Trapeze Arts

It’s a good place with awesome people working there. Andrew, Cisco and other staff had very warm and cheering energy of your old truly trustful friends which made me feel very comfortable and safe and able to do things I could never imagine doing. With their help I overcame my fears, pushed my limits and had so much fun. Loved every second of the flying trapeze class.

First and foremost, I haven’t even gotten to take a class yet, so this review is just for the sign-​up process.
I called yesterday to sign up for a class for next week Wednesday, since you can’t make reservations online. I spoke to a woman who clearly had no idea what was going on because for every question I asked she had to ask someone else in the background and would give me changing answers. It was some of the worst customer service I’d ever dealt with. The website gives some info, but note I called on September 9^th and the pdf of the schedule was updated Sept 1 (supposedly) but it’s already out of date. They took all my info and told me that I was booked and told me the cancellation policy. MUST READ: There is a non-​refundable $ 10 deposit and if you cancel within 48 hours of the class, they charge you for the class.
Anyway, literally that same afternoon, I am told I need to go to Denver for a one day trip right on the day I booked my contortion class. I do travel and often have quite advance notice, so I didn’t see this happening. And… at most places I can cancel no problem. So I call this morning (less than 24 hours have passed) and inquire if there is a way I can just rebook. No, I’m told, the $ 10 deposit is nonrefundable and «It’s only $ 10». Yeah, but it’s still annoying. Granted, they told me when I booked, so it’s not their fault, but I’m surprised by how outdated and cumbersome this school’s reservation process is. Most yoga studios, aerial, fitness and dance studios are now using Mindbody or SOME other online process that makes it easy peasy.
I hang up, irked as fuck, and then realize I didn’t give my name so I call back to make sure that I get canceled. Turns out I’m the only one signed up a week out because who the fuck reserves in advance?
Scanning all the other reviews, it appears that many of the reviewers tend to be one-​timers and not regular students. I’ve been taking aerials for the past eight years now and this was by far the most cumbersome sign up process ever. I’ve been in Oakland for a year and trained at Circus Center, but the recent price increase made it feasible for me to look into other options. With Sylphie Currin teaching at both places, it made sense for me to finally sign up at Trapeze Arts. But I will not be signing up until the day before or maybe even the day of. Ridiculous.
People at Circus Center who no longer train at Trapeze Arts allude to the fact that it’s not easy working with Trapeze Arts as a student or instructor. Now I’m seeing exactly why. It seems like Trapeze Arts is working through «new business» kinks but I think they’ve been around long enough that they should have a better process. I’m already less than impressed with the operations.
People: ease of registration and the simplicity of your fee schedule make a huge difference in the client’s experience. In fact, I’ve waited this long to book here even though I live in Oakland because different classes have different pricing factors and it didn’t make sense to me to deal with the complexity when I could take whatever I wanted at Circus Center. In this case, I’m only going to stick to one area of interest. It’s too big a deal to keep track of different class passes at the same studio.
I will update after class, but I will never book in advance again.

very disappointed in the flying trapeze class today. There were 8 students, and the instructor spent most of his focus on the beginners and my daughter just practiced the same skills she had learned in the last class she attended. It seems 8 is too many for a functional class – previous classes with 5 – 6 students were actually quite impressive.

Love this place!
My friend and I bought a Groupon a while back and 7 months later finally got around to using it. We took the flying trapeze class and we both had a really great time. There were 3 instructors (one managing the harness, one helping you get ready on the platform, and one on the ground who gives you critique via video/​eventually gets on the other trapeze when you practice catches). All the instructors were really great! Friendly, knowledgeable, and put your fears at ease.
Basically you get there, you practice the movements once on the trapeze above the ground and how to take off. Then they just harness you and have you try it out. My advice would be to wear pants (or at least ¾ length pants). You hang from your knees and mine got pretty scratched up. Also, they’ll make you take off bracelets/​watches, so probably leave those at home. After you’ve practiced a while, you get to try a couple catches too. The whole experience was really awesome!
I realize the point of most Groupons is to get you in the door so you keep coming back, but honestly I usually just go once and never return. But I will definitely be back for another flying trapeze class. Can’t get the rush of flying anywhere else!

Great place to fly! Very knowledgable staff, good energy, good prices, and always a great time! I love flying here!

Came here this past weekend for a friend’s birthday. I have never met such a fun group of staff members before! I only caught Andrew’s name but everyone was pretty amazing; I wish they’d be my friends in real life. Their upbeat attitude, patience when I freaked out before my first swing, laid back style, and sense of humor made my experience an unforgettable one. They make it so easy for you to learn basic trapeze – you may just surprise yourself! I would love to go back and highly recommend this place to anyone :)

Trapeze Arts, was a great experience for myself, husband, and our two kids ages 6 and 4. We enjoyed the entire experience from the beginning to the end. The training staff was very knowledgeable, helpful, patient and provided lots of good encouragement and feedback after each «flight» so that we could continue to progress. My husband was able to make 2 successful catches at the end and I was able to do 1 successful catch towards the end of our session. We had several practice flights before the catches. The entire session is used to train the «flyer» on how to maneuver on the bar while in motion and get the timing of the swing to make a catch. The instructors were able to explain why you perform different «motions» at the different times of the swings all with the result to make a catch.
The experience was so much fun, scary, exciting, intense, and a great confidence builder. I highly recommend doing it! Overall, it was a fantastic experience for all of us (adults and kids).
Both of our kids (ages 4 and 6) were able to go on the bar and execute the «hanging by your knees» move on the bar. They kept on going and going when it was their turn to fly. We really appreciated the SAFE and LEARNING environment your staff at Trapeze Arts provided especially for our kids and how hands-​on the staff was with training them and providing great instruction on what to do while there were in flight.
We really appreciate the time the staff spent with us to enjoy our experience and make it memorable. I really enjoyed how the entire process /​experience is hands on training from getting on the bar to landing to getting off the net. All instructions from the instructors were clear and easy to follow even for our kids.
I appreciated that your staff let us videotape and take pictures also. We got some good video on our gopro camera. Thank you for letting us capture these moments of our kids and being able to share them.
Lili — thank you also for answering my questions on the phone when I was booking the session. You were so patient and I really appreciated how you provided me different options on what kind of session to book and explained how the sessions were conducted. The customer service you provided was fantastic. We will definitely come back for father’s day or one of our kid’s bdays. On the day of our session, we arrived about 45 minutes earlier to observe the facility and watch the current class. Christie greeted us with a smile and allowed us to observe in the front room which had a window to the facility where you could see performers and other students practice the trapeze and other tricks. I appreciated that Trapeze Arts let us do that so we could get the kids comfortable with the area and what they were going to do.
Please let Rock, and our two other instructors know we really enjoyed our session with them and thankful for making our experience memorable.

I am 62 years old and as a child I always wanted to learn to fly. Well guess what? I did it for 9 months. I had the time of my life. Hans, Stephen, Darryl and Megan are the greatest teachers. Please give it a try.

Amazing experience. After the initial terror, nausea and palpitations settled down and I got my first swing out of the way I was able to really enjoy the class. The instructors were excellent, safe, kind, understanding and supportive. I couldn’t believe by the end of my first class I was already doing a catch release! So much fun that I signed up on the spot for a package of 10 classes. Expensive but very responsible with the package deal. Who needs to eat this week ;)
Ps… Super sore the next couple if days, but in all the trouble zones… Which is just icing on the cake. Getting fit will be just a bonus! Cheaper than a trainer at the gym and way more fun

This is an update to an earlier review I gave.
The first review stemmed from a poor experience with the 48 hour cancellation policy that put me the position of choosing one of the following options because a particularly bad chest cold flared up the day I was supposted to attend a class:
*infecting the other class participants
*finding a replacement for myself in time for the class
*sending the by boyfriend there alone for his birthday gift
*losing $ 90 for our reservations
I ended up going. It was a blast. The woman at the front desk (who maybe just had a bad day when I called earlier) was very pleasant and helpful. Very welcoming.
I was dead tired and almost bailed in the parking lot. We went in and all of the instructors were helpful, friendly, and fun. After going up and doing the first attempt on the trapeze, adrenaline kicked in and the chest cold, tiredness, etc was pushed aside for the next hour.
I was worried about not being able to breath while upside down, not being able to focus on instructions, etc…
What the front desk could explain to people in a similar situation (where they aren’t sure if they are well enough to attend) is that you’re not hanging upside down for an extended time. The class itself isn’t super strenuous so even though you might be tired, you will most likely be just fine. There is time to recuperate between attempts. And that the rush of what you’re doing kind of overrides yuckiness you are feeling.
I’d love to go back. Really great experience.

Flying trapeze, silks, hoop, trampoline and other aerial arts inherently take away the breath of the spectators. We’re amazed by the performers’ prowess, while fearing their daring.
At Trapeze Arts in Oakland, Stephan and his skilled & experienced crew make these tricks safe and accessible to would-​be adrenaline junkies in almost any kind of physical condition. After just ninety minutes of training, most of us can fly through the air — and be caught! — if not with the greatest of ease, or with birdlike grace, but safely, and with a huge grin on our face! Even we inflexible oldies who fall (harmlessly) to the net without a catch to our name vow to return for another try.
Try it. You’ll love it, too!

My husband and I were visiting San Francisco for a week and I wanted to explore and try new things. The trapeze class we took at Trapeze Arts was so much fun, we only wish we could bring them to Chicago! We got there early because we didn’t want to get lost since we are from out of town. It’s located in a neighborhood and kinda hidden. The building looks like it used to be a hangar for small planes. The lady at the front had us fill out paperwork and we sat to observe what was going on while we waited. It was pretty darn intimidating! The landing where you take off from is soooo high and you wonder how you’re going to get your legs to keep climbing the ladder on the side… but we did it thanks to the help of the staff there. They were extremely friendly and talkative. They asked us a lot of questions about Chicago and what we were up to while in CA (I think they were trying to distract us from the height and what we were about to do). We were the only two beginners and everyone else (about ⁴⁄₅ gals were doing more advanced moves). They were super nice and encouraged us! Thank you for such a great experience. If we ever visit SF again, we will make sure to stop by!

The people here amaze me with their encouragement and humor! And of course the talent. They make you look good and it is so fun even though it is scary climbing that ladder. This time we had Darrell aka Bob, Troy, and Stephan. All great guys.

For my husband’s BIRTHDAY, our family of four signed up on a Wednesday for a Friday night (two days later) class, and I believe we were told the class would cap at 8. At any rate, the rest of the party was late, so we started w/​out them and had PLENTY of time and attention on the trapeze. EVERYONE enjoyed the experience! It was thrilling to fly (and be caught!) and fun to support others, too. Andrew, Darrell and Troy were AWESOME! We ALL want to go back.

After I wrote my original review, the owner contacted me and apologized for the experience I had and said she’d honor my voucher still. I recently made an appointment for tonight and my friend who went the original time also went with me tonight. I had such a blast! I had so much fun that I wanted to update this review right away.
The three instructors who were involved, Andrew, Rock and Travis (?) were so nice and trained us on what we needed to know regarding trapeze flying and I had several successful swings and catches at the end. Andrew was at the top hooking us up with our harnesses and he eased my fears with jokes and conversations before jumping off. Travis (?) was on the bottom belaying us and calling out the queues on what to do next. Rock was our catcher at the end and he also critiqued us from the video recording of our swings and gave us feedback on how to improve. All three of them worked great together.
I am so pleased with my experience and I am glad that the owner contacted me and still honored my voucher. My friend and I had such a great time that we plan on coming back again. Possibly coming back once a month.
Thank you so much for a wonderful time and for allowing me to experience such a great sport!

I will admit that I am addicted to taking classes with or without Groupon/​Living Social deals but Trapeze Arts was one of the BEST experiences.
I did 1.5 hours of trampoline then 1.5 hours of trapeze. I didn’t think was pushing it because there are a lot of rest periods between people. Andrew was our trampoline instructor and he was friendly, funny, and patient. The class caps at 4 people which I think is perfect.
For trapeze, Stefan and Henry were our instructors. I am just amazed at the positive vibes and attitudes I’m getting from everyone who works here. It really makes you want to come back! Like some said, the hardest part of trapeze is climbing up the wobbly metal ladder up to the platform. Going OFF the platform was SO WONDERFUL, like flying. I had about 3 – 4 turns on my own then 2 turns doing catches.
If you see this deal, don’t hesitate to get it! I want to have a private party here so my friends can experience the awesomeness I did.

I still have a big fat grin on my face. This place was so rad, friendly, fun and affordable. Our class was basically three people, but a bunch of employees/​regulars who were also practicing during our lesson slot. We were shown the basics, and then told to go do it… we kind of stared at each other like he was kidding but I guess the only way to do it was to do it. The staff was helpful, instructed us properly and gave tips (we were doing well enough where one of the guys showed us how to do a back flip), joked around, and just a great vibe overall. The 1.5s hour flew by, and we went enough times to where my body was done (calves were annihilated oddly).
It’s definitely a local vibe, and I can’t believe we were really the only newbs there. That being said I think I stumbled on it by searching for trampolines, and didn’t even know such a place existed. This was seriously a great way to spend a night, and everyone should give it a shot so that we can support a business that give us a chance to be kids again.

That moment when you and your catcher grab wrists, and they say, «I gotcha.» And you release your knee’s deathgrip of the pole.
That.
Being the kind of person whose legs turn to jelly at the thought of being anywhere high up, you’d think Trapeze lessons would be the last thing on my list of things to try. Well, luckily, Tinna H. asked me to go, and for some odd reason, I agreed. Our sisterly bonding time went from Just Dance in front of the tv, to flying through the air.
Our class of 6 was all beginners, so they went through how to pull your legs up over the bar, wearing our harnesses, and then going through steps of what we’d be doing when we got up to the platform. The instructors were what made this experience perfect. They were supportive and really nice.
The climb up the ladder, even after going 5 or more times was still just as scary each time. I somehow ended up being the first to go in our group. Perfect… No pressure or anything!
That time where I shrieked ‘Oh shit’, while swinging through the air. That happened. Luckily, I got it on the first try and was able to let my hands go (although my instinct was to grab the bar immediately right after).
They have a video recording, and our instructor gave us feedback on what our bodies should be doing/​when they should be doing it. Listen to them because they tell you what to do and timing is really key. Once you hesitate, and THEN do what you were told, you may or may not faceplant onto the net and then get dragged across the net. Oops. No, it did not hurt, and I laughed hysterically.
After a few rounds of practice swinging by our knees, the next step was the three swing catch. First swing, get your legs over the bar, 2^nd swing builds momentum, 3^rd swing, let your arms go, arch back and reach back for the catcher who grabs your wrist, and then releasing your legs.
Again, I was first in line. this time the adrenaline and my already raw hands made me even more scared. And then I looked back and reached out, and then we flew.
When he let go and I landed, the instructor asked me, ‘So, how was it?’ I immediately turned into a giddy child. IT WAS AMAZING. LET’S DO IT AGAIN!
My hands are shaky and my knees are weak
I can’t seem to stand on my own two feet
Who do you thank when you have such luck?
I’m in love
I’m all shook up
Mm mm oh, oh, yeah, yeah!

Had so much fun here! I got a flying trapeze and a trampoline class (lovely gift), 2 separate sessions. Flying trapeze is the way to go and even though everyone in my group had doubts, everyone flew. Trampoline was also fun. They have a running ramp trampoline set up so you can do somersaults and jumps. Everyone gets a turn and you don’t feel like you’re waiting around too long.
Bring your video device and have a person waiting their turn record you while you fly. You have to have evidence, just in case no one believes you the next day.
The neighborhood is sketchy so opt for the daytime class and reserve well in advance.

I like to try new things. However, circus acts had never crossed my mind. It always looked so fun and artful on TV. I just didn’t know it was possible for people who weren’t in the circus scene. When Groupon came out with a deal for an introductory class at Trapeze Arts, my sister and I jumped at the chance.
The class was at night. Being new in this neck of the woods, we felt a little uneasy on the way here. The area seemed rather sketchy and there wasn’t enough street lighting. GPS said we had arrived at the place but we couldn’t really tell at first. We walked through a small door and into a big warehouse. Different types of training were going on. There were people practicing on the trampoline and on the high platform for trapeze. The aerial silk group looked very graceful and effortless. Even though they didn’t go very high above ground, I feared for them because there were only floor mats.
Our class was divided into two parts. The instructor first had us take turns to go on the trampoline. She showed us how to tuck our bodies and how to sit to bounce off without hurting ourselves. I learned trampoline when I was young so some of this came back to me. But my coordination… not so much :) After we had warmed up, we were taught to do more elaborate moves in midair. Towards the end of this part of the instruction, we were fitted with harnesses and hooked up to wires. We did flips! I felt like Jackie Chan!
Still got our gears on, we were moving on to the trapeze zone. I’d be lying if I said my heart wasn’t pounding like a taiko drum. Afraid of height, my sister remained quiet so I knew she was terrified. I had to put on a brave face for her, «We can do it!» The instructors were very thorough when explaining what they required us to do. It was important for our own safety that we all understood and were able to carry out the movements. They certainly had my full attention. We practiced on the floor first on how to lean, how to grip, and how to dangle. The moment of truth! My body was trembling as I started to climb up that teeny tiny ladder All The Way Up There. OMG! Don’t look down! Lean forward. Hands on the bar. One foot out. The other foot. I’m falling! Oh, I’m swinging! Oh, that’s not all?! Hook legs on the bar. Let go of hands. Say what?! I’m falling backwards! Oh, someone has caught my arms! Oh, I’m swinging! Like an flying trapeze artist! Well, we actually went up a few times before performing the whole routine. But talk about adrenaline rush. It took me a full 10 minutes after I landed to register what I had just done. Whoopee! Unfortunately, my sister just couldn’t overcome her fear of height and had to skip the last act. We did feel that if our instructors smiled more, we probably wouldn’t have been as nervous. They were nice, just looked somewhat serious. Still, we had fun and a great workout.