Dance teacher plans to grow aerial arts in Trinidad and Tobago

Aerial dancer Sade Ellis displaying her hoop skills at Blanchisseuse bridge. Photo courtesy Sade Ellis. -
Aerial dancer Sade Ellis displaying her hoop skills at Blanchisseuse bridge. Photo courtesy Sade Ellis. -

For aerial dancer Sade Ellis, there is nothing like the feeling of conquering a fear and seeing her students accomplish their goals.

That feeling was one of the motivating factors when she started learning the circus acrobatic art 14 years ago in Orlando, Florida.

When Ellis, 38, went to Orlando in 2010 to study computer drafting at Florida Technical College, she did not know many people and did not have much to do other than attend school and study. So she looked for something interesting to fill her time.

She searched a website that listed activities in the area and saw aerial dancing was an option.

Ellis said she was always an active person but was never a fan of lifting weights or running on a treadmill. While aerial dancing did not help with weight loss, it was a unique way of staying fit as it helped with upper body and core strength, shaping and toning the body.

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Aerial dancer Sade Ellis says feeling the emotion of a song, expressing it with her body in the air and manipulating the apparatus to do it is very satisfying. Photo courtesy Sade Ellis. -

Also, she had always wanted to dance and do gymnastics but never got a chance to pursue them. She was also afraid of heights.

So she decided to try aerial dancing and it became an addiction.

After getting her degree in 2013, she got an internship in Los Angeles, California and continued dancing at Trapeze School New York. She eventually began performing with the school and got certified to teach aerial arts and gymnastics, which led her to begin working part-time teaching aerial silks and aerial hoop.

“The best feeling is the feeling of conquering a fear. When we are in the air, our safety is in our hands. Different tricks we do require a lot of talking yourself into letting go. So when we perform, the wow factor is not just flexibility but the drop before we catch ourselves.

Aerial dancer Sade Ellis performs at a local fashion show. Photo by Kevin Falby Photography. -

“Initially, when we are doing it, it’s very scary and intimidating because we’re high up and we have to let go and allow our bodies to fall, and trust that we wrapped ourselves properly. That feeling that I conquered a fear is exhilarating for me.”

She said she still got that feeling every time she tried a new trick or when her students did a drop. She added that holding one’s body weight in the air for more than five minutes was exhausting but she enjoyed pushing past what she thought was her physical limit as it was a powerful feeling.

She also enjoyed the challenge of aerial dancing, saying it never got dull. She often had to develop new tricks, determine the strengths of each student, design a routine specific to those strengths and figure out how to develop other attributes like upper body strength, flexibility and endurance.

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Aerial dancer Sade Ellis says it helps with upper-body and core strength. Photo courtesy Kenrick Rampial. -

Of course she loved the skill itself – using her body to make something beautiful. She said giving the client exactly what they wanted, and feeling the emotion of a song, expressing it with her body in the air and manipulating the apparatus to do the same were all very satisfying.

She also got a great sense of fulfilment when she or her students successfully did a move they did not think they could.

“I swear to you, it brings tears of joy to my eyes every time. The sense of fulfilment is very high when I see my students become beautiful butterflies in the air.”

She admitted aerial dancing was not always great or easy. There were times she felt defeated but, in the end, the art was worth it to her.

When Ellis returned to TT in 2014, only one other person was doing aerial dancing and she immediately started teaching.

“Friends knew I was coming back and, through word of mouth, gymnastics schools heard about me. I started getting calls from different people to teach a session at their clubs and schools because circus arts is not popular in TT, especially back then. Now there are a lot more.”

She teaches at different aerial studios and schools and mainly works out of the Aerial Arts Academy in St Ann’s, owned by Hope Armstrong, teaching silks, hoops and hammock.

Aerial dancer Sade Ellis says there is nothing like the feeling of conquering a fear and seeing her students accomplish their goals. Photo courtesy Kenrick Rampial. -

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She is also in the process of registering her company TT Aerial Arts and Entertainment Ltd, which teaches the aerial arts and networks for performances, getting jobs for studios and individuals at band launches, fashion shows, weddings and company events like end-of-year parties and awards.

Her aim is to grow aerial arts in TT by training more people, promoting the art and getting more performances for aerialists. She had already performed or arranged several performances in Guyana and St Kitts and Nevis over the years.

She said many people did not know the art existed. They were amazed when they saw a performance and often asked if the aerialists were from abroad.

“I think because people don’t know about it and hardly see it, it really does hinder our growth. And when we price our performances, it is undervalued because it’s not out there.”

In addition to aerial dancing, Ellis is an English teacher.

She recalled while in college learning about drafting and architecture, the school hired her as a tutor. When she interned in LA, the architecture firm asked her to be a trainer. In TT, her main job was as an English teacher at a preschool but, after the covid19 pandemic, her path changed and she became an international English teacher, teaching virtually.

“For some reason life just kept bringing me back to teaching. And now I love it. I just can’t deny it anymore.”

Aerial dancer Sade Ellis displaying her hoop skills at Blanchisseuse bridge. Photo courtesy Sade Ellis. -

As with any good teacher, Ellis’ focus was now on her students rather than on herself as a performer. She wanted to see her students perform locally and internationally on a “big stage” and one day take over from her. She said she was proud that some of her students had already opened their own schools and studios, taught aerial dancing on their own or took over some of her classes.

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Which is why she wanted her business to grow. She wanted to expand it to different islands in the Caribbean and be the main point of contact when organisations from other countries were looking for aerialists.

Her long-term goal was to build an aerial association in TT. But she said the artform needed to grow a lot more before that happened as there would need a lot of aerialists to get on board.

In the meantime, she said she will continue to practice her art.

“When I first started aerial in Orlando, one of the women at the school was in her late 60s and she was going some of the most amazing tricks high up in the air, preparing to surprise her husband for their wedding vow renewal.

“I thought, ‘Ok. This is goal. I want to be like her when I’m approaching 70.’ She was very inspirational for me. So I don’t plan to ever stop.”

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