Our Values
Body Neutral.
The prevalence of eating disorders in dancers is THREE TIMES that of the general population, and fatphobia runs rampant on stages, in rehearsal rooms, and in auditions, and frankly, that's bullshit.
You will NEVER find any Athletes On Stage workouts or media that praises a particular body type. We will never engage in aesthetics-focused work or "bikini body" talk. We WILL focus on what your body can accomplish - how you can build strength, reduce pain, increase mobility, and build your stamina.
We firmly believe that beautiful, talented performers come in all shapes and sizes, and that mastery on an art form looks good on all body types.
Queer Friendly.
We embrace movers of all genders and sexualities. We understand that trans and non-binary performers routinely face discrimination and harassment in both performance and fitness spaces, and strive to create a space that is acutely affirming and welcoming.
We do that by working from a place of agendered programming - a body is a body is a body, and your unique progressions through strength, flexibility, and conditioning is just that: unique. When we can simply observe your personal strengths, limitations, and progress, we don't need to rely on preconceived notions of what any given body can/should accomplish.
Additionally, and this should go without saying, we respect (and ask for) pronouns, name changes, and use agendered langauge as a default.
Anti-Racist.
Black Lives Matter.
Athletes On Stage offers all of its services on a sliding scale (including free/no-minimum PWYC virtual group classes). We also operate from a place of body neutrality - ascribing no importance to BMI, weight, or shape, among other aesthetic characteristics. In this way, we work fundamentally in opposition to financial barriers and body shaming, which are two of the primary ways that racism shows up in training spaces for dance, theatre, and fitness - but they are certainly not the only ways.
I look towards We See You WAT, MN Play Bitch, Decolonizing Fitness, Black Girl Pilates, and other brilliant voices to guide both my artistic and coaching practices to always be more inclusive, more intersectional, and more anti-racist.
Industry Specific.
Athletes On Stage understands the difficulties of life as a working movement-based performer, because we've been there.
All of our programming is built with the specific goal of making you a stronger performer in whatever your art form is - with the understanding that your job - last-minute auditions, ever-changing rehearsals schedules, brutal tech weeks, and the demands of tour life - takes precedence, and always offering up programming modifications to make sure that you're performing at 100% where and when it matters.