About Us
Our Mission
At Salem Aerial Dance Company, we are driven by an unwavering passion to bring the joy of aerial and dance arts to support our communities.
We believe the sky is not the limit—it’s an invitation. From the spark of a young aerialist’s bold first wrap to the triumph of an adult taking their first climb, we exist to spark transformation through aerial arts. Our mission is to cultivate strength, confidence, and joy by delivering world-class aerial training in a space where safety is the highest priority and personal growth is celebrated. Rigging is inspected to the highest standards, every instructor is rigorously trained, and each class is designed to meet students exactly where they are and lift them higher than they thought possible.
We are more than a studio; we are Salem’s home for aerial. By nurturing both our youngest flyers and our boldest grown-ups, we’re building a stronger, braver, connected community one aerialist at a time.
Meet our Staff
Kim Choeychan, Artistic Director
Specializes in a wide range including fabric (primary apparatus), lyra, trapeze, bungee, harness work, duo aerial coaching, and invented apparatus
Kim earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in dance from the University of Oregon in 2014. Kim has performed professionally in Portland for over 9 years, most notably with AWOL Dance Collective. She has taught at acclaimed studios such as AWOL, NW Dance Project, and Allegro Dance Studio. Continued studies include AWOL’s pre-professional training company, aerial rigging workshops with Brett Copes, teacher training programs through Paper Doll Militia, and training with Batsheva dance company.
Kim loves to share her passion with others, bringing over 15 years of teaching experience to her students. She seeks to find a balance between students enjoying their craft, and fostering continued growth. One of her favorite moments in life is witnessing her students have ‘aha’ moments. When she is not in the air she enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and toddler.
See a video of her performing with AWOL Dance Collective
Video Courtesy of thesquarepdx
Rosella Cogar, Aerial Instructor
Specializes in a wide range of apparatus including silks, rope, trapeze, lyra, and invented apparatus
Rosella has been in dance/acrobatic sports since she was 3. She started with ballet and tap, and at age six, Rosella decided she wanted to try gymnastics and loved it! She did other activities like swim team, softball, volleyball, and musical theater, but gymnastics won her heart. She was a competitive gymnast at Athletic Edge for seven years, and in 2019, she suffered a significant injury that prevented her from returning to gymnastics. After a couple of years of rehab and physical therapy, her orthopedic told her she could return to a sport that wouldn’t further stress the injury. After some investigation, she found an aerial studio in Molalla. She had always wanted to be an aerialist, so she jumped at the opportunity. After two years of commuting to Molalla, she was delighted when Kim opened her studio in Salem. She was ecstatic to join the performing company and has been at SADC ever since.
Destiny Hemry, Aerial Instructor
Specializes in lyra, fabric foundations coaching, ground acro coaching, and is an anchor performer with our company ‘Ex's’ - a pick-up adult company in collaboration with Empowerment Pole Studio.
Destiny did competitive cheerleading for many years when she was younger. As she got older her love for fitness grew. She is currently am a gymnastics instructor. I teach a wide age range and skill levels of children. She also teaches group fitness classes to adults. Continuing her teaching journey, she wanted to find something that she could do for strength and fun. This is how Destiny stumbled upon aerial. At the time there were no aerial studios near her, and that is how she started pole. Pole and aerial arts have been the best thing for me mentally, physically and socially. She was so excited to discovered Salem Aerial Dance Company. Aerial fabric and lyra have provided new challenges to overcome physically and mentally. She loves building strength/skills, fostering community, and developing her sense of artistry at the studio.
Sophia Callis, Aerial Instructor
Ever since I was able to walk, I would be dancing. I danced anywhere and everywhere, whether there was music or not. I did ballet at 3 years old for a year and fell out due to loss of interest. By age 9, I had tried an aerial silk class at Center Stage and fell in love with aerial. At the same time, I also took hip-hop class there for a year. Since Center Stage didn’t have any classes in the summer, I tried a summer camp at Aerial Revolution, which introduced me to the world of aerial. I ended up switching studios and attended there for two years. I learned fabric, trapeze, lyra, and hammock. Later on I had decided to take a break, which at the same time my parents decided they wanted a change of area. Moving from El Cajon, California, to Salem, Oregon, in 2020 made my couple-week break into 4 years. Once I found out that there was an aerial studio opening in Salem, I was so excited. Becoming a teammate at Salem Aerial Dance
Company has given me the chance to do aerial again and build upon my strengths. Throughout these past years, I’ve always enjoyed my time at SADC and have been able to find a true team of people. Recently, I have found my heart for teaching aerial. I enjoy teaching because I get to teach kids amazing tricks that deal with creativity up in the air. I think aerial is such a unique art, so being able to teach and share my knowledge is special to me. I’m very thrilled to start my teaching journey and to keep learning more about aerial arts as the year progresses.
Laila Fedorenko, Aerial, Flexibility, and Dance Instructor
Bio for Laila coming soon! We are thrilled to have her on our team!
Rylee Craig, studio Administrative Manager
Rylee has been involved with athletics her whole life, with over ten years of team sports including soccer, basketball and swim team. She also brings a background in customer relations and enjoys facilitating the connections between all new and existing clients. As well as focusing on creative marketing and is dedicated to creating a cohesive streamlined studio experience. She is excited to be working with the SADC community!
A special thank you to our volunteers and supporters that make our studio rigging + productions possible:
Nathaniel Pierce, ETCP certified rigger
Jon Chayse and James Kohn, rigging support team
Danielle Baca, creative vision support