Julia Romanelli, upper left in black, and other members of the advanced aerial silks class at the Reveler’s Aerial Works studio rehearse for their upcoming show “Maiden’s Leap Manor.” Choreographed and taught by studio-owner Sally Brewer (not pictured), this aerial dance performance is about a murder mystery set in the 1920s. The performance will take place at the Hult Center at the end of May.
Romanelli has had a long love for dance, theater and yoga. These interests led her to take up aerial circus arts in late 2019. Romanelli fits as many aerial silks classes into her schedule as possible, when she is not working as a freelance artist or homeschooling her two elementary-aged kids.
According to Romanelli, aerial silks dance movements require strength, stamina and flexibility. It takes time and practice to build these, which is why many students in the advanced aerial silks class first take the beginner aerial silks class to build their strength and flexibility. This is because one must have enough upper body strength to be able to control their body while in the air.
In the beginning of 2020, Romanelli bought an aerial lyra (a round hoop used to hang from the ceiling in aerial silks) and set it up between two trees at Sladden park in Eugene, Oregon. There, she taught herself aerial silks movements for weeks during the pandemic, until the Reveler’s Aerial Works studio reopened.
Romanelli keeps coming back to her aerial silks classes because it eases the tension of daily life. Romanelli said, “There is something truly therapeutic about hanging upside down and spinning super fast. I can feel the foggy haze of monotonous days and hard times fall away from me when I am in the air, when I am sky dancing and expressing my being so truly.”
Hanging bridge in the Monteverde Cloud Forest.
Red Eyed Green Tree frog, commonly found in Monteverde.
Coffee beans left to dry out at a coffee bean and cacao nursery in Costa Rica, one of the top producers of coffee beans in the world. Coffee bean farmers grow, select and perform a long preparation process before exporting bags of their coffee beans to other countries such as the U.S. where the coffee bean market is high.
Raw cacao beans, straight from the cacao plant.
Local artisan market in Monteverde, Costa Rica.
