Thunder Bay Aerial and Acro
When I see someone wrap themselves in aerials silks and glide through movements off the ground, I see them connect to the element of air in an artistic and beautiful way. Something Sachiko Brayshaw saw by chance on a trip to Costa Rica.
“I saw people swinging around in silks. I was like, What is that? I found out they were aerial silks, and was able to go to a class. When I came home, I needed to figure out how to do this more because I loved it,” says Brayshaw.
Brayshaw eventually found a space and by chance, saw Nicole Casmey show off her skills in climbing and gymnastics and the rest as they say, is history.
“I literally just saw Nicole and wanted to be her friend,” says Brayshaw.
Casmey, head coach of the competitive program at Thunder Bay Gymnastics, was super excited at the prospect to take her skills and translate them into the art of aerial silks. Before long, the two became Women in Silk, an aerial silk performance troupe in Thunder Bay.
“From my gymnastics background understanding movements and the fundamentals, that helps the two of us put our knowledge together,” says Casmey.
15 years later, the two have co-founded Thunder Bay Aerial and Acro and are ready to share the beauty and art of aerial silks in their hometown by offering Aerial Silk classes for everyone!
“The first thing participants can expect is to learn a strong foundation.”
Breaking down aerial silks step by step to both Brayshaw and Camsey is what makes aerial for first-timers go from impossible to possible.
“Often people come to our first couple classes and feel sometimes a little discouraged,” says Camsey. “But Sachiko and I are pretty good at being positive and helping them see it goes beyond this. By I would say week three or four, that’s when people start getting excited and seeing what they’re actually working towards.”
As for what the co-founders are most excited about for a new season, continuing to build and expand the silk community in Northwestern Ontario with both familiar and new faces to aerial silk.
To learn more go to their Instagram or Facebook @womeninsilk
Dame Más Dance
For Sharon Bon, dance came into her life at 45. While that may seem “late” in the dance world, to her, it was a new beginning.
“At the time, I had younger kids that were busy in their activities, and I was the chauffeur, going back and forth. So I felt like I didn’t really have the time to commit to dance. I was going very infrequently and starting from scratch every time I went. Finally a year later, I said to myself that I need to set aside some time for me,” says Bon.
In her love of dance and new commitment to making time for herself and dance, Bon went to dance conferences and gathered experience teaching with coaches and from a dance partner. Bon took a chance and opened her one home studio starting with online courses before opening up for in-person classes.
“Our philosophy is that you know, two feet are welcome. We are fun first and want to create a welcoming environment for adults to learn how to dance. I’m an example. I was able to start and look at me now.”
As for the styles Bon teaches, they are a wide variety of dance styles inspired by Latin and African traditions. One of them being her first love, Kizomba from Angola, Africa. Taught to her first by her dance partner Edwin Martinez, Kizomba (party or celebration in Kimbundu) is a sensual and intimate style of dance where you are very close with your partner. From there, Bon learned the Bachata, a dance style from the Dominican Republic that she notes a lot of beginners gravitate towards before dancers feel ready to move onto the Salsa!
“A lot of people choose salsa because they’ve heard of that before, but it is the most difficult dance to learn”, says Bon.
While the dance styles are often partnered, you do not need to bring one to class to enjoy the dancing as Bon calls for partner rotations throughout the class (but if you have a partner and just want to dance with them, that is also fine). Further, classes include videos of counts and steps you learnt that day to practice at home and build your skills.
“When we start with the beginner classes, we get people to introduce themselves to each other and listen to the music, see if they can kind of catch on to the beat,” says Bon. “We ease people into starting dance, and everyone seems to really have fun at the end because you’re exercising, but you don’t feel like you’re exercising.”
With the fall weather getting cooler, Dame Más is a great opportunity to feel the warmth of dance, and try something new. “My favorite part is seeing people enjoying themselves. When you come to a class, you leave everything that happened in the day behind you and enjoy an hour of fun”.
To learn more at https://damemasdance.ca/courses or on Facebook and Instagram @damemasdance
