Celebrating its 25th year, the annual international Aerial Dance Festival, presented by Frequent Flyers® Aerial Dance from July 30-August 11, 2023, will honor the event’s past and roots in the present, and look ahead to the future.

BOULDER, CO – The 25th International Aerial Dance Festival (ADF) will soar into Boulder July 30 through August 11, 2023, with community and professional level immersions and classes, a never-seen-before faculty Showcase Performance, a variety of workshops, and much more. The Festival provides an opportunity for people from all walks of life to experience the joy of dancing in the air—from beginners to advanced aerial dancers and professionals. Registration for classes is now open. Classes meet Monday through Friday each week, and students may join for one week or two. For more information, please contact Frequent Flyers® Aerial Dance at 303.245.8272 or online here.

“Frequent Flyers has put Colorado on the world stage as a locus for aerial dance. The Festival brings together artists from around the globe with students and community members for two weeks of extraordinary idea exchange and inspiration. You will not experience this collection of talented artists anywhere else,” stated Artistic Director Nancy Smith.

One of the highlights of the Aerial Dance Festival is the unique and breathtaking Showcase Performance, which features new and innovative work from the internationally renowned faculty of the Aerial Dance Festival. You will never see this mix of internationally renowned artists together again! The Showcase runs from Friday, August 4 to Sunday, 6, 2023, with Friday & Saturday shows at 8 pm followed by a Sunday show at 2 pm at the Dairy Arts Center. Tickets will be available through the Dairy box office in June.

As well, Intimate Encounters, which takes place at 8 pm on Monday, July 31, at Frequent Flyers’ Aerial Dance studios, offers an up-close experience with the artists where the audience learns and experiences the art form from each performer’s perspective.

The Aerial Dance Festival also offers a wide variety of Three-Hour Immersions and 90-Minute Classes. Students can study with the best on dance trapeze, traveling rings, fabric, lyra, bungee, rope and harness, sling, cyr wheel, and more. Classes are taught by expert faculty from around the world, making the ADF a learning experience unlike any other. Stay tuned for more information on special nighttime workshops at the Festival.

This year the Festival’s faculty includes:

• Jayne Bernasconi: Aerial Choreography, Aesthetics & History of Low-Flying Trapeze
• Veronica Blair: Fabric Sequencing 101 Immersion: A Guide to Aerial Act Creation, Straddle Up! The Break Down, Roll-Up Clinic: Aerial Straps
• Jenn Bruyer: Trapeze Witchcraft Immersion, Twisted Trapeze, Sling Theory
• Gena DuBose: Lyra Authentic Movement, Lyra Sequencing, Lyra Authentic Exploration Immersion
• Danielle Garrison: Co-sensing: Relationality in Aerial Practices and Performances (Fabric), Low Suspending: Alchemizing Pressure and Pleasure on Fabric
• Danielle Hendricks: Bungee Dance & Build Immersion
• Valerie Morris: Rope and Harness: Tethered Dancing
• Janelle Peters: Fundamentals of Contortion, Depth & Texture: Movement Quality & Musicality: Inroads to Act Development
• Anastasia Timina: Dynamic Sling Theory & Skills, Fabric Theory Immersion
• Sam Tribble: Traveling Rings, Beginner Cyr Wheel, Intermediate/Advanced Cyr Wheel

To learn more or register for classes, call the Frequent Flyers office at 303-245-8272 or visit the Festival website.

Frequent Flyers® is a non-profit that has been soaring through the skies of Colorado for 35 years. As Colorado’s preeminent aerial dance company, Frequent Flyers® continues to promote the magic of aerial dance through performance and education.

If you are interested in writing an article about the Aerial Dance Festival 2023, contact our founder and artistic director, Nancy Smith, at [email protected]. We would be more than happy to have you come up and observe a rehearsal, set you up for an artist interview, or even participate in one of our classes so you can see how it feels to be a Frequent Flyer!

The Aerial Dance Festival 2023 is sponsored in part by Boulder Arts Commission, Colorado Creative Industries, Science and Cultural Facilities District, Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau, City of Boulder, Cielo Foundation, Messing Family Charitable Foundation, Create Boulder, YellowScene Magazine, ANB Bank, Community Foundation of Boulder County.