Mission Statement
Salem Aerial Dance Company (SADC) aims to bring the joy of aerial and dance arts to our community. Our commitment is to create a safe space for all where people can explore their creativity, strength, and artistry. Proper technique and anatomical alignment is practiced in classes, helping our students reach their goals. We believe in a collaborative learning environment where students feel seen and heard. Our goal is for classes to be fun and engaging.
Staff
Kim Choeychan
Owner/Artistic Director
Kim earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in dance from the University of Oregon in 2014. Kim has performed professionally in Portland for over 7 years, most notably with AWOL Dance Collective. She has taught at acclaimed studios such as AWOL, NW Dance Project, and Allegro Dance Studio. Her continued studies include AWOL’s pre-professional training company (FlyCo), 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 the studio. 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 baby.
See a video of her performing with AWOL Dance Collective
Video Courtesy of thesquarepdx
Lindsay Bogan
Admin Assistant
Lindsay grew up in the capital region of Albany, NY and studied ballet and modern dance at the Youth Ballet Company and Dance Eclectic. She began teaching ballet in 2003. In 2004, Lindsay was invited to the American Academy of Ballet’s Summer School for Excellence at Purchase College and soon after, performed with Eba Dance Theater in New York City.
She began working at the National Museum of Dance in 2006 when her childhood studio merged with the museum. Lindsay had the opportunity to research and curate exhibits, induct new members into the dance hall of fame and plan numerous galas and events there. She served as a professional dancer and company manager at Nacre Dance Group for 5 years. At Nacre she oversaw collaborations with different foundations to perform works by Isadora Duncan, Parsons Dance, Charles Weidman, Jose Limon and others, all while performing for the company. In addition to raising 4 children with her husband, she is very excited to join the Salem Aerial Dance family and pursue her love of movement and dance.
Andee Fischer
Co-Artistic Director
Andee has been dancing since she first discovered the little tap-tap sound made by her tiny patent leather shoes on the linoleum. Since then, she's studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Modern, Contemporary Lyrical, Musical Theatre, Irish, Lindy Hop, West African, Hula, Pole, and Aerial. Andee studied Dance at Western Oregon University and has been choreographing and teaching professionally for over 15 years and is thrilled to be a part of the Salem Aerial Dance Company family.
Aphyna Zoe
Lead Aerial/Dance Instructor
Meet Aphyna Zoe, an aerial dance instructor who fell in love with the enchanting world of movement at the tender age of 12. Discovering dance as a means of self-expression transformed her life, providing an outlet for her once-shy spirit to flourish. Throughout her dance career, she traversed the globe, driven by her passion for travel and the desire to explore diverse movement arts.
She studied with the professional circus arts training company FlyCo and went on to become a company member with AWOL Dance Collective where she had the privilege to perform in many aerial shows.
Aphyna’s journey as an aerial dance teacher is fueled by her belief in the transformative power of movement. With a heart full of passion she endeavors to inspire and empower her students to explore their creativity and meet their aerial goals. Embracing grace and strength in equal measure, Aphyna invites her students to soar to new heights, guiding them on a journey of self-discovery and nurturing their artistic souls to take flight. When Aphyna is not in the air she loves to spend time with her spirited daughter and facilitate sound bath meditations for the community.
Emily Rodgers
Aerial Instructor
Emily started flying trapeze as a student in 2015 in Boise, Idaho. She fell in love with aerial instantly and couldn’t get enough. She started learning silks and sling at Asana climbing gym in 2016. In 2019 and 2020 she joined the Fly! Boise staff, coaching flying trapeze classes and manning the take-off platform as well as performing in the staff fly shows. In 2021 she moved to Salem and began learning dance trapeze from SADC owner Kim. She has also trained at Emerald City Trapeze and SANCA in Seattle, AWOL Dance Collective, and Circus Project in Portland.
Emily is an ACE certified personal fitness trainer and group fitness instructor at the downtown Salem YMCA. She has further certifications in Tai Chi “Moving for Better Balance,” Pre/Post Natal exercise, and Sprint 8 HIIT training. Emily is also a Level 1 certified aerial rigger, trained by Brett Copes.
Lela Utter
Aerial/Dance Instructor
Lela has done multiple sports throughout her life, including water polo, swim team, and a bit of baseball and volleyball. Her absolute favorite is dance. She danced with Inspiration Dance Company (IDC) from ages 4-17, but then the studio tragically closed. There she found her passion for dance, focusing mostly on ballet and modern dance, but also studying some jazz and partnering. After IDC closed she loved to dance too much to quit and that's when she found Salem Aerial Dance Company and started learning on the silks and lyra. She immediately fell in love with it. Lela has assisted with both IDC and SADC. She officially accepted a teaching & performing position with SADC last summer and loves sharing her passion with others!
Rosella Cogar
Aerial/Acrobatics Instructor
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.