£24 Aerial Fitness Studio Tasters in an 1896 Power Station

The National Centre for Circus Arts trains degree students on Coronet Street, N1 6HD, and on evenings and weekends it opens the same rigging to adults who have never been off the ground. The entry point is Try Aerial, a 90-minute taster on static trapeze, silks and rope that costs £24, or £19.50 with a concession. It runs on Fridays from 7:15pm to 8:45pm and Saturdays from 3:45pm to 5:15pm, a six-minute walk from Old Street station.

The centre says its building began life as an electricity generating station in 1896, and the training spaces still carry the names: you warm up in rooms such as the Generating Chamber and the Combustion Chamber, under brick walls and iron roof trusses high enough to hang a flying trapeze rig indoors.

The organisation itself was established on 30 October 1990, and was long known as The Circus Space. Today it is a registered charity that awards a BA (Hons) in Circus Arts. That matters for a casual student because the people teaching the evening classes work in a building full of professional training, and many of London's independent aerial teachers came through it. The founders of AirCraft Circus and Aerial Gymnastics London both trained here.

Try Aerial covers static trapeze and the vertical apparatus, meaning silks and rope, so you leave knowing which one suits your body. Upcoming Friday dates at 7:15pm include 13 November, 27 November and 11 December. Try Fly is the flying trapeze taster at £30, or £25 concession, on Fridays from 7:15pm to 9:15pm. You are harnessed on a petit volant rig, and the course page says that if you can hold your body weight for at least 20 seconds you are ready to fly.

There are two tasters built for people who often feel left out of circus classes. Try Aerial for 50+ costs £18 on Saturdays from 1:30pm to 3pm and covers static trapeze, silks and rope. Try Accessible Aerial is capped at four participants and led by Lydia Harper, a disabled circus director and teacher. Try Aerial Pole, at £24 or £19.50, runs on Wednesdays at 6:30pm and 8pm, and asks you to wear shorts and a sleeveless top because you grip the pole with your skin.

After a taster, the short courses are the natural next step. Aerial Silks Level 1 runs for six weeks on Mondays at 8pm from 2 November to 7 December for £156, or £132 concession. Aerial for 50+ continues on Saturday afternoons with static trapeze, hoop, silks and rope at £130 for five weeks. Aerial Conditioning and Flexibility, on Wednesdays from 6:15pm to 7:45pm, costs £151 for seven weeks and is aimed at anyone who wants stronger shoulders and a deeper split.

The Level 1 term courses for January to March 2027 are 90-minute weekly classes at £285, or £242 concession, for 11 weeks. They cover aerial hoop, which the centre also calls lyra, aerial ring or cerceau, plus silks, rope, static trapeze and flying trapeze. To join a Level 2 class without starting at Level 1, book the £8 Aerial Assessment on a Friday evening, which tests rope, silks, hoop, static trapeze and straps but not flying trapeze.

Adult classes are for people aged 16 and over. All courses and classes are non-refundable and non-transferable, and bookings cannot be moved to another date, although a medical note can earn credit for missed sessions, valid for 12 months. You do not need to tell the centre if you miss a session of a course. Concessions are available to full-time students, Equity members, Freedom Pass holders and recipients of listed benefits.

Be in reception, changed and ready, before your start time. The terms say latecomers may not be admitted, and every student has to do the led warm-up. For aerial classes, wear clothing that covers your limbs; Long sleeves and leggings work, and doubling up layers helps on rope. Leave jeans, skirts, very baggy clothes, trousers with side pockets, jewellery and watches at home. Pregnant people may not be allowed to take part.

Coronet Street is a short lane on the Hoxton edge of Shoreditch, just south of Hoxton Square. The centre's visitor page says Old Street station on the Northern line is six minutes away and two stops from St Pancras International, with London Overground stations at Hoxton and Shoreditch High Street close by.

Phone and reception enquiries are answered Monday to Friday from 4pm to 8pm and at weekends from 10am to 3pm. The building closes from Tuesday 8 to Thursday 10 December this term, so plan any December taster around those dates.

Walk two minutes north and you are on Hoxton Square, a small green square ringed by bars, restaurants and former warehouse galleries. It is the obvious place for a drink or a late dinner after a Friday taster, and the benches on the green are a decent spot to stretch out tired forearms in summer.

Further north, Kingsland Road leads to the Museum of the Home, set in eighteenth-century almshouses with period rooms and a garden. On Sunday mornings, Columbia Road Flower Market fills a street fifteen minutes east of Coronet Street with plant sellers, which makes a good start to a weekend before a Saturday afternoon class.

For a first visit, book Try Aerial rather than Try Fly, because the trapeze, silks and rope combination tells you more about which apparatus to pursue. Eat lightly at least two hours before class, bring water, and expect bruises on the backs of your knees and the tops of your feet after rope and silks. Tie long hair back before the warm-up starts.

Book online through the course pages, which show the next available dates, since you cannot simply turn up. If you want to compare it with smaller London aerial studios before booking a term, the Karpo APP can suggest alternatives across the city and places to eat near Old Street.