HANNAH
Studio Owner
Aerial Silks, Acro and Aerial Yoga Instructor
Hannah was first introduced to aerial arts in 2012. Since then, she has fallen in love the movement, physicality, and complexity of aerial. Her equestrian background of 12 years involved training many disciplines, including bareback and brideless riding, dressage, jumping, roman riding and equestrian vaulting, with many performance and competition opportunities. She first discovered her passion for teaching as a teenager in the equestrian world and trained a variety of horses and their riders for several years.
Her love for teaching grew into aerial arts instruction when she began teaching in 2014 at ADMS, later acquiring the studio in May of 2017 with her business partner, Dari. She looks forward to providing new opportunities to her students and continuously growing their studio. Hannah loves sharing her knowledge with others, helping students overcome obstacles to accomplish their aerial goals, with emphasis on form, technique, safety and strong, efficient movement.
Hannah balances her teaching and studio work with part time work at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, as a Medical Laboratory Scientist.
DARI
Studio Owner
Aerial Silks, Aerial Yoga and Lyra Instructor
Dari is currently one of our beginner silks, intermediate lyra, and aerial yoga instructors available for classes and lessons. She enjoys cross-training with Aerial Dragonfly instructors on all apparatuses, and exploring mixed modalities.
She found her passion in aerial arts when she began taking classes at the studio with her daughter. The love for this form of physical expression follows training in Martha Graham style modern dance and improvisational movement. She draws from her education and experience in Usui Shiki Ryoho reiki, therapeutic sound and reflexology, combined with aerial instructor training, and a 21 year military career. Dari uses her background to encourage instructors and students to find fulfillment through their practice of aerial dance and fitness.
Dari retired in 2015 and is happily embarking on this new chapter of life and love with her husband Jim, their three children, and her friend and partner Hannah, here at Aerial Dragonfly.
ELISABETH
Partner Acro, Aerial Silks and Hammock
Elisabeth spent most of her childhood in gymnastics, and it was there on the competition floor that she first developed her love for movement and acrobatics. At the end of her competition days, Elisabeth found herself unwilling to leave the gym and turned instead to coaching beginner students.
The summer of 2015 brought her to a new town and through the doors of the studio. Since then, there has been no turning back. Elisabeth is consistently fascinated by the way aerial arts merge her natural strength with newfound grace and artistry. She is more than excited to be back on the teaching side of classroom with new skills, new apparatus, and a new passion.
MIA
Pole and Chair
Mia is our beginner level pole instructor. The love of aerial arts initially brought her to the studio. However, the skill of all the apparatuses caught her attention and she soon wanted to learn it all. She now specializes in silks, pole and chair. As a personal trainer, strength and form is where she dedicates her focus. Mia utilizes her experience as a personal trainer to ensure that her students are progressing in strength, fitness and expertise as she guides her students through the curriculum. Mia brings great energy to her classes, providing a fun, motivating and supportive environment to get fit!
ELEKTRA
Pole, Trapeze and Lyra
Elektra was first introduced to pole fitness in 2013, and it was love at first pole kiss. As she progressed, seeking out new aerial arts, she was continually surprised that working out could be so enjoyable and so beautiful. She is fascinated by the melding of strength and power and beauty and grace inherent in the aerial arts, and she continues to seek out new ways to fly. Elektra loves introducing her love of pole to others, and watching her students exceed her expectations continually. Her intermediate pole class focuses on form and conditioning to build the strength and confidence as you soar to higher heights. Elektra also co-teaches Trapeze/Lyra Fitness and is CirqFIT certified.
ALEXA
Aerial Hammock and Aerial Silks
Alexa started at Aerial Dragonfly three years ago and has been in love with flying ever since. In February 2018, Alexa received her CirqFIT Lyra instructor certification. With 10 years of dance competitive background, she is excited to take her passion for movement to new heights. Whether it be silks, lyra, acro, or hammock, Alexa loves to fly through the air with strength and grace. She is elated to share her passion with her students and help them discover the amazing world of aerial.
LEANNA
Flexibility and Contortion
Leanna entered the world of aerial arts in 2011, after many years of intrigue watching Cirque shows. It was at that time that her natural flexibility was discovered. After three years of training
on silks and lyra, she created the Flexibility & Contortion curriculum and began teaching at ADMS in 2014.
As a trained myomassologist, she works to connect mind and body within students while taking individual body structures in to account. It is vital that flexibility be balanced with strength to
prevent injury and promote longevity in the art; Leanna’s class will show students moves to assist with both in a friendly, cooperative environment. Her class focuses on deepening splits,
increasing backbends and building overall flexibility.
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BIG JOHN
Functional Strength Training
As a lifelong athlete, John has dedicated countless hours to fitness and developing healthy lifestyle habits. With over 20 years involved in sports including football, basketball, wrestling, baseball and track, in addition to running several marathons, weight lifting, doing CrossFit, exploring yoga, practicing and performing Acro and Trapeze here at ADMS, and now, functional strength training, his experience speaks volumes! John turned to gymnastics strength training as a way to develop mobility, gain strength, and overall, improve quality of movement. Through his own training, he has completed several extensive workout programs for Rings and Paralettes, designed by GST experts, and attended a CrossFit Gymnastics seminar in May of 2018, in hopes to provide his students with even more specific information on how to break down complex movements safely and progressively.
John's progress towards achieving his fitness goals comprised of difficulty with weight loss and several other setbacks along the way, including a patellar tendon rupture, AC joint injury and a hip replacement, so John always encourages students to listen to their bodies during their workouts. He advocates living a holistic, healthy lifestyle, with an emphasis on the ability to move freely, exhibiting correct alignment and efficient muscular engagement. He radiates motivation and encouragement, challenging students to achieve their highest potential, while creating a fun, energetic fitness environment. If you are looking to begin your fitness journey, or intensify your current workout plan, schedule a session with John today!
LIZ
Aerial Silks
Liz first began flying in 2017 after moving to her home in southeast Michigan with the desire to try Aerial Silk. After a quick search of what was in area, she stumbled across Aerial Dragonfly. After taking her first class, she immediately knew she was going to continue to pursue her growing passion for the aerial arts. She loves the challenge of learning new Aerial Silk skills and as an instructor herself, also enjoys helping others learn Aerial Silks.
Through her training she has seen immense growth in her strength, flexibility, and abilities. She loves the curriculum-based instruction and focus given to each student. When she isn’t teaching kindergarten, you can find Liz exploring new healthy recipes to cook, teaching beginner silks, or advancing her own Silk, Rope and Acro training.
SHAWNDA
Aerial Silks
Shawnda's lifelong experience with a variety of sports speaks to her athletic prowess. She has tried every sport, from dance to gymnastics as a small child, to cheerleading, track, and tennis in high school; she even took a swimming class in college. Needless to say, she's tried them all, so when a colleague introduced Shawnda to training Aerial Silks as alternative to working out, she decided to try it a few years later.
Shawnda's natural strength and body awareness from her years of athletic training helped to accelerate her aerial career. She fell in love with aerial arts and has been training consistently for around two years. Recently, Shawnda has been exploring other modalities, such as Aerial Straps, Lyra, Pole and Acro. Shawnda's future plans include branding herself as an aerialist, competing in aerial competitions and performing in churches and private events. Shawnda loves meeting new people and teaching them that with proper training, anything is possibly. Come fly with us at Aerial Dragonfly Studio!
BRITTNEY
Aerial Silks
Brittney is an Aerial Silks and yoga enthusiast who started at ADMS as a student and worked up to becoming an instructor. She has always loved the world of fitness and trained at home until wanting to try something new. In 2017, she walked through the studio doors and started her aerial journey. She primarily trains on Aerial Silks, however has explored Pole and attends the FST class weekly.
She became interested in teaching when she was working as the General Manager of a restaurant and part of her job included training her staff. She had inquired early on about how to become an instructor at Aerial Dragonfly and through hard work and training she achieved her goal. Now, she looks forward to introducing new students to the wonders of aerial arts. She brings enthusiasm and confidence to her classes, inspiring aerialists and aspiring aerialists, alike.
