Defy Gravity

Specialties

Defy Gravity is an pole and aerial fitness and dance studio that welcomes people of all shapes, sizes, and ages, no matter what your fitness level. Our classes are designed to help you not only gain strength, confidence, and a positive body image, but to also interact with a diverse and supportive community that will cheer you on as you meet your goals and have loads of fun! All of our instructors are certified aerial fitness professionals with the knowledge to make your experience safe and energizing!

History

Established in 2015.

The history of Defy Gravity is one of perserverance and community. In 2012, a small group of college students at the University of Illinois rigged two poles in a cramped, college apartment and began practicing. Those students formed one of the nation’s only pole fitness registered student organizations: Illini Pole Fitness [IPF]. Over the next few years as IPF began to grow in popularity, we outgrew that small living room and began to look for a more appropriate venue.

After several moves, IPF now has a permanent home at Defy Gravity, a comprehensive space for both the pole and aerial community. We now have eight, 11-​foot poles and a separate aerial fitness and arts room with trapezes, silks, and aerial hoop, among other apparatuses. But even with all these improvements, Defy Gravity carries on the same mission it has since its beginnings: our studio offers a body-​positive, inclusive space where community members gain strength while they learn to embrace their body and its capabiliti

Meet the Business Owner

Sarah W.

Business Owner

Sarah began her career in dance in 2007 after studying under professionals of Latin Dance in southern Mexico. Upon her return to the US, she continued studying under award-​winning dancers and soon launched her professional career as a private and group instructor. Sarah brings these many years of dance and teaching experience to pole fitness and dance, and as Advisor and former President and Lead Instructor of Illini Pole Fitness the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s student pole fitness and dance organization, she is directly involved in fostering the pole and aerial community in the greater Champaign area. As an ElevatED Pole Dance Fitness and Flexibility Training certified instructor, Sarah’s classes are designed to assist her clients in gaining strength, poise, flexibility, confidence and grace. As a choreographer, Sarah creates interesting, playful, and/​or sensual choreographies that draw on the traditions of burlesque, striptease, and stage story-​telling.