It’s been 10 years since Natalie discovered her passion for aerial arts, and that ‘Life really is so much better upside down!’ She has trained at various centres in London, Herts and Cambridge, but her heart is here at St Albans.

She completed aerial teacher training at My Aerial Home in London and currently teaches our kids, teens and adults aerial silks classes.

A self-proclaimed crazy cat lady, Natalie’s the biggest advocate that you’re never too old to try something new, test your boundaries and challenge your fears. She aims for her classes to be fun and challenging and loves nothing more than helping people achieve their first steps into the world of aerial arts.

Ali Newcombe has been teaching aerial skills for over nine 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 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 often teaches our intermediate teenagers' class and is an instructor at our parties.

IG: @gracie_circus

As well as being a licensed physiotherapist, Lee Laird has also been an aerialist and performer for over 10 years now. She first started training in aerial arts at Circomedia, where she specialised in aerial acrobatics. She has also trained at Greentop Circus in Sheffield in 2019, as well as Cloud Aerial Arts in Manchester in summer 2020, where she specialised in aerial straps. She has performed in venues including London's infamous Club Antichrist and for a variety of agencies.

While she currently devotes most of her energy to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and aerial straps, Lee has a diverse knowledge of all the main aerial apparatus including static trapeze, aerial hoop, corde lisse and silks.

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 practiced 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/improver’s teenage classes at the Grove, and they both help run our children's parties. 

IG: @wrecky_becky / @jessrose_5 | TT: circusginge

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.

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 practicing at St Albans for over 18 years now and teaching for 8, and most enjoys doubles trapeze, silks and partner acrobalance. He currently teaches our teenagers' classes in Harpenden and our Friday night trapeze class.

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.

Pete is currently mainly retired from teaching, but still on occasion covers classes, helps with aerial parties, and hosts the Friday night open training session at the Yoga Hall.

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.