Business Monday: Aerial Arts Hawaiʻi helps build strength, confidence for aerialists at every skill level

When it is time to twist her body into fabrics in the air, sometimes as high as 10 feet, Elisa Selene of Aerial Arts Hawaiʻi locks in and concentrates on every move to make each performance look effortless to the crowd.

On Saturday, she and other members of the company were amazing a crowd who had formed around the free standing aerial rig during the Hawaiʻi Island LGBTQ+ Pride Festival in Hilo.

Aerial Arts Hawaiʻi is female-driven performance collective and production company created by aerialists Zoe Eisenberg and Bella OʻToole. They have been teaching and producing aerial shows since 2017, and officially opened their studio in Hilo in 2021.

Aerial arts, a performance discipline rooted in circus traditions, features acrobats and dancers performing physical feats, acrobatics and dance routines while suspended in the air using a trapeze, aerial silks, aerial hoop or straps.

Aerial arts rely on hanging apparatuses to build immense upper body and core strength, flexibility and kinesthetic awareness.

“When I moved to the island in 2012, there were very few aerialists but plenty of interest from people of all ages and backgrounds who just wanted to learn the basics,” Eisenberg said. “We started small in Kalapana, where we would teach in our free time and host shows when it was possible for us to pull off.

“Since we’ve had the studio in Hilo, we have reached so many people and have created an awesome, creative community in East Hawaiʻi.”

Aerial Arts Hawaiʻi has been featured during the Hawaiʻi Island LGBTQ+ Pride Festival since 2024, and their presence has grown in size and skill every year. This year, they brought a 20-foot tall, portable aerial rig and multiple aerialists.

“Our Pride presence this year was our largest. We were able to do a 30 minute show and class demos with our partner studio, Pole HI, and the community response was very warm,” Eisenberg said.

During the performances, Eisenberg walked around the crowd to ask for donations for the Queer Youth Circus Club, which is a year-long social circus club that kicked off in August 2025. As of Saturday, they were $1,700 away from the goal of $5,800.

The club provides self-identifying LGBTQIA+ youth, ages 11 to 18-years old, in Hilo with access to free, inclusive aerial and circus classes and a network of like-minded community peers.

“This program is entirely community funded to keep it free for participants, and is an important way for our collective members to connect and give back,” Eisenberg said. “A majority of us are queer and didn’t have anything like this as kids.”

For Eisenberg and OʻToole, it is necessary to continue the club for free and indefinitely, especially when life feels more uneasy for queer and neurodivergent youth. They also believe in the ability to develop confidence through aerial and circus arts and have seen people of all ages take a chance on the classes.

Even if they don’t stick with it, participants gain physical, mental and emotional strength through the process.

As a belly dancer, Selene has experience on stage and is confident in those spaces. However, she realized she had a desire to learn more and decided to try aerial arts for the first time in 2023.

“I think when you have danced for such a long time, challenging yourself becomes more of a rarity just by nature,” Selene said. “Aerial arts felt like a natural, bold progression for me. It has been challenging, but in the best way for me as a performer.”

Aerial Arts Hawaiʻi currently offers 17 regular classes that are five to six weeks long throughout the year with different skills, including fabric, lyra, sling, flying pole, aerial yoga, trapeze and contortion.

Beginning today, keiki ages 7 to 15 will be participating in the Kids Circus Summer Camp for the week. In the mornings, they will learn aerial skills to build confidence and strength in the air, and the afternoons will be focused on ground-based skills like juggling and handstands.

O’Toole decided to offer keiki camps in 2022 to give eager kids an adrenaline-filled opportunity to be active and learn something new while also providing a supportive environment for them to connect with new friends.

“We get a lot of kids that have done a lot of sports, but have maybe grown kind of bored,” O’Toole said. “Many parents find us, and kids get obsessed with such a new activity. Aerial is a physically challenging and exciting thing to do. It’s something fresh and new to them. … They are in the air, flipping, and learning to do really fun things.”

Aerial Arts Hawaiʻi has also been able to widen its reach over the years and has been asked to bring aerial and circus entertainment to branded events or private ceremonies on other islands.

“This is a great way for our collective members to be working professionally and sustainably as artists and step ourside the comfort of our community,” Eisenberg said. “Being a performance collective opens up our possibilities and has led to very fun experiences in and out of the studio.”

Aerial Arts Hawaiʻi frequently hosts events in studio at the Airhouse. Last night, they hosted Punk Pride Fest 2026, which featured five local bands, three aerialists – Fae, Becca and Gabe – and one live painting.

The next studio event is a Red Carpet Dance Party, which asks guests to attend in their best formalwear and dance to the tunes of DJ NTU and DJ Debonair at the Airhouse, located at 108 Kalakaua Street in Hilo, on July 11.

“We’re excited about this one since its a much more elegant theme compared to our other events,” Eisenberg said. “It will have ambient aerial performances throughout that are similar to art pieces coming to life.”

For more information on the events, gigs or classes, visit the Aerial Arts Hawaiʻi website.