Fly-by-Night Dance began offering FREE Somatic Aerial Classes to dancers of color over a dozen years ago. Participants from this FREE audition class have been offered scholarships to join the company class. Some scholarship folks have moved on to other aerial and dance work, others have come back again and again to "drink from the somatic aerial well" these classes offered.
Below are profiles on a few students that have taken many classes with us. They became an integral part of the Fly-by-Night Dance community and helped guide the training and the company in new directions.
WENDY CHU
Classes with Fly-by-Night have really helped my dancing to grow. It has been great to explore integrating floor dance and aerial work in this unique way. This combination isn’t offered in other aerial classes.
The technique is very thoughtful and it offered me a chance to do more improvisation which was previously outside of my comfort zone. The classes were a nice way to open myself up to that aspect of dance.
The Skinner Releasing Technique helped me gain technical understanding that applies both on and off the aerial apparatus.
BEING A FLY-BY-NIGHT DANCE BOARD MEMBER
Wendy joined the board in January of 2015 and has helped guide the company through many seasons. These are her notes on this experience:
Being on the FBN board helped me to see dance from beginning to end. Now I can say that I understand all that goes behind the scenes and what makes dance companies possible.
Dance is a business and seeing the professional end of a dance company opened up my eyes to to how they are the same as other businesses.
Dance is more than the glitz and the glamor that goes on the stage; it is planning and financial considerations that make performances and training programs possible.
MARTIN BORROMEO
I started as a scholarship student in 2018. I had no experience with aerial or somatic dance and I thought the training would help me diversify my dancing.
It was a challenge for me to get out of my head for the somatic and improvisational work.
The work is special in the way it pairs Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT) with Aerial Dance. SRT assists the Aerial work but also improves my daily movement. I dance more full-bodied now and with more ease and presence.
In 2020 I had the opportunity to rehearse and perform with the company as part of their 20th Anniversary season.
It was a great way to dig into the repertory and work on making a role my own.
It means a lot to be a dancer of color on stage and to see dancers of color integrated in class together.
Fly-by-Night Dance creates an inclusive and welcome environment in an industry that often feels inaccessible and exclusive.
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