Flying Studios

I am loving Flying Studios and all of my classes so far!
My absolute favorite has to be Bodywerk dance with Momo. He is the BEST. He’s got great energy and enthusiasm as an instructor. You can tell that he really loves to dance and is great at it! He is also a fantastic instructor. The class starts with some warm up routines, then walks across the floor. Then for the second half of class Momo will teach you a routine, step by step. He’s clear and repeats the moves until you get it. Trust me, I am not the most coordinated person, but I always leave Bodywerk dance feeling awesome enough to be a backup dancer for Beyonce (okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration.). So, we’ll practice and dance the routine to different songs. Sometimes, we’ll do a «performance». The left side of class will dance while the right side watches and cheers and vice versa. Overall, a great way to get your werk on!
I have also attended Mary’s TRX class on Saturday mornings. It’s pretty intense, but Mary is a supportive and encouraging coach. For someone like me with no strength (anywhere, really.), she was able to give me some extra pointers and help a sister out.
I’ve attended Andreina’s Zumba class and was exhausted afterwards. Dang, there was a lot of hip movements. #hipsdontlie
Finally, I’ve been to late night yoga which starts at 9pm — a great way to unwind and end your day with some deep breaths and stretches.
Flying Studio has something to offer for everyone — cardio, strength, fun, you name it! Try it out; you won’t regret it! New student special is $ 25 for 2 weeks of unlimited classes. (That’s how I tried so many classes).
(11÷100)

Best experience ever! I have taken a lot of Zumba classes but this by far is the BEST. I took Jenny «Yeni» Zumba class on Saturday and fell in love. Then I took Andreina’s Zumba class and fell in love again. The instructors are amazing! I can’t wait to take more classes here.

Thank you Yeni & Flying Studios for getting me back into dancing. I grew up dancing and taught aerobics way back when in the 90’s, but am very picky when it comes to music and moves, so haven’t found the right class for decades. Then a dear friend, May, brought me to Yeni’s Zumba class about one year ago and I fell over the top in love. At first I felt I had two left feet, but the choreography is brilliant and goes so well with the music, within a week or few I got down all the moves… I even taught my 6 year old one routine once after class on a Sunday evening, and by Monday morning, she was teaching her friends at kindergarten the routine. Yeni’s style is amazing, her playlist is awesome and her energy is electric and contagious. She has created a community within the classroom, encouraging hugs, and high-​fives between dancers, and being a part of it is a true pleasure. I look forward to new routines as they come, and boy does she bring it, and keeps it fresh, energetic and interesting. I look forward to class every week and it makes me happy and a better mom to start my Saturdays off with Yeni. Now recently I have added TRX Sunday mornings with Charles to build-​up my strength and help with a long-​term knee injury (so I can continue to keep-​up with Yeni’s Zumba class :). His class is another awesome and fun way to burn those calories. I am grateful to flying studios for offering such amazing & fun classes and I am so grateful to Yeni for filling my soul with pure joy and bringing dance back into my life.

Classes are solid. Three complaints: classes usually run long. So, if you want a longer class for the same price as everywhere else, this is your joint. Two: all classes tend to be EXTREMELY HARD, so if you’re advanced, enjoy. Three: not cheap. So if you’re looking for long, hard, expensive yoga, this is your place.

I always love dancing but have never tried it before. Thanks to flying studios and Andreina who is the first and the best Zumba instructor in my life, now I can dance and I can do many moves that completely exceed my original expectations, and the most important thing is I am becoming more confident.
I feel so refreshed and motivated after each Zumba class, especially when you listen to these songs she plays (I LOVE these songs) and sense the encouragement through Andreina’s eyes, I tell myself I CAN DO IT! She smiles at me she dances next to me she gives me a five she talks to me… She is just such a wonderful instructor.

I have been taking Zumba classes at Flying Studios since February 2015. The staff is friendly and the facilities are decorated nicely and are always clean. The website is easy to navigate and the online schedule is updated if classes are cancelled or if there will be a substitute teacher.
I am not a dancer and was intimidated at first by the quick pace and sophisticated choreography in Andreina’s Zumba class. My insecurity quickly diminished though. Andreina goes out of her way to encourage new students. She moves around the room throughout class and pays special attention to those who are struggling. She makes class fun by choosing upbeat songs and smiling the entire time. She keeps the class challenging by mixing up the play list daily and introducing new songs every few weeks. Andreina is warm and friendly greeting everyone as they arrive. Monday is no longer my least favorite day of the week because of this class. Andreina is the sole reason I am still going to classes at Flying Studios nine months after my first class!
I have also taken Yeni’s Zumba class. Yeni is an excellent dancer and chooses fun songs for her class. She rarely moves around the room which can make it difficult to follow her if you can’t see her from where you are positioned in the room. I often felt lost in her class. Yeni is friendly but does not interact with students as much as Andreina. I really value the connection between teacher and student which is why I much prefer Andreina’s class.

I tried flying yoga for the first time ever at this studio (it was the only studio I could find that offered flying yoga in the Bay Area) and OMG IT WAS SO FUN AND AWESOME. The instructor was nice and I also liked the fact that there were a couple of other newbies so I didn’t feel totally alone in this.
It definitely isn’t the meditating type of yoga but I love it. I’m always more into upbeat, challenging, interactive type of activities so I usually don’t prefer yoga but flying yoga was definitely different.
The studio was spacious and clean. The setting felt comfortable and welcoming. My only cons are that the silk kinda had this weird smell and I’m pretty sure they rarely wash the sheets… which is a bit gross because people put their crotches and armpits all over that. But I couldn’t let this take away a star because I know realistically how difficult it would be to take down all the sheets and wash them every time. I’m gonna head back home and take a shower anyways so it doesn’t bother me too much!
I would love to come back for more classes!

After being a dedicated practitioner at Yoga Tree in Berkeley for quite some time, this summer I decided to try the yoga studios closer to my apartment in Oakland and Flying ended up being my favorite. What I love most about Flying is the variety of classes and teaching styles: Sussanah (rigorous, almost Jivamukti style with chanting and deep focus on intention), Laura (super challenging and even unconventional poses that really push me to break out of my normal yoga routine), Jessie (also rigorous, intensely fun and friendly with a great after-​work party vibe) and Shakthi (mindfulness-​based and helps to build deep awareness about the mind-​body connection). I haven’t tried any of the other classes like TRX or Zumba, but since I love this studio so much, I just might.
There are a few things about Flying that I don’t like too much like the fact that they make you wait outside the studio until the class starts (even at Annex where there’s a waiting room), the classes on the weekend are scheduled too close together at Annex and sometimes don’t start on time (one time I was in a huge line of students, waiting to get into a class that was supposed to start in two minutes), and also some scent-​control would be greatly appreciated (like incense) since so many sweaty classes are using the studio.

I am totally obsessed with Jenny’s «Zumba» class, which is so much more than that! I found Flying Studios through ClassPass and Jenny’s Zumba class was the first one I tried. I had never done Zumba before and was nervous it would be cheesy or silly, but it wasn’t at all! It’s an awesome combination of latin style dance moves mixed with some booty-​bouncing hip hop — such a blast.
Jenny has so much energy and totally makes this class feel fun. Even though I am far from the best dancer in the room, I can usually keep up with the moves and not feel like a total idiot. Not only that, I always work up such a sweat and get a great cardio workout without even thinking about it. Jenny always seems like she’s having fun, and that encourages the rest of us to have fun with her. I tell everyone about this class and am always taking friends to come try it with me. I come the max I can for ClassPass (3x a month).
Whether you’re a skilled dancer or, like me, haven’t taken a dance class since high school, you’re guaranteed to have a blast and get a good, cardio workout in Jenny’s Zumba class.

I love this place. Love love love this place.
Flying Yoga is a magical mix of talented yoga, dance, and strength training instructors, a rare find and a gem of athletic goodness in North Oakland.
I’m picky about my dance teachers, and the zumba and hip hop teachers at Flying Yoga are top notch — super talented, inspiring, and challenging instructors who offer more than a workout… they offer a place to sweat, to cleanse, to improve technique, *and* to express our hearts in the process.
5 thumbs up for this place.

LOVE this place. All the teachers are wonderful. Leave with my body aching and my soul nourished every time!

My favorite yoga workout studio. I hesitate writing a positive review because I didn’t want the classes I take to be over packed. I won’t say which yoga class I go but the instructor knows what I don’t like and tries to challenge me to do more than my stubborn body is willing to try. As a compromise, he always incorporate some of my favorite poses. I also love the hip hop class. I didn’t want to identity this is a awesome class. As an example for Halloween, the instructor brought wine and other beverages, the disco ball was grooving, and he taught us moves to thriller. I looked ridiculous but I had a blast. He encouraged us to wear costumes so we had zombie clowns and Ulma’s character from Pulp Fiction. The administration people are always friendly when you email them a question.
I started going in August when my 97 year old grandmother passed away and I couldn’t sleep or function. I credit this routine and class to help me appreciate her life and what I have. Sounds cheesy and it really depends on the instructor you get. I’ll admit I thought he was full of shit when he first started chanting or reading warm fuzzy cheesy messages but now I enjoy them and can see how life’s suffering is brief and be in that moment so I can appreciate all the other good stuff.

I’m slowly dipping my toe back in group classes after a 12 month+ hiatus and decided to test my limits in Andreina’s 9:30a Sunday zumba class which is a mix of high/​medium/​low impact. I hadn’t taken Andreina’s class in 18 months or longer, but thanks to Andreina’s hand cues and her choreography, I was able to follow without much difficulty and enjoy moving to the music. Andreina’s dance choreography is a mix of samba, salsa, afro-​cuban, & aerobics. Her enthusiasm is contagious and you can be as demonstrative (with arm/​hand/​pelvic movements) or not as you feel comfortable. Andreina goes beyond teaching choreography. For example, no matter how many ppl are in the room (today it was 40+), she keeps an eye on the spacing between lines and encourages people to move up periodicly. When there is a water break, Andreina will go over a particular move — today she noticed many people had feet wide apart for a move; she demonstrated that bringing feet closer together enables greater pelvic rotation. She will point to her belly at times, thereby signaling us to use our core muscles. Andreina dances mostly front & center, but she will move around the room – thereby ensuring all people can see her from time to time. So observant of what is happening around her, she even let a late student in via front door and rejoined us without missing a beat. Andreina is approachable before or after class; she will answer questions about moves, how to samba, etc. She has a sweet, warm and welcoming demeanor.
Things I noticed today: 1. music is louder (luckily, I had earplugs in my bag); 2. more high impact moves (you don’t have to do all the high kicks and jumping – there was a 38 weeks’ pregnant student (due in TWO weeks– amazing!) — Andreina announced her presence and we all clapped; 3. people high five each other after every 3 songs or so — everyone was smiling and happy; 4. Andreina looks better than ever — (she has two kids) — her lithe & lightly muscled body is a testament to Zumba. She looks even younger Now than when I first met her.
Andreina is teaching free classes in Athleta on Bay Street in E-​ville. There was one May 9. Next free class is May 23 @ 9:30a. Check out her FB page for updates:
Andreina is taking a group to Tulum the week of June 15, 2015 and next year, she will be taking a group to Cuba. As she keeps all of us organized and moving together in class, I imagine going overseas with her would also be an enjoyable, smooth experience.

I’ve been going to the TRX classes here for a couple of months now, and I love it. I haven’t gone to any yoga or other classes, so this is a review of the TRX only.
If you had told me that I would (somewhat) willingly get my butt out of bed for an early-​morning class on a (semi-​) regular basis, I would have given you some serious side-​eye. But when I go to classes, I feel great about myself and definitely have more energy throughout the day.
The instructors are really good about using students’ names, being encouraging, and including ways to step the intensity of any given exercise up or down.
Why not five full stars? Sometimes the music is a bit loud – I’d rather have the music as background and be able to hear the instructor better. Also: I tend to take my shoes off in class – sometimes the floor feels a bit slippery (because of cleaning materials), and sometimes it seems that the floor could be swept a little better. There are also a couple of slightly-​wonky floorboards that drive me batty (the non-​annex space has quirkier floorboards.)
The $ 25 new student deal is a fantastic way to check it out.
This is definitely one of my favorite new things in my life.

I was just visiting in town for 2 weeks so the New Student $ 25 special was the perfect deal for moi!
Studio atmosphere: clean, organized, new, spacious
Dance classes: Took a hip hop class with Demone, who was an enthusiastic and encouraging instructor who obviously knows what he is going. I’ve definitely taken hip hop classes where the teacher could not teach at all (and everyone just feels silly) but Demone was patient and talented at breaking down each move.
Also took a Zumba class with Jenny Rivera — you could tell that many students were regular who LOVE her class. She has a great dance vibe and is also great at breaking down steps while keeping the true feel to each sequence (paired with a diff song).
Yoga: I took several yoga classes and they really varied depending on the instructor. I would concur with some other reviewers in that some of the yoga teachers were pure fitness instructors (Molly) and seemed to lead rather disjunct flow sequences. In contrast, instructors like Shakti were on the far end with a lot of chanting, philosophical teachings and such. I personally enjoyed Shannon Sahaja’s Hatha Flow class which was a balanced mix of yoga-​calm and athleticism.
All in all, if I were to be a regular at this studio, I would definitely attend any dance class. With the yoga classes, I would be more particular to the instructor.

I am so glad I decided to test the opposite spectrum of 24 hour fitness: this lovely studio (well, technically two, but ya know).
I’ve been looking into all sorts of studios for weeks now and chose flying studios due to the reviews, prices, location, classes (TRX appealed to me), and schedule which works great with mine.
The studio is on temescal and close to so many of my favorite eateries, which is good and bad! It’s only 12 dollars a class for students, which is such good compared to other studios.
I’ve done the TRX and Zumba with Yeni and both experiences were amazing. each class ended with me sweating, yet invigorated. These are challenging classes and yet the instructors are inspirational, and the other students are welcoming as well! I had some difficulty with the TRX but Mary (I think) helped me through the whole process and fixed my form whenever I needed it.
Overall both studios are spacious enough for a good group and yet small enough so that the instructor can see how you’re keeping up. I will say, Yeni’s class was incredibly fast paced, but since I have dancing experience I didn’t find it too hard to pick up the moves. So, so fun though!

There are many ways to shake your groove thang at Flying Studios. There’s ballet, hip hop, TRX, yoga, zumba, and lots more. Tis a place for booty shakers and deep-​breath takers alike, which is tough to find, right? The staff and teachers are thoroughly Oakland, yet the students are an unpredictably diverse mix of ages, skills levels, styles, etc (my point being, it’s not all Temescal hipsters, as you might expect!)
The Saturday hip hop class was ridiculously fun-​slash-​embarrassing-​slash-​a REAL workout. A good exercise in not taking yourself too seriously. The teacher dude taught us how to twerk then made us perform our twerk skills in groups. I don’t know if this type of humiliation is the norm, but we all survived, even the 2 gentlemen in class. Then, he taught us a little dance routine, which we performed over and over until everyone was sweaty, laughing, and feeling slightly less like boring old white ladies. Our inner Beyonces perhaps weren’t totally awakened, but at least rolled over in bed and thought about waking up. I am definitely going back for more.
They have 2 locations, within 1 block of each other on Telegraph. I always go to the «wrong» one, but can easily skip over to the correct location in time for class.
Sidenote: the Ballet Body class I took was a tad boring. Lots of conditioning at the bar, but not much actual dance or cardio, if that’s what you’re looking for.

These studios are nicely laid out, and über-​conveniently located to lots of different OAK neighborhoods. I’ve been going since they opened, first to Laura’s class and now frequenting Yeni Lucero’s Zumba classes. Laura is actually the best yoga teacher I’ve studied with in nearly 20 years of yoga practice, and her classes have one of the only velvet ropes in Oakland — lines down the block, but everyone DOES get in. They are intense, physically, but like all yoga are infinitely modifiable for a person’s levels, injuries, desired intensity level. There’s a reason Laura’s regulars look like really flexible, happy, action figures.
Now let’s talk about Yeni. As a formerly repressed attorney type, Yeni has not only taught me some actual moves, but she’s constantly helping liberate our spirits and hips (by hips I actually mean asses but I’m not sure if that’s okay to post). This is like no Zumba you’ve ever taken before. Choreo is a little more difficult than most Zumba, but the music is VASTLY better (tons of Afrobeat and hip hop) and the workout more intense. There’s also real community in the room and everyone is very welcoming to new students, to help them get past being feeling self-​conscious or overwhelmed. Yeni constantly adds new songs, but also teaches a core set of songs pretty consistently, so that you can learn the moves if you keep coming and feel some mastery over them.
There are also some great, less intense/​more meditative practices to be had with teachers like Judy Rukat and Rebecca Theinemann. And great TRX workouts with Luiza Silva.
Long/​short: I’m a fan. This studio does take ClassPass.

I purchased a two-​week pass for $ 25 because the location was perfect for me (I live a few blocks away). I only took the All Level’s Flow classes that were made to be able to situate yogis of all levels.
I really enjoyed them, however, found them to be a bit too strenuous for yoga. This studio seems to focus more on fitness than the Yoga practice itself: we did a lot of ab-​work (crunches, scissors, bicycle, etc), instructions on flow and postures weren’t too clear (which can be dangerous for beginners) and the mindful and spiritual teachings of yoga weren’t implemented enough.
I remember walking in my first class and feeling the energy in the room as not as welcoming as other studios. This totally makes sense to me now knowing that fitness was more of its goal than Yoga.
Also, the location has two buildings located a block away from each other, which made it hard sometimes to figure out where the class was going to be taught (I got confused twice).
I guess everyone has their preferences when it comes to their Yoga practice and I just found out that this studio wasn’t going to be a fit for me. I would take classes again in the future if I decide to focus more on fitness.

I had been wanting to try Flying Yoga Studios for awhile because they have plenty of Zumba and TRX. I ended up getting a Groupon, which I didn’t entirely use up. I didn’t get a chance to do the TRX classes, but the Zumba classes were great and so were the instructors. I have never been sore from Zumba until I came here. My only complaint is that they seem to fit in as many people into the studio as they can. This makes moving around difficult. Otherwise, I look forward to coming back here for my Zumba and TRX needs.

So, my regular studio is closed for the holidays, so I branched out to fill the gap. After talking to two friends who have been here, I signed up for Air Yoga. The sign-​up experience was okay, but I never got a confirmation email, so I was a little weirded out. To confirm, I called during business hours and no one answered. I emailed, and four hours later, when it was time to leave for class, still no response.
Anyway, the studio is simple, which is perfect. My instructor was Luiza, and she was friendly, skilled and graceful.
First, I did not enjoy the class because the silks squeezing off my circulation hurt like hell. Imagine a noose around your pelvis. Now imagine a noose around your foot. And so on. My muscles didn’t get a workout at all. It just hurt so much. I thought those silk things would be softer or stretchier or something, but it felt more like a tourniquet squeezing off various parts of my body. There were about seven other people in the class who apparently did not feel as though their extremities were being ripped away… they dangled and flipped without any screaming at all. So apparently the degree of torture varies widely from body to body.
Secondly, my silk smelled like horrible, horrible BO. Good heavens, get some Febreeze in that joint, STAT!!! I never knew until tonight that I can get nauseated from a smell. Guess what? I spent all of cool down telling myself: do not vomit, do NOT vomit. DO NOT VOMIT. Longest cool down of my life. I was in this BO cocoon of hell. I would have just walked out mid-​cool down, but I just couldn’t make myself be that disruptive. OMG it was so bad.
Oh, and there was a small dog there, too. The only thing that could have made the air yoga experience less comfortable? Fear of landing on a tiny dog. Wtf?
I liked the studio ambiance, the instructor, the lighting and the music.
Four stars probably seems high considering how bad my experience was, but I’m not going to fault them for the tourniquet pain; apparently my body is just weird.

5: Ambiance
5: Teachers
5: Cleanliness
5: Parking (daytime/​weekday)
5: Value
This business has two spaces, within a couple blocks. One is where the flying/​aerial yoga is conducted and the other, Annex, is where more yoga and dance classes happen. Both have changing rooms, cubbies/​shelves for your belongings and clean, functioning bathrooms.
The spaces are decorated with minimal extras – (trinkets, posters and so on), creating this incredibly clean and crisp environment. Highlights of dark blue along with small blue LED lights across the beams on the ceiling make for cozy and relaxing. The laminate wood floor was dust free and easy to dance on and «fly» on.
The parking was a cinch, I parked street side, paying the meter the max, two hours, via credit card.
They have a two week intro special for $ 25. Cool! I’ll take that! :) Checking in for class was super easy. Top: if you’re doing the aerial yoga class, make sure to sign up as soon as possible, because they cap the class off at 10people due to the number of ribbons available.
So far I have experienced two teachers here the Zumba class on Thursday and the aerial yoga class with Kameko. The Zumba had this «carnival”/ Brazil-​esque feel to it. It was very fun and the teacher saw what she was working with and stopped to break down the poses several times (it’s been a minute…). I broke a solid sweat and had a blast doing it! The aerial yoga was the perfect medicine for my ailing spine. The teacher was clear and concise with her instructions which I found to be freeing; meaning it gave us a little wiggle room to explore the hanging ribbons ourselves. Fun!
Would I return to this studio? Oh yeah! Loved the space, the teachers, the music and parking was a breeze!