Bloom Movement Artistry is excited to welcome Emma Johnson and Kat Saxon for a special weekend of aerial workshops designed to expand your technique, creativity, and movement vocabulary. This series of classes explores dynamic aerial hoop skills, expressive dance trapeze work, and innovative sequencing that will challenge and inspire students at multiple levels.
Whether you’re looking to refine foundational technique, explore new transitions, or dive deeper into creative aerial movement, these workshops offer unique opportunities to train with experienced performers and instructors from the Southeast aerial community.
Forever Flares with Emma
In this 90-minute aerial hoop workshop, students will break down the foundations and mechanics of flares. Starting with the core techniques and fundamental movements, the class will progressively build toward new entrances and variations within the hoop.
Students will explore how controlled momentum and body positioning create efficient and powerful flare sequences.
Prerequisites: Students must be comfortable spinning.
Interlaced: Intermediate Ropes Workshop with Kat
Interlaced is an intermediate to advanced dance trapeze workshop focused on creative sequencing within the ropes. Designed for students who already feel comfortable working off the bar, this workshop explores how the ropes themselves can become an active partner in choreography rather than simply a transition space.
Participants will explore wraps, pathways, and transitions that emphasize momentum, musicality, and spatial awareness. The workshop blends technical instruction with improvisational exploration, encouraging students to develop personalized movement logic and expressive flow while maintaining safe and repeatable technique.
This workshop is ideal for aerialists looking to expand their rope vocabulary and deepen transitions between shapes.
Prerequisites:
- Be comfortable working independently in the air
- Have solid dance trapeze fundamentals
- Safely enter and exit the ropes without instructor spotting
- Feel confident with inversions and hip hangs
- Be familiar with rope wraps such as flamenco, crotchet, and reverse grip
Beats and Dynamic Flow with Emma
This 90-minute aerial hoop workshop introduces the foundations of beats and dynamic sequencing on the top bar. Students will learn both frontal and lateral beats and explore how they can be incorporated into flowing aerial combinations.
The workshop focuses on building strength, timing, and coordination through sequences that include rolls, re-grips, and dynamic transitions designed to improve full-body control and fluid movement.
Prerequisites: Students should have a strong and confident long-arm hang.
Splits All Over with Emma
In this 90-minute hoop workshop, Emma shares several of her favorite split shapes and variations on the aerial hoop. Students will explore creative grips and pathways that create unique split positions throughout the apparatus.
These shapes are designed to be accessible for a wide range of students—a full 180° split is not required.
Prerequisites:
- Have a solid range of mobility and flexibility
- Be able to confidently invert to the top bar
- Feel comfortable navigating the full hoop
Catch Waves: Low Dance Trapeze Exploration with Kat
Catch Waves is a creative exploration workshop built around dance trapeze improvisation and contemporary movement. Using a trapeze rigged closer to the ground, students will experiment with blending modern dance influences and aerial technique.
Kat’s coaching style focuses on helping artists develop foundational movement skills that make working low to the ground feel natural and expressive. Students will explore elements such as:
- Slides
- Spins
- Floor-to-air transitions
- Rolling movements beneath the bar
- Developing musicality and personal movement style
By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with greater movement intuition and creative freedom, along with new tools to expand their aerial artistry.
Prerequisites:
- Have at least one year of dance trapeze experience
- Be comfortable spinning for extended periods
- Be familiar with flamenco wrap and rolling on the bar in hip hang, back balance, and armpits
- Feel comfortable rolling on hardwood flooring (knee pads recommended if needed)
Twisted Transitions with Emma
In this 90-minute aerial hoop workshop, Emma will guide students through several of her favorite creative transitions on the hoop. Expect unusual shapes, clever pathways, and transitions that lead to surprising and expressive aerial sequences.
Students will explore how subtle changes in body placement and grip can unlock entirely new ways to move through familiar shapes.
Prerequisites:
- Invert comfortably
- Navigate the top of the hoop confidently
Guest Instructor Bios:
Emma Johnson
Emma Johnson trained in classical and contemporary ballet before discovering aerial arts in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2015. After relocating to Atlanta, she trained at The Space under Constance Echo Palmer and continued developing her focus on aerial hoop.
Emma has performed with theater groups and entertainment companies including The Off Centered Project, AveNoir Arts, and Element Circus. Her work blends physical strength with emotional storytelling, creating performances that connect deeply with audiences.
She is also a founding collaborator of Crux Collective, a contemporary aerial performance company centered around community and creative exploration. Emma currently teaches aerial hoop, flexibility, and act creation at Challenge Aerial in Atlanta.
Kat Saxon
Kat Saxon is a dance trapeze artist, choreographer, and instructor whose work centers on expressive aerial storytelling. The single-point trapeze is her primary apparatus, though she also explores lyra, rope, and sling.
Kat began training aerial arts in 2011 at Canopy Studio in Athens, Georgia, where she developed her movement style alongside renowned instructors. She later expanded her training in Atlanta with Nicole Mermans and The D’air Project, where she further developed her performance and teaching career.
Kat earned her Nimble Arts Teacher Training Certification and has been coaching since 2016, specializing in helping students develop choreography and personal movement style.
She is also a co-founder and artistic director of Crux Collective, working to grow collaborative performance opportunities within Atlanta’s arts community.
When she’s not in the air, Kat can usually be found around the studio enjoying French pastries and coffee from the bakery down the street.
