Towson professor, aerial dancer, and creator of aerial yoga, Jayne Bernasconi, has had quite the interesting life. She discovered dance her freshmen year of college and has danced professionally ever since. She started practicing yoga over 20 years ago and soon after discovered aerial dance. Since moving to Maryland in 1999 she has taught dance at Towson University and started her own aerial dance company, Air Dance Bernasconi-introducing aerial dance to the Washington/Baltimore metropolitan area. Two years ago she began teaching aerial dance at Towson University, the first class of its kind at Towson. She recently wrote a book about aerial dance. Most recently she opened a yoga studio near Towson where she teaches all types of yoga including aerial yoga-which she created.
Jayne came up with the idea for aerial yoga after teaching both yoga and aerial dance for many years. She combined the two and created a completely new type of yoga.
“I felt like the principles of yoga were very similar to aerial dance,” Jayne said. “When I was teaching people aerial dance I was using what I learned in yoga to help them breath and relax before going up in the air.”
Aerial yoga combines tradition yoga positions with aerial dance principles and merges the two. Jayne uses a silk hammock to suspend participants who do the positions in the air and sometimes upside down.
She felt the natural connection and began shaping it on her own. Her friend, who introduced her to aerial dance, organizes an Aerial Dance Festival every year in Boulder, Colorado. She asked Jayne to teach a pilot class at the festival in 2003.
Yogi’s could not get enough and Jayne went back for many years to teach aerial yoga at the festival. Her class inspired many people, including some copycats. It has since become a very popular fitness trend.
“I love looking at the people’s faces, wide eyes, getting empowered, and having them understand their bodies,” she says.
Aerial dance, which Jayne discovered in the 1990s, is relatively new itself, it was developed in the late 60s.
“Aerial dancers blend ground to air effortlessly when making transitions from air to ground,” she said. “It’s similar to Cirque du Soleil, but the fabric trapeze is a big difference.”
Jayne currently works, as she likes to joke, “Eight days a week,” and can not imagine herself doing anything else.
“Dance is my passion. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else,” Jayne said. “You know, how they say ‘run away and join the circus,’ well sometimes I like to say maybe I will run away and get a nine to five job. I don’t do it for the money.”
Still she says, “I love my work, it is very much satisfying.”
Want to take one of Jayne’s aerial yoga classes at her yoga studio, Yoga on York? Her Campus Towson is giving away two FREE classes (a $30 value) to one lucky reader. To enter simply ‘like’ Her Campus Towson on Facebook and Yoga on York. Then write a comment on Her Campus Towson’s wall and tag Yoga on York‘s Facebook page in the post. This way we will know who you are! Contest ends Saturday April 23rd at 11:59 p.m. A winner will be randomly selected from all participants. Good Luck!
This giveaway is organized by Her Campus Towson and is not affiliated with Her Campus Media LLC.