Nicole is a mover, a mother, and a teacher. 3-Dimensionality has always been a fascinating and rich movement topic, and her dancing tragectory was similarly circuitous. Nicole earned a BFA in Dance and a BS in Environmental Science from UMASS Amherst, during which time she was a dancer with Wire Monkey Dance in Holyoke, Ma. Wire Monkey, a contemporary dance company that performed on scaffolding, was Nicole’s first real discovery of the joy’s, adrenaline, and delight to swinging, flipping, hanging, and contact improvisation. As Nicole traveled, she sought out similar movement styles, dancing with Bennett Dance Company of Boston, a company that collaborated with visual artists who created rich and exciting sets and props for choreography.

When Nicole entered graduate school in Boulder, Colorado, she joined Frequence Flyers, an Aerial Dance Company, and learned Aerial Fabric and Dance Trapeze techniques, learning to teach aerial dance through the lens of dance and somatics. Nicole’s MFA focused on Site Dance and Somatic practices, and her immersive dance style began to further merge the circus and contemporary dance worlds.

The next stop for Nicole was North Carolina, where she taught aerial dance, yoga, and was the Director of Dance at Longleaf School of the Arts in Raleigh. In North Carolina, Nicole further honed her artistic voice and began Murmurations Dance, a site dance company.

Now back in Vermont, Nicole lives with her incredible family in Jericho, where the skills of improvisation and balance come into play on a daily basis! Nicole continues to choreograph, direct, and perform as a dancer and looks forward to continuing to dive into the rich history of place and body in Vermont. Nicole is the Artistic Director of Murmurations Aerial, where she approaches teaching aerial dance with a fascination for the possibilities of movement, a respect for each individual’s body and dance goals, and a desire to continue to combine contemporary dance and circus arts. You can find out more about Nicole’s dance world at Murmurationsdance.org.

Natalie is an aerial dancer and mechanical engineer based in Burlington, Vermont. Natalie loves to create aerial sequences by combining fundamental skills in new ways. Her classes focus on building efficient technique, strength, flexibility, and creativity in the air. 

Natalie's aerial journey began shortly after moving to Vermont when she was seeking ways to improve strength and flexibility and keep in shape during the long winters. She fell in love with both the technical aspect of transitioning between wraps on the fabric and the physical aspect of the upper body and core intensive movement. When she started aerial silks, there were no studios in the Burlington area. The closest gyms that offered aerial training were in Montreal or New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) in Brattleboro, VT, both several hours drive away. Natalie would travel to Montreal multiple times per month to take lessons, and invested in rigging equipment and training to practice safely locally. 

Natalie's aerial instructor training includes completing Nimble Arts' aerial teacher's training program November 2016, and a year long apprenticeship with Nicole Dagesse of Murmurations Aerial in 2017. She continues her training with annual workshops and intensives at NECCA and with her personal research in aerial movement and theory.