Welcome to St Albans Trapeze and Aerial Arts. We offer classes for adults and children in static trapeze, aerial silks and more in a friendly and welcoming environment.

 View our timetable here.

NEW: All adult classes for 2024 are now available to book - use the code TRIAL-SESSION-24 to try your first one for just £9.

We are St Albans' first aerial community. We offer a range of classes for adults, children and teenagers on static trapeze, aerial silks and aerial hammock in St Albans and Harpenden

We believe that trapeze and aerial arts can be learned and enjoyed by anyone. If you want to get fit, strong and flexible in a fun way - or simply if you've always dreamed of running away to the circus! - our classes are for you. There's no upper age limit and you don't need to have any prior experience to take part - just a willingness to give it your best.

Find us on Facebook here

....and Instagram here. 

Where are we

The Yoga Hall
11 Hatfield Rd,
St Albans
AL1 3RR

Map Yoga Hall

The Grove Junior School
10 Dark Ln,
Harpenden
AL5 1QA

The Grove Junior School Harpenden

Our team

 

Ali Newcombe has been teaching aerial skills for over eight years now, and is also a qualified yoga and aerial yoga instructor. She studied and trained aerial arts for three months full time at the Essential Aerial Professionals course at My Aerial Home in London in 2017 where she specialised in solo static trapeze. 

Now retired from competing, Ali and Pete won the semi-finals in the UK Aerial Performance Championships 2016 and performed in the finals of this competition in 2017 with their doubles trapeze routine. Ali won the semi-finals in 2018 in the instructor category on solo dance trapeze. 

She currently teaches the beginners and intermediate static trapeze classes, aerial sling, aerial hoop and the children's classes.

IG: @alidoesaerial

 

Professional gardener by day and aerial silks superstar by night, Natalie Ryan has been practising aerial silks for eight years now. She mainly works on aerial silks, but is also competent on static trapeze and aerial hoop. She currently teaches our aerial silks classes for adults as well as our children's aerial classes. Natalie studied aerial teacher training at My Aerial Home in London.

When she's not upside down, Natalie enjoys live music with her friends, having fabulous hair, and the companionship of her feline friends.

 

Despite not discovering aerial until his early 40s, Pete Wilson is now an enthusiastic proponent of the benefits of aerial skills for everyone. He has been practising at St Albans for over 10 years now, and most enjoys doubles trapeze, silks and partner acrobalance. He currently teaches our teenagers' classes in Harpenden.

Pete was awarded first place in the amateur category for trapeze at the UK Aerial Nationals 2015, and along with doubles trapeze partner Ali, achieved first place in their heat of the semi-finals in the UK Aerial Performance Championships 2016. He also performed in the finals of this competition in 2017.

He currently attends many aerial and acrobalance conventions up and down the country, and also trains regularly at the Cambridge Circus Community. He also built this website!

 

Sisters Becky and Jess Scott started aerial in 2017 as a hobby to do together. They're now both addicted to aerial! Jess says that she's only ever taken jobs or moved if she was able to train aerial there, and has practised in places including Sheffield, Essex and London, while Becky has trained continuously at St Albans Trapeze as well as attending aerial workshops and conventions in Manchester. 

Jess currently works as an NHS ops manager, while Becky is a video games designer. 

Having both trained originally on trapeze, this is still Becky's main love, while Jess can be found doing some seriously scary drops on silks - the bigger the better. 

Becky often covers trapeze classes for our beginner's/improvers teenage classes at the Grove, and they both help run our children's parties. 

IG: @wrecky_becky / @jessrose_5 | TT: circusginge

 

Professional aerialist and acrobat Gracie Hill specialises in static trapeze and pair acrobatics. Born in north-west London, she began gymnastics at the age of seven: the beginning of her journey towards circus !
 
In May 2021 she graduated with a degree from SaSak, a circus arts school based in Finland, where she spent three years developing a unique style on the static trapeze. Gracie says that this time helped her to find her own style of quirky dynamic movements that feel most natural to her and enjoys different kinds of music to inspire her way of moving. Her research is founded on the human body and movement, moving through the space with rhythm and exploring sudden dynamics.
 
Gracie has been performing lots in Finland and Norway, and is now back in the UK, excited to work in her home country. Her recent performances have been with Cirque Bijou with her solo trapeze act and a group show of interactive physical theatre and acrobatics.

Gracie sometimes covers our intermediate teenagers' class and is an instructor at our parties.

IG: @gracie_circus

 

Sarah Aitchison is usually found hanging upside down, working as a registered nurse, or eating pizza (though not all at the same time). She was first taught the joy of aerial circus skills by Rachel (Ali's older sister) when she was 10 years old, after which she auditioned and succeeded in gaining a place in the National Youth Circus Group at London's National Centre for Circus Arts. 

Sarah specialises in aerial silks and improvisational static trapeze, and loves nothing more than devising new shapes, moves and transitions on aerial equipment. She occasionally teaches in our static trapeze for beginners classes and also helps out with parties. 

 

Lighting technician Kate Hounslow is our head of health & safety and aerial rigging. She became hooked on trapeze at London's Circus Space (now the National Centre for Circus Arts) when she joined their adult programme in 1998 - there she discovered the joy of hanging upside down by unexpected parts of the body on a variety of pieces of equipment, including static trapeze, corde lisse and silks.

She continued training there just for the fun of it until having children seven years later. She came to St Albans to retrain in 2012. 

Want to know more?

For queries about classes, parties or private sessions, just drop us a line to contact AT stalbanstrapeze.co.uk

(We've put together answers to some questions we're often asked here.)

 

 

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