In order of appearance
Ashley Madison
Dreaming Alice & Technical Manager
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.
Calico
White Rabbit, Costume/Set Designer & Co-Director
Calico’s pole journey started with a search for a sport that would bridge the gap between fitness and fun. He took his first class on a whim and fell in love. With no dance, gymnastics, or really any kind of sports background he found pole to be both creatively and physically challenging, but rewarding! He is thankful to be able to share his love of pole with students across level and style focuses. He will be celebrating his 4 year polerversary this week!
Anne Angele
Rabbit Hole Alice & Media Designer
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.
Sarah Reynolds
Dodo
Sarah Rey she/they first discovered pole in 2018 and fell in love with the freedom of expression it brings and the amazing community of humans it attracts. Being able to grow and explore has brought them so much joy but it’s the people they’ve met along the way and made connections with that really enticed them to stay! When Sarah Rey isn’t climbing a pole they’re climbing trees for their family-owned tree service called Down To Earth Tree Care!
Jess/Cricket
Tweedle Dum, Sound Manager & Co-Director
Jess has a passion for creating characters and bringing them to life through pole. She firmly believes that pole can be anything you want it to be from sexy and dramatic to silly and comedic and everything in between. She has performed pole embodying such characters as a demented clown, a wannabe ghostbuster, Elvis Presley, a zombie, MC Hammer, and even good ol’ Santa Claus. Jess is a bit obsessed with doubles pole too, not only because she is a raging extrovert, but because sharing the stage with a friend after putting in so much hard work together is truly an unforgettable experience.
Jayne Bock
Tweedle Dee
Jayne started dancing at the age of three and found her first love in ballet. The characters and storytelling 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 work 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.
Rachelle McNamer
Just a Girl Alice, Carpenter & Director
Rachelle was introduced to pole dance in 2013. With no formal dance background, Rachelle relished the freedom of expression that pole dance provided and fell in love with the level of support and camaraderie that exists within the tightly knit pole dance community.
She loves how pole challenges her body to move in unfamiliar ways and to tap into her softer, more fluid side. She is grateful to have found movement later in life and ever so appreciative of her husband Anthony, biz partner Ashley and all of their instructors for everything they have done to allow her fun gig to turn into her real job.
When she’s not on the pole or working on AERO, she fills her day with spreadsheets and power tools and attempts to skillfully balance life as a loving mom, fun wife and dedicated friend.
Claire Tarinelli
Walrus & Rose Flower
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 Hwang
Lone Oyster
Spinny Jess has been pole dancing since 2021.
She enjoys the creative growth that comes from the art form and is passionate about building relationships within the pole community through teaching. Her favorite forms of movement on the pole are spin flow and bendy tricks! Outside of pole, she enjoys rock climbing and being in the outdoors.
Kate Thompson
Epsilon (Caterpillar)
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.
Gemma Bessey
Alice on Fire & Costume Designer/Maker
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.
MirCat DragonFae
Flower & Cheshire Cat
Mircat DragonFae is a tiny magical MerFaerie and Queen Dragoness reigning from the coast of SE Alaska. She has been a movement and visual artist since she was a just a wee lass.
Throughout her childhood she studied bellydance, gymnastics, expressive dance and cheerleading. She later became an aerialist, pole dancer and fire dancer in her adult years. Her journey in pole dancing began over 12 years ago, but she really became passionate about pole in the last 4 years.
She values connecting with her students and experiences utmost joy from teaching. She believes in the healing power of expressive movement and is working to bring circus arts to underserved communities. When she is not pole dancing she is most often creating art, playing in the sunshine or snuggling her partner.
Exoticat
Queen of Hearts
Movement is life and I love to move, I am a movement artist.
I love to practice and teach pole dance because I believe that it helps you to develop your body, your mental and spiritual strength integrally. I firmly believe that through pole dance we can change lives. The first and most importantly, our own.
I am EXOTICAT! a rare mix of Peruvian sangres.
Joshua May
King
Joshua Russell May has been pole dancing since 2016 , and teaching at Aerospace since 2017. Joshua enjoys using his athletic background (ballet, gymnastics, and physical theater) to help Aerospace students learn the art of Pole dance and feels extremely blessed to be a part of the Alice in Wonderland production.
Merri Mosey
Flower & Costume Designer
Merri has been pole dancing for 14 years and enjoys morphing into characters, creating with groups, and inventing costumes. She has performed many times with professional pole dancing groups and has won pole competitions. Merri loves heights and will be the first one to try the trick at the top of the pole. She has a new-found love for low pole and sensual movement and you will now find her there growing her dance repertoire.
Hayley Grenrock
Flower
Hayley has been a pole dancer for almost two years. Shortly after moving to Portland from Santa Cruz, she found Aerospace and it was love at first pirouette. A former ballet/contemporary dancer, she had been longing for a supportive dance community for over ten years and finally found one at Aerospace. She is passionate about the healing powers of dance, especially pole, and plans to pursue a graduate degree in dance movement therapy to help others reclaim their power, deepen their self expression, and heal from trauma through creative movement. In addition to being a dancer, Hayley is also a photographer, painter, musician, and mental health counselor.
Molly Parker
Flower
Molly has a background in Musical Theater and dance and has always loved to perform. After having her two children she was in a creative rut and decided to try something new. Aero Space opened their Glisan studio down the street from her house two years ago and she decided to give it a try. She instantly became hooked and has been consistently going to classes ever since. She can’t get enough! This is her first pole performance and hopes there to be many more. She is thrilled to be here and invites you to enjoy the show!
Tomás Lazo
Oyster
Tomás started his pole journey in 2019 and cannot believe where he is today. He truly appreciates the freedom, physicality, and healthy means of artistic expression he feels when he dances. To him, pole has been a mechanism to improve his self-love, joy, and inner (and outer) strength. He truly believes that this form of art, in addition to music, serves as a means of communicating what words cannot.
Alysse Winiarski
Oyster
Alysse began her pole journey in 2017 while studying for her degree in biochemistry and quickly found that it was the perfect counterbalance to lectures and labs. Since joining the AERO Space community in 2022, pole has become not only a creative outlet but a place to connect with other incredible artists. Inspired and supported by her pole friends, in 2023 she participated in two PSO competitions and expanded her training into contortion.
Chalan Smith
Oyster
Chalan has been pole dancing for just over 4 years. She was looking for a new gym when she moved neighborhoods and decided to give pole dancing a try since it’s so different than anything she’s done before. She was immediately hooked by the combined physical and artistic challenges pole dancing provides and most importantly the wonderful community of people she’s met along the way. When not on the pole she’s training the next generation nurses and spending time with her partner and kids.
Josie
Queen’s Cards
Josie has been trying to artistically wrap herself around metal poles since January 2023, and boy does she think it’s fun! When she’s not trying to figure out which leg is her left one (somehow much harder to do while upside down) or how to externally rotate a shoulder, you’ll find her growing plants, catching bugs, and teaching others about the environment. She is thankful for the magic of our bodies and this gorgeous world, and hopes you enjoy the show.
Austin Cain
Tea Party Mad Hatter
Austin's days growing up in a cozy Midwest village had him surrounded by farm animals, cornfields, and lots of cheese. Despite the simplicity of his surroundings, he discovered early in life his love for acrobatics. After 12 years of competitive gymnastics, he began to dabble in activities that were easier on the joints but still allowed for him to be upside down. After a suggestion by his partner to give pole fitness a try, and a promise that it wasn’t just a bunch of sexy dancing, he signed up for a class and instantly fell in love. Now, two years into his pole journey, Austin continues to refine his craft through a fusion of old passions and new.
Raine
Tea Party Door Mouse
Despite Raine having no dancing or gymnastics experience prior to starting pole in 2019, she immediately became enamored with the art and sport of pole dancing. As a previous competitive swimmer, the strength aspects of pole greatly appealed to her and pole quickly became a part of her lifestyle. When off the pole, you can find her zipping through the hills on her motorcycle, practicing compound archery, or enjoying an old fashioned in a low-key bar somewhere.
Corey Distler
Music Engineer
Hanna Buschor
Stage Manager
Crystal Castruita
Oyster & Ocean Scene Choreographer & Prop Designer/Maker
Gilly Platt
Trani Rae Morton II
