Re-Building After a Pandemic: High Expectations Aerial Arts
This summer, the Vertical Art Dance team traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to build a beautiful custom aerial studio for High Expectations Aerial Arts!
We were so excited to work with this amazing team and help them bring their new studio space to life. They previously had a warehouse space that they unfortunately had to leave in 2020.
It’s heart-wrenching to hear when any studio owner has to leave behind a space for any reason—but especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why we believe the work we do is so empowering and important. We are giving our customers the tools, control and security they need to manage their business successfully! In this interview, you will hear more from Sarah, the owner of High Expectations Aerial Arts, about why purchasing a custom truss structure from Vertical Art Dance made so much sense for the long-term health of her aerial studio business.
At the end of our long build day, VAD team member, Cheryl, sat down with Sarah for a quick interview. Here is what she had to say!
Cheryl (C): “Okay, so we are here and we just did a build today. Tell us who you are!”
Sarah (S): “Hello! I’m Sarah Bolton with High Expectations Aerial Arts.”
(C): “Very Cool. Where are we located?”
(S): “We are in Memphis, Tennessee. You can see by the sweat. (giggles and wipes her face)”
(C): “So tell us, where were you at before? Where was your other studio?”
(S): “So we had another warehouse space in 2019 and we had to move out of it in 2020 like a lot of places, and then we were in a temporary location teaching off of a portable rig for about 2 years…so we had about 12 feet of height. So this is…incredible (glances back at her new custom truss structure).”
(C): “Yes, if this isn’t the dream aerial studio…I don’t know what is! You are so blessed, I am so happy for you. So tell us what we did today in this beautiful building?”
(S): “We have been here almost 12 hours putting this structure together and then raising it up, literally one level at a time. We did all the rigging, we did rigging training, so just really a full day of literally raising this structure from the ground.”
(C): “And so who did you use to bring this beautiful structure to life?”
(S): “Vertical Art Dance! We’ve had a really amazing experience from the very first contact I made with Summer and we did a consultation. This was months ago before I even knew I had this space for sure. Then, we worked through the design process and I was so excited when I thought I was only going to have 4 rigging points and then she (Summer) was able to engineer these 7 rigging points, which was so amazing and just gives us a lot of potential for our business to grow. (I’m) just really excited!”
(C): “And what made you want to go with Vertical Art Dance? Was there something that stood out to you?”
(S): “So I had some recommendations from people in the industry that I really respect a lot and they are really focused on safety and solid rigging so I knew that that recommendation really held a lot of weight. And then just my interaction with Summer was great. She was always so warm and so friendly and really easy to work with and just seemed really smart and like she really knew what she was doing and I liked that a lot.”
(C): “If there’s an aerial studio out there that’s considering looking at Vertical Art Dance to install their rig and to help them get it all going, what would you say?”
(S): “I would say go for it! The really amazing thing about this structure is that if I ever move out of this space, I can take it down and take it with me. A lot of times if we are rigging directly into the ceiling or I-beams…even in this space, I would have had to spend a bunch of money doing reinforcements, and basically spent the same amount of money to have this rig that is now mine forever! So yeah, I would highly recommend it! It’s really great to have the portability and the option to take it with you!
(C): “That’s awesome. Well thank you so much for choosing Vertical Art Dance! We are so freaking excited for you. This is the most beautiful rig, I just can’t get over it.”
(S): “Thank you, and anyone who comes through Memphis come see us!”
(C): “Tell us where you’re located.”
(S): “We are at 319 Cumberland Street near the Broad Avenue Arts District. So we’re right in the heart of Memphis.”
(C): “Excellent and what’s the name of your website?”
(S): www.highexpectationsaerialarts.com
Thank you Sarah and the entire team at High Expectations Aerial Arts for trusting in Vertical Art Dance to complete this huge project! Congratulations on your new studio and we wish you many, many years of success ahead!