Cirque-ability

First off, I love all things circus and this is how I found this place. It is a small space with a few apparatuses to work with and the instructor seems friendly and knows what she is doing. My one initial concern was that she tended to give more attention to her friends than other students even though everyone pays the same rate for the classes and of course they are going to rave about the classes. With all that special attention, who wouldn’t? This was my main issue and in spite of this, I had fun up until I had a health concern that I needed adaptation for and found that she was not very accommodating. When I started seeking some adaptations/​accommodations, she started panicking about the money! Imagine that. I wasn’t even asking for a refund but accommodation but she seemed more interested in ensuring she held on to my money than she was of adapting the exercises for me. I bought a package and with every class after my health issue, she would greet me with a new no refund, no makeup, no switching class policy that she was going to post on the website by night fall. I’m sure her policies are rock solid now thanks to me being a test subject. Anyways, I eventually told her she can keep the money seeing as it was more important to her. I had no choice but to leave after doing a few of the classes on the package due to lack of accommodation so that was uncool.
My advice is sure, try it out. You just might love it there. Just don’t go there if any body part becomes a hindrance. You are better of doing the drop in classes if they are still being offered (Highly doubtful. She would make more money if you get a package) because you are human and you never know when you may hurt yourself or get ill.
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
UPDATE June 2013:
I want to point out that the response given by the owner below is strictly for the benefit of potential new clients reading these reviews because she was fully informed and fully aware of my situation and you can read about how she handled it in my above review. When I told her to stop worrying about the money, that I wasn’t going to push for a refund so she should stop «reminding» me about her newly drafted policies, that was it from her… until she decided to respond to this review how many years later.
I even have records of our email exchanges which I revisited to make sure I was not suffering from memory error. Nope! This is exactly what happened. She really did not care about accommodating me when I was dealing with health issues. She only cared about keeping the money and that is the sad truth. I’m not sure why she mentions a change of studio. She is still the owner and she is still the same person I dealt with old studio or not. Funny how her response ignores a lot of what I actually noted **shrug**. Anyways, take from it what you will but I would rather skip the charade. The point of reviews is to be HONEST and helpful and the truth is that we Sometimes have negative experiences and this was one of them for me.

So here’s an update on Cirque-​ability: still totally awesome!
I ended up taking the Beginner Acro class for the fall term… the same class that Linda (see Linda M’s review) ended up joining. It was a blast every week. Heather is a great coach, very patient and good at breaking skills down into their components so even if you can’t get a handstand, headstand, cartwheel or bridge yet, you can still practice the skills needed to eventually get it. Heather’s also very patient with beginners! I’ve also had classes with her husband, Maleke, who is also a great coach with a good sense of humour. And you develop camaraderie with your fellow students, cheering each other on every week. Having small class sizes really helps for that!
You certainly do develop skills each week! Even us old people (read: adults) who haven’t done any of this sort of stuff since we were 10 can make progress. I’m more flexible now than when I started in September, and I’ve made progress on headstands, handstands and bridges. I’m hoping that in the upcoming winter term I’ll finally be able to get a cartwheel, woohoo!
And yes, it’s still fun! Highly recommended. In fact, I like this place so much I’ve signed up for an Aerial class for the winter term — static trapeze, here I come!

Any place that can get me to enjoy exercising deserves a medal. I knew my 100^th review had to go to something special, so after a mere moment’s consideration, I decided it would have to be Cirque Ability.
I signed up for Beginner’s Acrobatics with about 6 weeks left in the session, and from the first class I loved it. Each class has a maximum of six students per instructor, which is a great ratio. And for something so specialized and with such small classes, the price is great — only about $ 15 per class. The main draw for me though is that it’s fun, and it’s a great workout that’s over before you know it. The hour goes by so quickly, because you enjoy what you’re doing, rather than running on a treadmill watching the minutes tick by.
It’s also rewarding because you can easily measure the difference between where you were at the beginning and where you are now. The first time I felt like my cartwheel didn’t look like a drunken four year old was an amazing feeling. As was the first time I managed to balance on just my head and my hands.
Heather is a great instructor and she really helps by breaking down each move. Sure, I can’t do a handstand yet, but I’m working on building the muscle, balance and confidence to ensure that I’ll probably be able to in the winter session.
All in all, they’re a great workout class that I just love and I can’t wait for the winter session to begin!

I love Cirque-​ability! Cirque-​ability is an amazing fitness studio focusing on circus training, acrobatics, and gymnastics. All ages are welcome and there are various skill level classes. The group classes are very small and one on one personal coaching is always provided. The environment and atmosphere is very welcoming and friendly. There is a strong sense of community in this west end studio. The converted loft space is awesome.
Heather is a wonderful coach. She is friendly, patience, driven and is an excellent motivator. Circus class involves training on one of the following appartuses: hoop, silks or trapeze. These classes are so much fun and offer a great alternative to the same old work out routine at the gym. They are very fun, challenging, help to improve strength, flexibility, and endurance. Drop in for a break dance class or for partner acro, or a silks lesson=), or have a birthday party there! I am so thankful that this studio exists!
fly through the air with the greatest of ease!
But make um understand its westside foe life
Thanks so much for your time,
Cheers,
Jenna

I started here about 2 years ago and can’t recommend this place enough. When I started I hadn’t been to the gym in years and was seriously weak with awful flexibility and was worried I wouldn’t be able to do anything. Heather is really encouraging and you learn simple tricks in your first class that keep you motivated. My main motivation in taking classes wasn’t to get fit — I’d just always had a fascination with old timey circus stuff and wanted to learn some skills — but being in fantastic shape is a great side benefit to taking classes which are basically an hour of play. The fact that there are never more than six students to one coach means that you receive a lot of specialized instruction each class and are constantly learning new tricks. There is really nothing bad I can say about this place — if you want to do circus this is a great place to do it.

My husband and I have been taking fitness classes at Cirque-​ability for over a year and we love it! Heather and Maleke are both great instructors who are very good at tailoring the workouts to a variety of fitness levels, and the creativity of the workouts mean we never get bored. We use everything from aerial silks, the trapeze bar and parallel rings to plain old dumbbells, and the upper-​body strength I’ve gained is amazing.
Highly recommended,

At the risk of sounding crazy… I joined the circus.
Okay not really. But I have been known to partake in a fabulous circus workout. At this studio the instructors teach things like silks, trapeze, hoops, acrobatics and break dancing. Basically, if you’re bored with the gym and are looking for an unconventional full body workout, this might be something to try! The studio is small, but it results in a great student to teacher ratio (max 6:1) and the fellow students have always been very encouraging (seriously…I suck). AND it has resulted in me losing some serious flab and toning up quite nicely (if I do say so myself).
Located on the subway line and classes run year round. I know that the gym offers summer camps and birthday parties for your little circus clowns (kids, not «little people»).