Aerial Silks Near Me in Allapattah: LADD Miami Circus Arts Center

LADD Miami Circus Arts Center charges $15 for anyone's first class, and adult aerial silks runs six days a week at its warehouse gym, 1395 NW 22nd Street in Allapattah. The school is the working name of Les Ailes du Désir Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and its 5,000-square-foot room holds more than 14 aerial points. If you want aerial silks near me on a weekday lunch break, its noon and 1pm silks classes are rare in Miami.

Les Ailes du Désir takes its name, French for wings of desire, from the foundation that runs the school. Its stated mission is to give Miami's communities, children and adults alike, the benefits of training in circus arts, and to build structured, progressive courses for students under 18 who want a professional career. NBC 6 visited in April 2019 as the gym celebrated its first anniversary and had its host try trapeze.

The executive team is Claudine Choquette, chief executive, and Maria Margiyeva, school director, who hand-pick the coaches. Margiyeva was born in Kyiv, was a member of the Soviet and Ukrainian national junior rhythmic gymnastics teams, and later built a performing career in Spain, where she released her own aerial silks act in 2003. She still teaches silks, lyra, hammock, flexibility, ballet and hula hoop to youth and adult students.

The adult timetable for September 2026 to May 2027 puts general silks classes on Monday at noon, 7pm and 8pm, Wednesday at 1pm, Thursday at 5pm, Friday at 5pm (an adults and teens class) and Saturday at 10am. Stronger students have their own slots: Rope & Silks Intermediate/Advanced on Tuesday at 7pm, Silks Intermediate on Saturday at 11am and Silks Advanced on Saturday at noon.

Most groups have between two and ten students, and instructors adapt the drills to the level of whoever turns up, focusing on the figures you want to learn. For a true first visit, book the $15 introductory class, which the school welcomes every day of the week, and say it is your first time when you check in. Adult classes are for ages 14 and up, and children and adults never share a class.

Wear form-fitting clothes that stay put upside down, ideally a short-sleeved shirt and leggings that cover the backs of your legs. Socks are required in every class except silks, where bare feet grip the fabric. Tie long hair back and leave jewelry, buckles, zippers and big buttons at home. The rule is strict because metal snags and tears expensive fabric.

New students should arrive ten minutes early to check in at reception and sign the waiver, or register online first. There are no spectators in the gym, so friends who come along wait in the lobby. Parents of children can watch the last ten minutes of a kids' class from a designated area, and the school asks everyone to leave through the gym door rather than walking back into the lobby.

After the $15 first class, a single adult class is $35. Packs cost $140 for five, $250 for ten, $480 for twenty and $850 for fifty, valid for three months (five months for the 50-pack). Monthly memberships run from $130 for four classes up to $470 for 24, and unlimited adult training is $500 a month. Memberships need 30 days' notice to change or cancel before renewal.

Our verdict on value: the five-class pack at $28 a class is the right first purchase, because silks basics take several sessions to stick and you still have three months to use it. Skip open gym at first. It costs $15 for a two-hour session, but it is strictly for advanced students and professionals, and staff must vet you before you can book.

Read the rules twice, because the school's own pages differ. The adult classes page says cancellations are free up to 120 minutes before class, with a $25 fee after that, while the general policies page asks for 12 hours' notice online to keep a credit. Cancel by the night before and you are covered under both. All sales are final, and refunds go back to your studio account rather than your card.

Timing matters on the day too. No one is admitted more than ten minutes after class starts, and late arrivals forfeit the class. If a class is full, the school cannot take drop-ins, so book in the LADD app, which lets you buy packages and get notified of schedule changes. The school may cancel a class for low enrollment, so check the app before driving over.

LADD's students do not just train. They perform. The foundation's Soirée des Arts reached its 12th edition on September 22, 2026, with a Mediterranean-themed show at Sanctuary of the Arts in Coral Gables that sold all 314 seats. Professional artists shared the stage with LADD youth students, and Noah Grey, a former dance champion who trained at LADD and now teaches there, also performed.

For adults, the practical payoff is the coaching pool. The gym is also a training base for working circus professionals, and the school describes daily interaction between professionals and enthusiasts as the point of the shared space. It is common to share the room with someone rehearsing an act on the next rig, which is useful motivation in your third week of foot locks.

The school describes itself as steps from the Rubell Museum, the contemporary art museum in a converted warehouse complex at 1100 NW 23rd Street, so a Saturday 10am silks class can roll straight into an afternoon of galleries. The area around NW 20th Street also has the produce and wholesale warehouses that Allapattah has long been known for.

If LADD's times do not suit you, Circensia Studio, at 2120 NW 23rd Avenue nearby, runs beginner silks on weekend mornings and Tuesday evenings and also charges $15 for a first class. LADD is closed on Sundays, which is when Circensia's Sunday 11am beginner class becomes the useful backup.

Address: LADD Miami Circus Arts Center, 1395 NW 22nd Street, Miami, FL 33142. Open Monday to Saturday and closed Sunday. Adult silks classes run Monday at noon, 7pm and 8pm, Wednesday at 1pm, Thursday at 5pm, Friday at 5pm and Saturday at 10am. Adults must be 14 or older.

Your first class is $15, a single class is $35 and five classes cost $140. Arrive ten minutes early, sign the waiver and wear fitted clothes with no zippers or jewelry. Late arrivals more than ten minutes after start are not admitted, and all sales are final.