Adult Classes
The registration links below are for our June classes.
Want to register for a May class? Click here!
Classes meet via Zoom and are $15 per drop in or $50 for the full four weeks. Financial aid is available!
Want Unlimited classes?
Just $99/month. Cancel anytime.
Aerial Anatomy
Come chat about anatomy as it pertains to circus arts! In this two-part class, we will discuss types of movement in regard to anatomical position, hone in on the muscles and bones of the hip and shoulder, and identify movements and exercises that will help us identify when we are using those muscles properly. We will ponder such questions as...What does external rotation in my shoulder have to do with my elbow? What is clicking in my hip? What is clicking in my wrist? What is that clicking, is that you? Which muscles are responsible for the perfect leg line? I'm not clicking, you're clicking.
Aerial CONDITIONING
Tuesdays 6 – 6:45pm
Saturdays 9 – 9:45am
Active flexibility and functional strength drills for budding aerialists, plus a healthy dose of low impact cardio for good measure.
Circus Arts
Circuits for Circus Arts! This class will build strength, active flexibility, mobility and coordination to prepare your body for circus training.
Circus Fitness
Get (or keep) your body "aerial ready." This class focuses on the strength and body awareness needed to succeed in aerial acrobatics. Focusing on flexibility, core and upper body strength this class is designed for all levels.
Circus High intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Get (or keep) your body "aerial ready." This class focuses on the strength and body awareness needed to succeed in aerial acrobatics. Focusing on flexibility, core and upper body strength this class is designed for all levels.
Clown
Advanced: Mondays 7 – 8:30pm
Beginner: This class focuses on clown act construction and dramaturgy through animation of objects and embodiment. We will work on logical consequences, timing and repetition.
Advanced: Just as theater clown works with and can subvert the conventions of the live theater, so this class is exploring what the conventions of online interaction are and how to subvert them for comic and emotionally generative effect. It is open to all current students and students with some experience of clown - with instructor permission.
The class is taught by Adrian Danzig, who served as the Producing Artistic Director of 500 Clown, a Chicago-based Clown Theater ensemble that toured nationally. Adrian was also an early Neo-futurist, a founding member of Redmoon Theater, and a clown with Big Apple Circus Clown Care.
Flexibility
Get ready to get bendy! In this all levels class we will focus on building a balance of flexibility and strength to increase mobility and work towards becoming a human pretzel. Different classes will focus on different body regions including hip, back, and side bending/twisting.
Handstands & Handbalancing
People of all physical backgrounds are welcome in this multi-level class! Students work with an instructor to push their individual tumbling abilities and develop increased coordination and agility.
Juggling
Bored of twiddling your thumbs in quarantine? Expand your juggling skills in this online class. Learn new throws, balances, patterns and develop your own style with the impressive David Chervony!
Mime
Wish you could leave your house? Well, now you can! Learn to create worlds out of thin air and go on a long walk without covering any distance at all. Learn greater body awareness, muscle control and fill your toolbox with new tools with which to tell a story. And perhaps most importantly, see some friends, make some new ones, and move your body.
The advertising doesn’t lie: you will learn to fly! Yes, even me, 185 pounds of mom and sedentary desk worker. Do your inner child a favor and take a class here. The teachers are so supportive, figuratively and sometimes literally. I took the adult aerial arts class (with Sylvia and David) and I surprised myself by getting a lot stronger and learning so much over the course of 16 weeks. I did things on the last day of class that I never would have believed I could do on the first.
– Emily P., Yelp Reviewer
FAQs
Please note that the following FAQs only apply to our in-person classes, not the current online ones.
Yes! Adult students can purchase $30 drop ins online or over the phone.
Families who are considering taking their first class at the Gym can purchase a $30 taster class for their child. Tuition can be pro-rated should you decide to enroll in the remainder of the term. Please note that this option is only available for purchase over the phone: 847-328-2795
In general, students start with and repeat recreational-level classes until they develop a higher level of confidence, strength and proficiency. While a background in dance, gymnastics or other athletic pursuits will be an advantage, circus arts and physical theatre employ our muscle groups in different ways than other activities and it most often takes several sessions for students of all ages to adapt and master skills necessary to move to the advanced level.
Students need to receive instructor permission to take advanced classes and in some cases, advancement is subject to passing a skills test. If you feel ready to advance to an advanced-level class, we encourage you to talk to your instructor, who can assess if you are ready.
We recommend wearing clothing you are comfortable moving in, that is not too loose fitting.
Close-toed gym shoes should be worn to Parkour and all Circus Arts classes to use during stilting and unicycling. All other classes require bare feet.
Yes! If you register online after the class has started, your tuition will be automatically pro-rated.
Unfortunately, we are unable to allow make-ups for missed classes, as it makes it challenging for us to ensure a safe ratio of students to instructors in each class.
At the Actors Gymnasium, we operate on a philosophy that using multiple apparatus in conjunction with each other builds the increased strength, confidence, and performance skills critical to help artists achieve a level of competence that allows for the meaningful concentration on a specialized skill or apparatus. Because of that, most of our classes teach multiple apparatus.
Foundational skills remain constant from one apparatus to another. Wraps, climbs, hangs and most baseline tricks can be learned and improved on any apparatus. Until students reach an advanced skill level with sufficient strength and knowledge, the benefits of specializing will be minimal.
If you are ready to start focusing on one particular apparatus, we encourage you to consider taking private lessons with us.
No, the parking lot at the Noyes Cultural Arts center is easy for students to be dropped off and picked up before and after class.
For those who want to stay nearby, there are benches throughout the building where you can wait for your child as well as Tallmadge Park just outside our doors.
No, parents are not allowed to sit in on their child’s class, unless the class is a parent-participation class.
Parents, friends and guests are invited to attend class on parent observation days only, which takes place on the last class in each session. An email reminder will be sent.
A full refund, minus the $25 administrative fee, will be issued for students cancelling prior to the start of the first class session. If cancellation is made prior to the start of the third class session a refund, minus the $25 administrative fee and the prorated cost of the first classes, will be issued.
We do not offer any refunds after the the third class session has taken place.
