UpSwing Aerial Dance Company Classes and Workshops

UpSwing Aerial Dance Company Classes and Workshops offers aerial dance classes and workshops for students ages 10 to 18. Classes include hanging, spinning, climbing, and dancing on tissu, hoop, hammock, rope and harness, silks, trapeze, and ground work.

Programs

• Girls who fly (GWF) Level 1 — 10-13 · Wednesdays 3:30-4:25 PM · After school aerial classes for girls ages 10-13. Hanging, spinning, climbing, and dancing on tissu, hoop, hammock, and rope and harness. No experience required.
• Girls who fly (GWF) Level 2 — 11-14 · Wednesdays 4:30-5:35 PM · For students with some aerial experience only. Students may advance after at least one year in Level 1 and/or with prior instructor approval.
• Teens Who Fly (TWF) Technique Level — 14-18 · Mixed apparatus class for teens only. Focuses on technical skills, artistry and strength on silks, hammock, rope, hoop, trapeze, rope and harness and on the ground.
• FALL TWF (Intermediate) — 14-18 · Monday 4:15-5:45 PM · Intermediate and advanced teens class with at least 1 year of aerial experience. Works on choreography and may include mentoring from UpSwing Director Cherie Carson and guest teachers.
• TWF Level 1 (Beginner) — 14-18 · Beginner teens class. On hold at the moment; next opening TBA. No class this fall 2026.

At a glance

• Ages: 10–18 years old

About the provider

Since 2005, UpSwing Aerial Dance Company has been a Berkeley destination for dancers and aerialists. Its leadership team includes Cherie Carson, Artistic Director; Adrienne Fleming; Gina Goldblatt; and Linh Vu. The company’s mission is to inspire and share its love of original aerial dance and to show, through aerial dance, human imagination, relationships with one another, and one’s inner self. It has been recognized by SF Weekly’s Best of the Bay of 2006, The Culture Trip’s 2015 Top 5 Extreme Classes to Take in the Bay This Summer, and Diablo Magazine’s October 2019 issue as one of five events not to miss.

• Adult Mixed Apparatus Series — Mondays 6-7:30 PM · Beginner/intermediate level. Students learn beginning to intermediate vocabulary on aerial tissu, hammock, rope and more.
• Saturday classes - Beginner Level Mixed apparatus — Saturdays, 11AM-12:30PM · Beginner level Aerial Tissu/Fabric and mixed apparatus classes taught by Linh Vu. Returns May 2027.
• Upswing company class — Wednesdays 6-8PM · Closed to the public and for Company members only. Open to students who have previously taken a year of UpSwing aerial classes or have previous aerial experience.

No experience required for Level 1 classes. Some experience and/or instructor approval required for Level 2 classes. Students may join waitlists by email if a preferred class is full. All students must sign a 2026 release form before their first class of the year. Series purchases are final, non-refundable and non-transferable. There are no makeup classes in the adult series programs. Workstudy program is full at this time.

Last updated September 15, 2026.