When Ashley was growing up in Wisconsin, her parents called her “upside-down Ashley” because she was always tumbling in the yard and walking around on her hands. She competed in high school gymnastics and coached gymnastics and dance through high school and college. Ashley fell in love with aerial arts when she first took a silks class in 2010. She studied and performed around Portland on aerial silks and rope before finally discovering pole. She loves the variety of styles and the endless possibilities of pole dance and has made it her primary apparatus. Ashley loves coming up with creative and entertaining characters to perform on stage and in 2016 and 2017, she competed and won first place at the PSO Seattle competition in the Level 4 Masters Entertainment category. Outside of the studio, Ashley is a middle school Language Arts teacher and enjoys hiking and snowboarding with her teenage son.

Gemma grew up trying to emulate her older sister and took ballet, jazz and gymnastics, but it wasn't until adulthood that she would really appreciate dance. She started her pole journey in 2010 after a friend encouraged her to try a class: she was hooked and hasn't stopped dancing since. Gemma became an instructor in 2014 and is a graduate of the elevatED pole teacher training taught by Kyra Johannesen and is a graduate of Marlo Fisken's Flow Movement training.  She competed in the first ever Pacific Pole Competition in 2012 and was part of a group competition for Miss Pole Dance America in 2015, but has found that her true passion is in freestyle dance performance.  From exotic floor work to gravity defying tricks and elegant combos, Gemma's fun friendly and interactive style make her a favorite with students. When not pole dancing, Gemma likes to grow amazing fruits and vegetables in her garden, spend time with her family, and fly around on the lyra while also finishing up her degree in linguistics at Portland State University.

Hanna has always found the most satisfying forms of movement include aspects of self expression, strength, and fluidity and pole dancing has all that and more. Pole dancing can be for employment, performance, mental health, exercise, sensual exploration, community, and self love. She believes pole dancing should always be an ongoing journey, where you're never done learning something new, and that every human and every body type is welcome to dance. In 2009, Hanna moved to Portland and found herself dancing within the burlesque and circus arts scene. She took it to the top with her burlesque partners in 2013, by winning the world title in Las Vegas for 'Best Troupe' at The Burlesque Hall of Fame Tournament. It was through this Portland community she was introduced to pole dancing. For Hanna, pole encompasses the sensual, sexy stylization and showgirl flair she loves in burlesque, but also the physical demand and dedication of practice it takes to progress as a dancer. Hanna favorite styles of pole movement include low flow, sensual movement, static rotation, chair dancing, and freestyling.

Wendy has been a pole dancer for nearly 13 years. She loves the combination of creativity and physical movement that almost makes you forget you are exercising. On top of performing she is passionate about helping people on their own pole journey because there are so many positives that carry over into everyday life. When Wendy is not pole dancing she is spending time with her husband and two little boys.

Joshua began training in gymnastics as a youngster, winning several gold medals and 1st place All-Around in his division. In his late teens he discovered his passion for dance, joined several dance troupes and began to perform in ballets such as the Nutcracker. Guided by his natural kinesthetic intelligence and an innate love for the stage, he studied dance and theater at Humboldt State University and later at the prestigious Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. He received a BFA in Performing Arts despite developing an illness that drastically impaired his physical abilities during his senior year. After years of physical therapy and chiropractic treatment he was able to fully recover and went on to discover pole in 2014. With his previous aerial acrobatics experience, he took to the pole like a fish to water. He was the 2016 Pacific Pole Championship Bronze Medalist and 2016 PSO Men's National Silver Medalist. He is honored to be teaching and training at the AERO space, where he can share his talents, skill and experience with other pole enthusiasts and competitors.

Crystal, a Colorado native, studied dance as a child and continued in the performing arts as she grew up. In 2012, feeling enervated by her day job she longed and searched for something new to give her life. She went on a blind date with pole dance expecting to like it, but not expecting the healthy long-term committed relationship it became. She moved to Las Vegas in 2016 because she knew what she had with pole must be love and needed to pursue it further. She performed, trained and taught there for the next 3 years before returning to the place her and pole had their first date, Portland. Her most recent and most epic pole accomplishment was performing with her love, pole, and the iconic JLo in the Super Bowl LIV halftime show.

Alexandria is a Portland local and 3rd generation Oregonian with a passion for the performing arts since childhood. Alex has been pole dancing since she was nineteen years old. Performing award winning, international burlesque since 2010, she is very excited to bring her style of contemporary showgirl meets pole to Aero Space! When she isn’t practicing yoga and teaching dance, she is a busy mama. She's also an avid collector of books about ancient history and esoteric magic.

Amira is a visual and movement artist from SE Alaska. She's has called Portland her home for the last 10 years and has been passionate about pole dancing for 6 years. She has studied and specializes in Bellydance, Urban Fusion, and Aerial Hoop. She loves to creatively fuse together her many interests to create her own styles of movement and art. She is also creator and founder of her dance and circus troupe known as Circus Synatik.

Kat graduated from the theater school of the Universidad Catolica del Peru. She was a contemporary, ballet, and latin dancer for the dance company of the Universidad San Marcos Perú. She danced in different dance companies in Costa Rica, where she lived for 13 years. She found Pole dance in 2014 in Portland and it was love at first fireman. Pole dance joins together everything that she is passionate about: body movement, choreography, flexibility, strength, and developing characters. In 2016, she competed in the South American Pole championship in Argentina and has been certified as an instructor for pole fitness beginner and intermediate at Art dance, an institution of pole dance in South America. In 2018 she won the Miss pole dance glamour in Lima, Peru and Sao Paolo, Brazil which gave her the opportunity to be a judge in the Miss pole dance glamour Chile in 2019 and participate in the exotic generation competition 2019 in San Diego. She love showcases and competitions because of all the preparation behind a 3 min choreography. Pole has changed her life. She has traveled and met wonderful people through it and she wants to continue down that path, and at the same time help future polers change their lives finding their own pole paths. Long live pole and heels…I am EXOTICKAT. A rare mix of Peruvian breeds.

Christie is a life long dancer and spent most of her childhood and adolescence training in ballet. She is grateful for the foundation that ballet gave her but longed to find a dance practice that encouraged innovation and free expression. Fortunately in 2012 she found pole dancing and never looked back! She continues to feel liberated by pole everyday. In addition to dance, she is a professional photographer, an urban farmer, and an animal lover.

Anne grew up in a small town in northern Michigan trying every extracurricular she could convince her parents to sign her up for, including baton twirling, competitive swimming, and shot put, but nothing stuck for long. In college, she spent a couple of years powerlifting, but like a lot of people, developed a more sedentary lifestyle when she got a desk job at a local tech company after graduation. Anne had always wanted to try a pole class but finally took the leap in 2017 and unexpectedly fell in love with it. She enjoys fluid movement - both contemporary and sensual - and firmly believes in keeping the “dance” in pole dance. She is passionate about making pole feel accessible to every body and is honored to have the opportunity to share what she loves with others. Outside of the studio, Anne keeps busy raising three kids and running the technology consulting agency she started in 2020.

Originally from the UK, Claire moved to Portland in 2014 and started pole dancing as a way to get in shape and get out and meet new friends. What started out as a bit of fun quickly became a full-blown obsession and she was thrilled to start teaching her own classes in 2016. Over the years Claire has competed and placed in the PSO NW pole competition in Seattle (3rd place in level 3 exotic, 2018) - and become certified in the ElevatEd level one pole teacher training. A life-long lover of music and dancing, Claire is most interested in tapping into her flow state while pole dancing, and connecting with the music. Pole is her passion, and her biggest inspirations are her students and the pole community in Portland and beyond.

Jessica, “Cricket”, AKA that person hanging off of her friend’s shoulders, came across a pole first in a friend’s apartment. She immediately threw herself upside down and then quickly realized she had no idea how to get back to the floor other than just flopping to it. Time to take a pole class! Jessica had no previous experience of dance, gymnastics, or even an inkling of true athleticism. She was the type of person who signed up for sports just to socialize and would end up stopping at a friend’s house to eat cereal during her cross-country practice runs. Pole, however, brought out a hidden athlete, and she continued to explore a wide range of aerial apparatuses, quickly building strength and eventually even a little grace! Jessica especially loves doubles pole and putting together silly routines that combine comedy with strength tricks. Jessica is certified in XPERT Pole Fitness Levels 3&4. Outside of her pole life, she is an operating room nurse, mom, burrito connoisseur, certified personal trainer, lover of all things outside from climbing mountains to rafting, and is on track to apply to veterinary school!

Born and raised in Boise Idaho, Matt's pole journey started with a search for a sport that would bridge the gap between fitness and fun. Like so many others, after his first class fell in love with pole and aerial arts. With no dance, gymnastics, or really any kind of sports background he knew all too well how challenging starting can be, but with dedication and determination, he committed to growing as an artist. After a year and a half of constantly hanging around the studio and joining in every performance opportunity that came his way, he was offered a position as a pole and lyra instructor in Boise. He soon fell in love with teaching at the intro+beginner level and helping new dancers get hooked on the sport -- always striving to help his students conquer their fears, hesitations, and stubborn moves to the best of his ability. He hopes to always continue to grow as an athlete, artist, and teacher with the help of the amazing community he's found through pole.

Jayne started dancing at the age of three and found her first love in ballet. The characters andstorytelling gave her an opportunity to break out of her shell as well as an outlet to explore herself and her relationship to the world around her. After giving up dance to pursue graduate studies and start a career, Jayne found herself in need of a creative outlet in a safe, supportive community. She found pole by accident in 2016 when a silks class didn’t work with her travel schedule – and she never looked back. Pole combined the grace, strength, and storytelling she loved about dance with the challenge of creating movement and flow in a truly three-dimensional space. She started teaching in 2020 and loves nothing more than to help students connect with their bodies and express themselves through dance and pole work. After an adult ASD diagnosis, Jayne also started exploring how to use her experiences to connect with neurodivergent students and meet their learning needs. When not in the studio, Jayne spends her days running a program for a local non-profit and her nights relaxing with her husband and dog.

Nirvana began pole dancing as a stripper in 2015 just days after her and her friends ventured into a strip club for the first time. Like most, it was love at first sight! With a background in sports, she was immediately drawn toward learning all the pole tricks she could, but soon realized the skills themselves just skimmed the surface. Her focus then expanded to Sensual Expression as a priority in her movement whether she was doing tricks, low flow, or floor work. After 4 years of cultivating her craft she began teaching private lessons in her home studio. As the pandemic hit and club life came to a halt, her personal practices and online teaching skyrocketed! With a now nationwide community, Nirvana was able to travel the U.S. to teach in-person workshops and perform. She has returned home to Portland with an excitement to share her knowledge and be more immersed in the community than ever before!

Hailing from Malaysia, Jessica has been in the United States for the last decade, recently settling in Portland in October 2022. While sports were never part of her upbringing, Jessica grew up with a deep admiration for rhythmic movement. Having told she was too old to begin ballet at 11, she decided to give herself the gift of movement 15 years later. While it was initially just ballet, Jessica started exploring other forms of movement which ultimately led to her beginning her pole journey in 2021. Having struggled to navigate life in a new country for a long time, pole dancing became a means of self-discovery, allowing her to redefine her own narrative and reclaim her own identity in the process. Through the art form and the community that surrounds it, Jessica has found her path back to herself and a deep sense of belonging. Driven by her own experiences, Jessica is passionate about fostering a sense of community for others and aims to provide a safe and inclusive space where individuals from all walks of life can come together and form meaningful connections. Outside of the studio, she enjoys rock climbing and being outdoors.

Kate has been a lifelong dancer with a childhood and adolescence of ballet, modern, jazz, tap, and more, under her belt. However, she had never felt empowered in movement until she started pole dancing. When she started pole in 2017, Kate immediately fell in love with the freedom that pole gave her to explore her own style of movement, and the new form of self love that pole provides. Kate has gone on to win two consecutive gold medals (PSO 2022 Level 3 Exotic, PSO 2023 Level 4 Heels), but much prefers the loving community of the Portland pole scene to the competition stage. Aside from pole, Kate is a major cat lover, an avid baker, and uses her day job in pursuit of greater equity and justice for Oregonians