Gayle Lynne first took to the sky when she was 53, and was instantly hooked. Her dancing and ice-skating experience hadn’t prepared her for the joys of careening through the air on silks and hoops, but she quickly picked up on the skills, and was inspired to create a studio in which adults and children of all ages could also explore the sky. So Aerial Dance Over Denver was born, hosting air-borne maneuvers with 35 rigging points and seven aerial stations.

Gayle handpicked a fleet of experienced instructors, each primed with a background in dance, to lead students through classes and camps that introduce them to silk fabrics, trapeze work, and contortions—in which patrons increase their flexibility and learn to cram into small spaces, such as an unsuspecting family member's lunch box. Dangling from their material of choice, students perform a routine that builds strength and flexibility, scaled to suit beginners with slow and low maneuvers or veteran airborne artists with high-flying choreography.