Adapting aerial into inclusive dance: Canopy Studio’s adapted classes create a community

The art of aerial dance, trapeze remains a rare hobby among Americans, but locally Canopy Studio works to make it more accessible. Susan Murphy founded Canopy in 2002 with the goal of letting anybody regardless of ability, age and physical strength learn aerial dance. Since then they have grown significantly from just trapeze, but their goal is still the same: anybody should be able to do trapeze.

“We tried to remove as many barriers to service as possible: the cost of swinging after school, the cost to come to Canopy. ‘Oh, you need a pair of leggings?’ Let me give you a pair of leggings. Everything your mom or your dad did for you as a third grader to make sure you were successful going through the day, we wanted to be sure that we were equipped to do that same kind of stuff,” Canopy Executive Director Ann Woodruff said.

Canopy offers a wide range of adaptive courses so that all students get the chance to experience aerial dance. Instructors adapt to each student’s individual needs to better teach them. Current course offerings include: silks, slings, pole, trapeze and more. Canopy’s staff has also grown, adapting and evolving with the times.

Canopy utilizes a social theorem known as the social-emotional circus, a form of teaching in which teachers make learning fun and engaging through the use of activities and exercise. This can be used to work through emotional issues, get more exercise and to grow as a person.

“I would love to keep what we’re doing and expand it to serve more people who come through the doors. I truly believe that the social-emotional circus is empowering and healing and serves a real need, and I think the more people who can experience it will benefit from it,” Canopy instructor Mary Hammes said.

By engaging students in social emotional learning, Canopy utilizes a form of teaching widely used in public schools.

”It’s a way of teaching skills to students that help them with better self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision making, relationship skills and self-management. It’s a pretty standard thing to teach in classrooms. You probably learned about the growth mindset at some point. That’s SEL, and then there’s something called social circus. We use circus skills to try to teach emotional intelligence,” Hammes said.

Through the use of SEL, Canopy teaches a wide variety of adaptive classes for students with specific learning needs. In 2008 Woodruff left public school teaching to become more involved with Canopy, and she spearheaded the shift into adaptive classes.

“We leaned into an outreach program specific to people with disabilities, so that is where our nonprofit work is centered. That’s where we give back to the community. That’s where our teachers are trained to serve anyone that comes through our doors. The outreach program is the heart of our organization,” Woodruff said.

To be accessible to those who need it, the outreach program has financial resources and scholarships. Their goal is to offer classes to all students regardless of cost concerns. 

“We have a scholarship program that covers 100% of a session’s worth of private lessons or classes for students of any age who have a documented disability. If they are doing private lessons, then they’re paired with a teacher who’s been properly trained to help them, whether the disability is developmental, physical or a combination. If they’re ready to be in a class, and if that would be the more enjoyable fit for them, then we can assign a parapro-type teacher that gives them access to the class so they can participate fully and safely,” Hammes said.

Magazine spread by Lilly Cohen.

Every school in Clarke County School District utilizes these programs. Students visit Canopy’s studio to use the trapeze equipment, allowing them to experiment with their abilities.

“We also do adaptive physical education field trips for every public school contained classroom in Athens-Clarke County, elementary, middle and high school. Contained classrooms are the ones with students who have moderate to severe disabilities. We’ll have schools come for an hour, and we do a field trip with them on the floor where they get to do physical activity with our equipment, our slings and our trapezes,” Hammes said.

These trips are coordinated through Julie Evans, the adapted PE teacher and coordinator. She plans all adaptive trips in Clarke County, making her very aware of Canopy’s work through these programs.

“Their program is very inclusive. They’ve all from day one known who our kids are. Not a lot has changed from the beginning. They’ve always been incredibly accommodating and know the benefit of trapeze and swings for our kids. They just make sure that they’re able to do it,” Evans said.

Canopy’s relationship with CCSD extends back to 2014, beginning with lower grades.

“We would go to local elementary schools. We went to Gaines, Oglethorpe Avenue and Athens Montessori. With all of these schools we would have a field day depending on what the school allowed us to do. Sometimes the kids could get in the air and we would teach two or three tricks. Sometimes it was just the opportunity to view a performance. I think both experiences are valuable,” Woodruff said.

As Canopy has continued to expand and grow, they have recently started building a new location on Ware street near the Lyndon House Arts Center. With the classes they offer, Canopy hopes to continue to positively impact the Athens community.  Evans hopes that Canopy’s relationship will continue to grow.

“They help us with getting the funding through the Athfest grant every year. Then we have the trips. They’re very accommodating, and they help support us a great deal. They’re just a wonderful group of people,” Evans said.