UpSwing Aerial Dance

Berkeley, United States

4.7

8 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 510-587-0770
Website:
www.upswingaerialdance.org
Address:
2525 8th St, Berkeley, CA, 94710
b/t Parker St & Dwight Way
West Berkeley
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
560 ftDwight Cresent & 7th St
0.2 mi6th & Channing Way
0.6 miUniversity Av & 9th
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Bussiness info

Good for Kids
Yes

Today

Today –
Local time (Berkeley) 2:40 PM Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Business hours

Monday 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Tuesday –
Wednesday 3:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Low flying single point trapeze, rope and harness dancing and improvisation.

History

Established in 2005.

In 2005, UpSwing Aerial Dance began as an aerial dance program (then called Studio 12 flys) specializing in low flying trapeze, sling, and rope & harness work. During the first 6 years, we offered classes, workshops, and performance opportunities for Kids, Girls, Teens and Adults. In 2011, we introduced the professional company-​UpSwing Performance Company and changed our operating name to UpSwing Aerial Dance. This new name reflects the the vision of the Artistic Director, Cherie Carson. Under this new direction the organization and business has grown into supporting the professional company UpSwing Performance Company (also known as UpSwing PC) We have 3 teaching aerialists on faculty and 5 adjunct faculty committed to the merging of dance and aerial arts. UpSwing offers a rare blend of creativity, aerial technique, improvisati on, time and space to motivate the artist within you. ALL classes and workshops are held at Studio 12… even some amazing performances!

Meet the Business Owner

Cherie C.

Business Owner

Cherie Carson is a choreographer, dancer, improviser, teacher, interdisciplinary artist & Director of UpSwing Performance Company. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, her work has been presented throughout the US, Scotland, China & twice on the PBS mini-​series Razor’s Edge Café. She has received numerous grants & fellowships from such entities as the NEA/​Rockefeller New Forms Regional Initiative Grant, Georgia Council for the Arts, Puffin Foundation, LTD., Zellerbach Family Foundation, City of Oakland, CA$H Grant, Hambidge Arts Center, Atlantic Center for the Arts & the State of Florida’s 1997 – 98 Individual Artist Interdisciplinary Fellow. In 1992, Cherie began to incorporate video into her dance form. The «Water Dreams» video, a finalist for the Robert Bennett Award, was screened at the American Film and Video Festival in LA. Cherie’s choreography is in the repertory of many individual artists and companies like Room to Move Dance, Dance Force & Moving in the Spirit Dance Company.

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Vicinity

Near this location:
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Barefoot Boogie
8th Street Studios 2525 8th Street
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2525 8th St
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8 reviews of UpSwing Aerial Dance

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Berkeley, CA
My two kids attended a free aerial dance class with a friend around eight years ago. They enjoyed swinging on the trapeze and joined Girls Who Fly which then evolved into Teens Who Fly. In the years they have participated in aerial dance they have fun and have learned a lot about dance from the different teachers they have had. Performing has given them confidence, poise and discipline. Thanks.
Catharine T.
Place rating: 5
Berkeley, CA
I attend the Upswing Aerial Dance class taught by Cherie Carson and I have the time of my life! I feel as if my dance has taken flight as I take flight. We have so much fun in the classes. My favorite has been material slings but now I also have learned to love the rope & harness, inversion swings, single pointed trapeze (they spin & swing), regular trapeze, bungee and hoops.
Cherie spins magic with her ease and skill of teaching I am able to do things I never dreamed of! (I often have dreams of flying after a class.) I have learned the dynamics of choreography thanks to Cherie-​she is so willing to teach these skills and offer me opportunities to use these skills in class and performances (National Dance Week-​April & Improv Dance Night-​August)
If your a patron of the Arts the Upswing Performance Company is for you. Go to the website to see for yourself. They have been receiving recognition with invites to local as well as National and Worldly events and they are in need of monetary support &/​or gifted airline miles. I have been moved and I have seen others moved by their performances-​most notably they have a Snow Doves Dance that release snow over the heads of adults and children. The joy and appreciation of life through dance is exactly what dance is all about and Cherie and her Performers have got it right. See you at their next performance!
Place rating: 5
Berkeley, CA
Working with Ashley and Cherie on the aerial equipment is one of the best things I’ve ever done. I absolutely love the feeling of lift that you get from swinging and spinning on the equipment. It’s a completely different experience from dancing on the floor. You really can feel like you’re flying! It’s exciting, thrilling and exhilarating! Great joy comes from this experience.
I’ve become much stronger than I ever did lifting weights, so I quit the gym after I started aerial dance. This is much more fun!
Upswing Aerial Dance gives even new dancers opportunities to perform and show off their skills. We work both with choreography and improvisation. You can learn in a very supportive environment in a wonderful community of people. There is extensive focus on safety. I take great pride in my aerial work and would love to bring the same joy to others.
Place rating: 5
Alameda, CA
I was so happy to find Upswing when I moved back to Berkeley after being gone for awhile. I fell in love with aerial dance when I lived in Santa Fe, NM. My first time on the trapeze was a «single point» trapeze, which means that both ropes meet at a single point on the ceiling, allowing the trapeze to spin while you do tricks. It is definitely my favorite aerial apparatus, because you can feel really graceful and etherial even before you have the strength and skill to do a lot of tricks. We are lucky to have lots of aerials studios in the Berkeley/​Oakland area, but, as far as I know, Upswing is the only one that offers classes in single point trapeze.
The other advantage to single point is that you don’t have to be very far off the ground, which is helpful when you’re new to trapeze and concerned about falling.
I don’t get motion sick, so the gentle spinning doesn’t bother me (it’s the opposite – I LOVE IT! I feel weightless and stress free!), but the teachers are really helpful for those who do feel a little woozy their first time, and the end of class candied ginger (helps with motion sickness) is a welcome treat.
I highly recommend taking classes at Upswing! I have taken classes with Ashley and Cherie and loved them all! They are wonderful people who love what they do and love showing you how to have fun in the air!
Place rating: 4
Fremont, CA
Groupon makes you do weird things.
You start off with 5 minutes of ice breakers where we went around in a circle saying our name with a funny movement and everyone else would repeat all the other names and movement. What a Berkeley thing to do. Following that are 30 minutes of yoga stretches which feel really great. After that, you do some exercises on the bars.
Even though the bars were relatively low to the ground, I was surprised to see how there is no padding at all on the floor.
You’ll probably get some more advanced trapeze artists (is that what you call them?) in your class so they can get some practice time. It’s entertaining to watch them swing back and forth on the trapeze while changing positions but… it poses a slight danger because trapezes can collide.
Other than that, all attendees and the instructor had great attitudes. Very willing and patient. The price for a series of classes is a bit on the pricier side at about 5 classes for $ 90 – 100.
After one class, you don’t really feel sore like you do with other activities but the stretching leaves your muscles relaxed. Trapezing is such a graceful activity that you just feel more feminine afterwards… yes, even the dudes.
Place rating: 5
Berkeley, CA
This is the best little studio for trapeze, tissu, harness and arial dance. It’s amazing for kids. My daughter has been learning arial dance there for the bast 2 years. She LOVES it. Hannah and Cherie are amazing teachers. We have even had birthday parties here and they have always been big hits with the kids.
Place rating: 5
Berkeley, CA
Studio 12 Flys for birthdays and Phil Weglarz are as good as it gets!
First, because I am so enthusiastic about Studio 12 I’ll unabashedly plug them and let you know that they offer regular parent-​child workshops, boys & girls classes, adult classes and performances. Studio 12 also does birthday parties, and this is what I’m Unilocaling about…
We did a birthday party at Studio 12 for my 3 year old son. It was such a success! Having a child with a November birthday, we run into the problem of wanting to do something fun but are limited by the space in our home and the weather if we plan an outside party in the park. We were recommended to check out Studio 12 and Phil Weglarz for a unique birthday party venue using static trapezes (now, lets be clear here… this is not the giant 40 ft. Ringling Brothers trapeze with a huge net underneath that you are thinking of. Its a low trapeze with an emphasis mostly on moving up and down the apparatus rather than football-​field wide swinging motions).
The Studio 12 space is bright, large, airy, and clean. Studio 12 has many, many trapezes and other fun things to hang from. A kids dream! What is especially great, is that its not an oh-​my-​goodness-​every-​kid-​for-​themselves birthday experience a la a bouncy house. Phil Weglarz, as the instructor sits them down in a circle, «warms them up» with stretching activities, and gives them a «lesson» in static trapeze and how to control their bodies. He is interested in what the kids have to say and do and the kids loved him.
Even better, there are adult trapeze classes. But I digress…
I think you can see that I’m as enthusiastic about Phil Weglarz as I am about Studio 12. Phil is not only a wonderful Studio 12 instructor, but he is also an East Bay licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (MFT) & Expressive Art Therapist. His talents with children and families are endless as he also offers individual, couple, and family therapy, using play and the arts. He’s currently starting arts-​based play groups for boys in Rockridge.

And yes, I had to tell you all this because I really am THAT enthusiastic!
Place rating: 4
Pleasanton, CA
***Studio 12 is an aerial dance studio specializing in low flying trapeze, sling, and rope and harness
work. ***
This class was über fun! I had no idea what I was expecting when my friend bought this class for me for my birthday. When you get to class, you do a little warm up, breathing and stretching exercise. Then after that, you get your own Aerial trapeze and you do your thing! The instructor will ease you into it and tell you how to hang on, tricks and tips to keep you on your trapeze and so forth. This a great alternative to the gym, too! My friends and I were semi-​sore for a couple of days since you get to work out your whole body, especially your arms! It’s also a plus if you’ve had gymnastics experience and/​or just flexible! I can’t wait to go again! =)