Dissecting Aerial 2026:’Life States and Stages’- Nov 7th, Jacksons Lane Theatre, London.
We invite you to join us for a day filled with inspiring presentations from aerial artists, researchers, body workers and medical & sports science practitioners. Whether you’re an aerial or movement artist, a teacher, a studio owner, a physio or body worker, or simply curious about the body in the air, there’s something here for you.
This year we’ll be partnering with Jacksons Lane Theatre The event is best experienced in person but as tickets are limited due to studio capacity, each event will also be recorded and available and distributed from Nov 12th. Booking details coming soon.
The day is split into three events: ‘The Intimate One’, ‘The Practical One’ and ‘The Big One’. You can book a ticket for each event separately, or treat yourself to the full-day ticket. Each event will also be recorded and available from 12th November for anyone who can’t join in person.
Note: an online recording ticket does not include entry to the live event, and booking a recording requires you to consent to your email being shared with Gravity & Levity so we can send it on to you.
The Intimate One
Studio 5 · 11.45am–13.30pm · 25 in-person tickets · £20
Suki McConnon – Project RED-D
Topic: An introduction to Relative Energy Deficiency in Dance (REDs) – what it is, why dancers and performers are especially at risk, and how the sector can prevent it.
Speaker: Suki is Programme & Research Manager at Project RED-D, and a former professional dancer with English National Ballet. She brings both lived experience and postgraduate training in performing arts medicine to her work, and is passionate about shaping lasting cultural change in dance.
Dr Jessica Eccles – ‘Bendy bodies, bendy brains: neurodiversity and creativity’
Topic: A fascinating look at the overlap between hypermobility, neurodivergence and creativity, and what it means for how we think, move and create.
Speaker: Dr Jessica Eccles is a neurodevelopmental psychiatrist and Associate Professor at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and co-founder of the world’s first Neurodivergent Brain Body Clinic. She hopes to challenge stereotypes and spark curiosity.
The Practical One
Studio 4 · 13.45–16.30 · 25 in-person tickets · £25
Alex Allan – ‘The Theory of Beats’
Topic: A practical dive into the foundational beats and pathways that unlock confident, dynamic movement on vertical apparatus.
Speaker: Alex is an internationally experienced aerial rope artist and teacher trained at San Francisco Circus Center. He is currently researching the interplay between floor and air and is known for his warm, personalised approach to teaching.
Aisling Ni Cheallaigh – ‘The Art of Spinning: Spin-poseium’
Topic: A deep dive into Aisling’s research on spinning technique for hoop. Part lecture, part practical, this spin-poseium (see what they’ve done there) will explore the physics and body mechanics behind the excruciating art of the spin. Aisling will also talk about their experience as a new mother and how that has changed their relationship with the hoop and their work.
* The practical element is not compulsory, but if you’d like to join we’ll have ginger at the ready!
Speaker: Aisling Ni Cheallaigh is an Irish aerialist and hoop specialist who has created and performed three of their own shows internationally.
16.30–17.15 – Refreshment break, Jacksons Lane café
The Big One
Studio 1 · 17.15–21.15 · 120 in-person tickets · £40
Dr Nicky Keay – ‘The Female Hormone Odyssey’
Topic: From the menstrual cycle through to perimenopause and menopause – how hormones shape how we feel, train and perform, and practical strategies to work with them.
Speaker: Dr Nicky Keay is a medical doctor specialising in exercise endocrinology, a medical advisor to Scottish Ballet, and the author of ‘Hormones, Health and Human Potential’. She’s also a keen ballet dancer herself, bringing a dancer’s perspective as well as a clinician’s to her research into hormones and performance.
Ana Prada – ‘Moving Through Change: Rethinking Aerial Training through Perimenopause & Menopause’
Topic: How the aerial body changes through perimenopause and menopause, and how training can adapt to support strength, recovery and longevity in the air.
Speaker: Ana Prada is a Colombian-born aerial dancer, movement educator and creator of VAYU Aerial Yoga, with three decades of international performing and teaching experience. At the heart of her work is Aerial Roots – cultivating grounding, presence and a connection to the body while moving in the air.
Dan Edwardes – ‘Physical Literacy versus the Delusion of Safety-ism’
Topic: A challenge to our risk-averse culture – why building real physical capability and confidence matters more than trying to eliminate risk altogether.
Speaker: Dan Edwardes is founder and CEO of Parkour Generations and a founding figure of Parkour UK. He has taught movement and physical literacy in over 40 countries and is still as curious about human movement as when he began.
Joanna Haigood – ‘Curiosity as Practice’
Topic: A reflection on how curiosity and adventure have sustained Joanna through almost 50 years of creative practice, from one of aerial dance’s most inventive site-specific artists.
Speaker: Joanna Haigood is Artistic Director of Zaccho Aerial Dance, celebrated for over four decades of work staged in extraordinary architectural and natural environments worldwide. Along the way Joanna has mentored generations of aerial artists and we’re incredibly lucky to have her join us at Jacksons Lane for Dissecting Aerial.
If you’re planning to come in-person here’s a helpful visual journey of how to get here and what to expect once you arrive Visual journey