Amy Tynan Chirico is founder and head instructor of AerialCLT in Charlotte, North Carolina. She began teaching and performing aerial arts in 2010. Prior to entering the aerial world, Amy received her BA in Music Education and taught music for 10 years. Teaching has always been a passion for Amy in any capacity - a teacher by trade, no matter the medium. Amy’s aerial and fitness education training includes a 200 RYT with Grace Morales and intensive studying and workshops with Rebekah Leach, Cheetah Platt, Rachel Strickland, Kristina Nekyia, Jamie Hodgson, Amy Ell, Lydia Stern, Molly Graves, Caroline Wright and others. Amy believes in encouraging students to think and act independently to find their own movement unique to them. Her specialty in teaching is creating a student who is self motivated and self disciplined to learn, discover, and grow.

First Aid/CPR/AED Certified

Mandy has been training and teaching aerial silks since January 2012. Her background includes 10 years ballet and 3 years pointe. Mandy specialized in choreography, fluidity, and proper form throughout her ballet and pointe training.

Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Certified

Julia began her aerial training in 2015 but is a life long dancer. She received classical ballet training in her home state of Maryland and continued her dance education at East Carolina University, where she earned a BFA in dance performance. Upon graduating, Julia moved to Charlotte and dances as much as possible, but Aerial CLT sparked a new passion: dancing off the ground! She is excited to share her passion to help others discover all the different ways a body can move.
CPR Certified.

Abbey began her aerial journey in early January 2017. Growing up, Abbey tried a little of everything but always struggled to find her true passion. After one class at AerialCLT, Abbey knew that she found the thing she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Aerial allows her to be creative, it often takes her outside of her comfort zone, gives her a great work out and encourages her to live a healthy lifestyle. Abbey cares deeply about people and wants to share her passion through teaching and creating an environment that allows growth, discovery and friendship.

Ricarda began her aerial journey in 2018 when she moved back to Charlotte, and immediately fell in love with the strength and beauty of dancing in the air. She has always been passionate about fitness, through powerlifting, yoga, and running, so aerial was the perfect combination for her. Prior to aerial, Ricarda was an avid equestrian and taught Hunter-Jumper for 3 years. Her love for teaching and helping others quickly transitioned to the aerial world and she is excited to share her passion in a fun, safe, and supportive environment.

Madison believes that movement is medicine and has always been drawn to some form of physical expression whether through dance, sports, or yoga. Madison stumbled across an aerial yoga class and was immediately hooked and wanted more. Not long after, she quickly found AerialCLT. For Madison, aerial has been a source of self-empowerment and a journey in finding mental and physical strength. Aerial has proven the incredible feats we are all capable of with practice, patience, and perseverance. It has sparked a fiery passion within her that she looks forward to sharing with others. She can't wait to see student's fall in love with aerial just like she did.

Janice McCormick started her aerial journey in 2012 at an aerial yoga studio. She fell in love with the beauty and grace of making shapes in the silk hammock. She also appreciated the amount of strength and flexibility that came with taking aerial classes. After completing a 200 hour yoga teacher training, Janice taught yoga and aerial yoga in New York from 2013 until 2020. In 2014 she started training on the lyra and aerial silks, completing a lyra instructor certification in 2021. Since moving to Charlotte she has been practicing and training at AerialCLT, completing their teacher training program in 2022. She hopes to make teaching aerial arts a bigger part of her life so she can share her passion for circus arts with others and watch them grow in confidence and strength!

Katie began her aerial journey in 2013 at the young age of 10. After training with multiple studios and teachers she ended up back in Charlotte at AerialCLT in 2019. She was immediately drawn in by the curriculum that prioritizes safety and the supportive sense of community. This sense of safety and community gave her confidence and helped foster a love for performing. As an instructor, she hopes to give this confidence to students.

Tamara found her love of aerial when she took her first class in 2018! She was enchanted by all its challenges and rewards. Her journey has inspired her to perform, and now teach! Tamara takes joy in how aerial offers so many opportunities to find strength and beauty in yourself. In her free time she has an unreasonable number of other hobbies, but especially enjoys reading, cooking/baking and kayaking.

Rebeckah began her journey at AerialCLT in january 2021. Rebeckah grew up in a background of clogging, soccer, and cheer. When she came to AerialCLT she found a strong passion for taking challenges head on and pushing past expectations. After completing a 200 RYT training in Spring of 2023 she went on to complete the AerialCLT Teacher Training. Rebeckah wants to cultivate strong relationships and inspire her students to go out of their comfort zone.

Michelle started her aerial journey in 2018 and quickly fell in love with being in the air. Prior to finding aerial michelle was a dancer with over 20 years experience. She is excited to share the joy of being in the air with students and help them challenge themselves in a supportive and safe environment.

Blaire discovered aerial in 2020. Growing up, she struggled to express herself through movement and envied those who could dance with grace and fluidity. It turns out that all she needed was for her feet to leave the ground! At AerialCLT, Blaire finally found the key that unlocked her creative potential - the ideas started to flow and they haven't stopped since. Blaire feels a particular passion for students like herself who are building their strength from the ground up. Her desire is to show every student she teaches that that potential is within them too.

Hi I’m Tabitha! I’ve been training at AerialCLT for over eight years now. I train hammock and Lyra and have also done silks, rope, straps, and static and dance trapeze. I have performed for several showcases at AerialCLT, halftime shows with the Charlotte Hornets and a special Christmas performance with Elevation Church. All of which were made possible through AerialCLT. I have a passion for aerial and I love sharing it with others through teaching.

Lisa has been involved in aerial arts since April 2018 and has a background as a classically trained dancer, specializing in lyrical. She has choreographed and performed in a variety of events in Charlotte and loves to bring her artistry of costuming and sewing to the stage. As an instructor, she loves to help students discover their innate and unique talents. She thrives on student successes and loves to see their growth. Everyone has a place in aerial arts, Lisa can't wait to meet you and help you discover your own strength!


Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Certified

Dorothy McMillan is a versatile actor, voice-over artist, and aerialist who began her performing arts career in dance. When she was just three years old, she saw The Nutcracker, performed by North Carolina Dance Theatre (now called the Charlotte Ballet). During the production, she could barely sit still in her seat and danced down the aisles during intermission. Her joy of movement led to 22 years of dancing ballet and modern, studying and performing with reputable schools and companies (such as the Charlotte Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Joffrey Ballet School). For the past two years, her latest movement obsession has been dancing in a hammock at AerialCLT! After recently completing her teacher training in March 2024, she is thrilled to join such a great team and is excited to pass on the knowledge, strength, and compassion she’s received to budding aerialists!

Nana discovered AerialCLT in 2016 in a search to get outside her comfort zone. With no experience prior in dance or movement arts, she quickly fell in love with the fluidity and grace of flying. Aerial has helped her to discover and appreciate her untapped potential, and she is eager to travel that road with other students in the community. She loves the positive, encouraging environment of the studio and celebrating every success. She is CPR certified.

Hi! My name is Harmony. I’ve been doing aerial at AerialCLT for almost four years. I practice hammock, silks, and lyra. Outside of aerial I work as a full time nanny and spend my free time reading and crafting.

Melissa began aerial arts back in September of 2016 on an offer to go try it out with a good friend. After that first fundamental silks class, she was hooked on the chance to work out her body while having a good time! With no prior background in movement arts, she craved the creative expression and sense of community aerial offered, finding new apparatuses both challenging and highly rewarding. She now has a cumulative 8+ years of experience in aerial silks, hammock, and lyra as well as having breifly trained cyr wheel. As a fundamentals lyra instructor, she hopes to spread her love for this circus community to others in a fun and supportive way. Catch her teaching Saturdays at 11:15am!

Sam began her aerial journey in the Fall of 2022, and has always loved finding new and creative ways to move. She graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BS in Exercise Science, where she also played on the Women’s Rugby team. Aerial started out as a casual hobby but quickly became a huge part of her life. Her hope is to share this passion with others to help them find the same strength and confidence that it brought her.

CPR/AED/First Aid Certified

Tori began her aerial journey in 2022 when she decided to find a fun way to stay active. After (literally) dreaming of being able to fly for her entire life, she instantly fell in love with how close aerial brought her to that dream. Tori has trained on silks, lyra, and hammock, but hammock quickly became her main love. As someone who doesn’t have a performative background, she found that hammock offered the most accessible path to flight. She hopes to teach students with all backgrounds to create beautiful sequences, but most of all, she hopes to help all her students love to fly.