon. Either way I didn’t even use all the classes that I purchased (I bought 3 classes for $ 50). My friend and I only went to two of the classes. We were so turned off by the experience.
Pros:
1) offer a variety of classes
2) classes are 1.5 hours and most of it is spent doing complex stretches. You will definitely get a work out.
Cons:
1) pricing — they are more expensive than some of the other pole dancing classes around
2) parking is not convenient. If you take classes on Saturday, you will most likely have to search for parking for a while.
3) Instructor: Hana is not friendly at all, and can be very snarky. She will call you out in front of the other students if you are not doing something right. So the class is standing there looking at you mess up.
4) Scheduling: it is a pain to try and schedule a class. It is so difficult to try and get into the beginner’s class. We had to wait 2.5 months to get a class. Apparently, this place has an arrangement where girls pay a monthly fee of $ 100, and they get priority scheduling for all the classes. This also affects the atmosphere of the classes as most of the girls who are members know each other, and know what to expect out of the classes. They are also more advanced, and don’t need as much instruction. However the instructor spends more time with them — because they have become buddies. Thus the beginner gets less positive instruction.
5) You are told to come 15 minutes early or you will not be allowed in class. However you are not allowed to come in the studio, nor are you allowed to watch the class that lets out before you. The instructor makes you wait outside or in the kitchen — and you can’t look into the studio while standing there.
6) Can’t wear shoes in the studio.
7) They don’t give private lessons.
8) At the end of the class the instructor usually allows everyone to work on the moves that you learned throughout the class. In most classes at other studios, instructors will usually walk around and help struggling students or answer questions. Not here. The instructor Hana takes the time to show off her moves and try to impress everyone else for attention.
9) They don’t like it when you purchase deals on groupon after you bought a deal the first time. In other words, if you buy a deal for the first set of classes, their preference is if you pay full price after that. My friend bought a Unilocal deal and then bought a groupon deal for another set of classes after that because she thought she was going to be going for a while. When she brought in the certificates, the owner bitched and moaned and did not want to accept it. She scolded my friend and told her not to do it anymore. It doesn’t matter, my friend basically flushed money down the toilet, because she didn’t go after the first 2 just like I didn’t.
10) Negative vibes. I talked to other girls who were new to the class, and they didn’t care for it either. We grouped up and went and took pole dancing classes elsewhere where the atmosphere was friendly and actually educational.
Bottom line: I wouldn’t recommend this place.

Phoenix Aerial is one of my favorite places to work out. They have pole dancing classes, arm balance classes, and also aerial hoop &fabric classes.
I personally really enjoy the aerial hoop and fabric class. Danielle is amazing — she’s extremely skilled on the hoop and fabric and is also an excellent instructor. Her classes are only once a week, so I make it a point to come to Berkeley to take her classes. Beyond being fun, they’re an amazing workout. My arms are pretty sore for two solid days after her classes. I’ve tried one of their pole dancing classes, and it didn’t resonate with me as much as it did with other people. I have a ‘death grip’ on the pole and couldn’t bring myself to spin — I did learn how to climb though.
The classes fill up pretty quickly so it’s important to register for their classes in advanced online. Their booking system is straightforward and will send you email reminders of the class. It’ll also email you if you’ve been taken off a waitlist. The pole dancing class and the aerial class both had pretty small groups of people ~8 I believe. It’s also important to be on the classes on time — the classes don’t accept any late comers and will mark you as absent.
Normally the cost of the classes is $ 200 for 10, which is pretty pricey since I only take the aerial classes and need to additionally make a trip out to Berkeley. Maybe I’ll have to take the plunge one day when I go through aerial-​withdrawl.

I’ve taken classes at three different aerial studios and Phoenix was the first studio where I took my first pole fitness class ever. I honestly have to say that this studio is primarily why I fell in love with pole dancing for fitness. The only reason I ever stopped coming to Phoenix is that I moved away from Berkeley.
The instructors are great. I’ve only taken classes with Hana, Kirsten and Michelle, but I’m sure the other instructors are just as awesome. They’re all wonderful and encourage you to give the spins and moves your own style. The studio is meticulously clean and rarely do you ever need to share a pole.
The class curriculum is HARD. I stretched parts of my body that I didn’t even know needed to be stretched out. It’s all necessary and worth it though. I also have ZERO upper body strength but after a month of going about three times a week, I noticed that I was getting moves that I couldn’t do when I first started.
Above all, I love the community at Phoenix. At my first class, there were a bunch of girls climbing the poles and doing crazy spins. Clearly they were advanced and I was intimidated. All of that quickly went away. Whenever I struggled, almost always someone gave me some advice to nail this or that spin. The teachers and students enable a super supportive community.
The reason I have to give Phoenix four stars instead of five is because I wish that the studio offered classes catered to specific levels. Sometimes it felt like more attention was given to the more advanced students.

I love Phoenix. I initially took a class here about year ago, through a CampusCred. I liked it, but as a recent college grad I didn’t have the money to keep up with it.
Since then, I purchased the Groupon 10-​class deal, which was totally worth it! I only had time to go about once a week and boy was it a good workout. Now I’m hooked. My first class, I was sweating and achy in 10 minutes because you need a lot of core and upper body strength to do and maintain holds. I’m a bigger girl and felt about as sexy and graceful as a elephant, but who cares? You are having a good time and getting a great workout. I was actually surprised at how quickly you can be ready to start climbing and pick things up.
I took Downy Feathers, Wing Feathers, Flight Feathers, and Peacock Feathers classes, as well as a Aerial class. Downy Feathers is a great introduction, maybe if you’re new you can take this class once or twice to get the basics. I would say Wing and Peacock classes are more ‘dance-​y’ whereas Flight classes focus more on developing good technique for pole tricks. All were really fun and welcome to beginners, as they separate the experienced people and newbies and teach different things to work on. Hana, Kristin, and Danielle were all encouraging, kind, patient, and obviously love what they are doing.
Be prepared for sore muscles after your first class, but also be prepared for some amazing changes in not too much time! I gained a lot of upper body and core strength that I didn’t have before, and even am close to doing a full split, something I thought was totally out of reach for me.
Parking: Easy enough to find out front with the meters, but better go to the residential area behind the studio — it’s free!
As soon as I am able, I will be purchasing the $ ²⁰⁰⁄₁₀ class package so I can continue with this. Love it!

For the past three months, Phoenix has provided me with life-​changing, educational experience. Wish I had started sooner now that I’m about to move away. I’ve grown to love the pole fitness, the Phoenix studio, and everyone at the studio. My body has gone through some amazing changes in just a few short months. Let me start by saying that pole fitness and aerial arts are HARD. I’m not just saying that because I’m a wimp. But because there are so many components of fitness, such as joint strength, balance, flexibility, and mobility, all of which conventional fitness programs tend to ignore.
Students at the Phoenix are awesome; they are welcoming, kind, supportive, and beautiful. With diverse age groups, from 14-​year-​old high school students to mid-​age ladies, with many shapes and sizes, you have no reason to feel out of place even if you are new to the pole or aerial.
For me, it was a bit different since I was the only guy at the studio. I’m not at all flamboyant or outgoing. Even though I wasn’t interested in anyone in the studio, just looking at women dressed in bikinis and wearing high heels or undressing myself to the ‘proper’ pole fitness wear was making me uncomfortable. I guess I was worried that other students will judge me for being the only guy and that I would make others uncomfortable. However, I quickly found comfort as students were welcoming and supportive and instructors were encouraging.
Hana, the owner of the studio, is an amazing person. She is fun, supportive, and knowledgeable, yet very strict and disciplined when it comes to your safety. She has rules about safety such as no jumping on the pole, always engaging shoulder, spot others correctly, etc. If you follow the rules, you’re good. However, that does not mean she will coddle you and not let you learn tricks. She encourages you try new moves as long as you’re safe and able. There were a couple of times she pushed me into a spin or directed me to do new moves when I was being a chicken. If she push, I would still be scare of the pole. If you want to try out a new move, just ask for a spot. You’ll be in good hands. As a little known fact, she is certified in various fitness/​personal training programs and a nurse. She knows her stuff.
She is so enthusiastic about the poles. She is constantly learning new tricks and skills to teach. I don’t think you’ll get bored since she brings so many new tricks and variations to the studio!
Studio
There are huge wall-​sized mirrors all around the studio. It has a nice wooden floor. There are yoga blocks and mats for stretching, ottomans for storage, and rubbing alcohol in spray bottles and black wash cloths to clean poles with.
The studio is very clean and it’s always kept clean. Hana is a bit of a neat freak and I totally love her for that. Floors are swept and steam mopped regularly, floor mats are sanitized, and everything is always neatly organized. You can rest assured that the studio is CLEAN.
There are about 10 poles in the studio. 8 permanently affixed spin/​static poles (four 45 mm and four 50mm) and 2 stage poles (one 40 mm and one 45mm)
There are three tissues and lyras (aerial hoops) each for aerial class.
Classes
Most classes are multi-​level based, and teachers are great at giving appropriate exercises you should do. Don’t be discouraged at trying out different classes. Most beginners start with downy feathers, which is a beginner’s class, but it’s more like an introductory class. It’s almost impossible to get into unless you sign up 3~4 weeks in advance. In this class, you learn the very basic steps. What you learn in this class doesn’t vary much so you can probably master it in one or two sessions. Even without taking this class first, you can try a multi-​level pole or pole skills class.
Multi-​level pole and pole skills classes are a tiny bit different in regard to what it emphasizes. Multi-​level one is focused more on pole dancing as a whole; you learn floor work, walking around the pole, and dancing and tricking. On the other hand, pole skills class, as its name suggests, focuses on developing skills. But, everything falls under the pole dancing, so you’ll end up doing a little bit of everything.
I highly recommend taking Active Stretching and Flexibility class and Aerial Conditioning and Contortion class. From their title, they may not sound interesting or useful to you, but I guarantee everyone would benefit from these classes. My preconception about the flexibility was that it’s something you’re born with and there isn’t much you can do to change. I didn’t think flexibility had much practical application before. But after experiencing tremendous gains in running speed and squat weight load and release of the tightness/​scar tissue from a 2 year old injury, I now know how important it is.
Reached the maximum character limit. Will revise.

I had purchased a LivingSocial for this place earlier this year, and time just flies by. Seeing that my voucher was going to expired very soon in early June, I looked at their calendar to register in some classes. I’m pretty sure other voucher holders were also doing the same so many of the classes were already full & waitlisted.
I registered for Peacock Feathers & Flight Feathers class for last Friday. Since I didn’t live near the area, that’s why I choose to do back to back classes to save from having multiple trips to this place.
Because of traffic, I arrived late to the studio. The first class started at 12:30pm and I arrived at 12:50pm. Whenever I opened the door, one of the instructors told me that they don’t admit late students to class so I had to come back later to attend my other class. Bummer. :(
So I ran some errands and came back about 10mins before the 2^nd class started. Sign a waiver. Then started the class with Hana as the instructor. She seems friendly & super detailed orientated. The Flight Feathers class consisted with a little more than half of lots of stretching & then you get to learn some really cool pole tricks. I couldn’t achieve those spins & tricks cause I definitely lack the core strength, arm strength, & flexibility to do them. Lol. but I did try my best to the best of my ability to give them a shot.
The studio is very clean, petite, calming, & lavender. There a good amount of poles for everyone. They have a dressing room, bathroom, & kitchen. Parking… right in front of the studio all along University are all metered parking spots. But you can definitely find parking behind the studio in the residential area for free.
What I learned from this experience… pole dancing is really difficult, not really for me. Go alone to this place or with a friend who is also doing the class, don’t bring your kids. I had my little sister with me so she ended up sitting in the kitchen area while I was doing the class. You’ll definitely be sore the next day & with some bruises in some areas.

Phoenix Aerial Art and Pole is an amazing place! The studio is clean, open and very welcoming. And aside from being home and spending time with my kids, there isn’t anywhere I would rather spend my Saturday afternoons.
Hana is amazing, as is Isabella! My schedule hasn’t allowed me to take any classes outside of the ones available on Saturday, but they are awesome, and wonderful workouts. Hana and Isabella go out of their way to be supportive and encouraging of everyone that through the door, and I have no doubt the other instructors are exactly the same way.
I hope to eventually be able to go to more classes, but as I said it’s my schedule that prevents that right now. Until then, Saturday is the day I look forward to the most, each and every week.