Aerial Silks Near Me in North Miami: Acro Gravity's 30-Foot Ceilings

Most aerial studios in Miami fit into a converted storefront. Acro Gravity Academy, at 1935 NE 150th Street in North Miami, trains in a 10,000-square-foot hall with 30-foot ceilings, which is high enough for long silks drops and for a motorized aerial stage. Adults 18 and older can take Aerial Silks Beginners on Monday at 6:30pm or the Open Level class on Wednesday at 6:30pm, and tuition is billed monthly from $140 for one class a week.

The academy opened in 2020 and celebrated its fifth anniversary on September 28, 2025, with an afternoon called Big Day Under the Big Top: open classes at 3:30pm, a meet-and-greet with the artists and a showcase at 5pm. It was founded by Veronica Tirado and Youri Klepatsky. Tirado, born in San Juan, started gymnastics at five, became a USA Gymnastics certified coach, built an acrobatic gymnastics team in Puerto Rico and later managed the programs at Dezerland Park. She is certified to teach aerial silks and hammock through the Circus Arts Institute.

Klepatsky brings the rigging side. He studied at the Moscow Circus College and performed with the Moscow Circus before moving to San Francisco in 1992, where he worked with the San Francisco Circus School and the founder of AcroSports. He then spent years as an aerial rigger, act coach and show development assistant for Cirque Dreams in Florida, and he still runs his own production company, Yuri K Production. The academy's FAQ notes that its equipment was installed by a professional circus rigger and rated for thousands of pounds.

For a true first timer, Aerial Silks Beginners (18+) on Monday at 6:30pm with coach Hannah is the cleanest entry point. The academy describes its intro course as starting from simulated hangs and work on a low apparatus, then climbing higher once the basics are safe. The Wednesday 6:30pm Open Level class, also led by Hannah, is billed as skill-based with no minimum strength or skill prerequisites, so it works as a second weekly session or as a first class if Mondays are impossible.

Once you can climb and invert, the Monday 7:45pm Aerial Silks Int/Advance class with Stephanie picks up straight after the beginner hour. The Tuesday 7:15pm Mixed Aerial: Rope and Silks class (13+) is a real step up. Its prerequisites are comfortable climbing on vertical apparatus and solid inversions, and it introduces catch-and-release elements on the motorized aerial stage. Adults who want to sample everything first can try Intro to Mixed Aerial (21+) on Friday at noon, which rotates through hammock, trapeze, lyra, straps and silks.

Acro Gravity does not sell a cheap trial here; the silks classes are set up as monthly enrollment through its iClassPro portal. One class a week costs $140 a month, two cost $220, three cost $330, four cost $400 and five cost $500, plus a $50 annual anniversary fee. That puts a once-a-week student at roughly $35 a class, in line with Miami drop-in rates, but with a reserved spot in the same group every week.

Our view: commit to two classes a week if you can. At $220 a month you get the Monday beginner hour plus the Wednesday open level hour, and the second session is where grip and wraps start to stick. Open gym costs $25 a session or $120 a month for unlimited visits, but the academy is explicit that open gym is for refining skills you already have, not for learning new ones, so save it for after a few months of coached classes.

The academy asks students to cover the backs of their knees and the torso, which protects against fabric burns on knee hangs and hip keys. Fitted yoga or pilates clothing works best, hair goes into a bun or ponytail, and the class notes for the rope and silks session add that thighs and belly must be covered, with sleeves recommended for the underarms and elbows. Bring a water bottle; the hall gets warm in the evenings.

Leave rings and watches in your bag, since jewelry snags the fabric. There is no weight limit, but the FAQ suggests a word with your doctor if you have concerns about your fitness before starting, because the work is physically demanding. If a class shows as full in the portal, use the waitlist button; every adult silks class in the portal accepts waitlist sign-ups.

Silks is only one corner of the building. The same week runs Mongolian contortion with coach Buyana, a Sunday Cyr wheel fundamentals class for adults, straps, lyra, flying pole on Thursday nights, trampoline and tumbling for adults on Saturdays, and a competitive aerial team for kids. Expect children's classes in the late afternoon and a mix of hobby students and pre-professional artists after 6pm, since the academy also trains people preparing for circus careers.

Reviews on the academy's site lean on the coaching. One student in September 2025 wrote that she had never taken a class like it and that her instructor was welcoming from the start; another, in January 2026, praised handstand classes that the coach adapted to each student's level. Caplin News at FIU called it both Miami's tallest and one of its most welcoming circus spaces when it listed the city's top five circus schools in October 2025.

The academy sits about a mile west of FIU's Biscayne Bay Campus at 3000 NE 151st Street, which edges onto the bay and Oleta River State Park. On a weekend afternoon, a walk along the campus waterfront or a paddle at Oleta makes a calm counterpoint to an hour of hanging upside down. Sunny Isles Beach and Aventura are each a short drive east and north on Biscayne Boulevard.

If your evenings are booked, Cirque Art Studio, roughly a mile and a half south at 13651 Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami Beach, runs daytime and weekend aerial classes, and the two schools together cover most of the week for northeast Miami-Dade. Acro Gravity's portal is the place to check exact openings, since class counts change daily.

Address: Acro Gravity Academy, 1935 NE 150th Street, North Miami, FL 33181. Register through the iClassPro portal linked from acrogravity.com. Adult silks: Beginners Monday 6:30pm to 7:30pm, Int/Advance Monday 7:45pm, Open Level Wednesday 6:30pm, Rope and Silks Tuesday 7:15pm.

Monthly tuition $140 for one class a week, $220 for two, plus a $50 annual fee. Open gym $25 per session or $120 a month. Wear fitted clothing that covers the torso and the backs of the knees, tie hair back and bring water. Adult silks classes start at age 18.