This program is a pre-professional 10 week intensive for students to explore their training in contemporary contortion or aerial silks as an art while incorporating dance and acrobatics.
NOW with 2 registration options: 10 weeks of residency or 5 week intensive!
Develop and create your own act with our talented team of circus visionaries or simply take training your hobby to the next level by exploring your bodies capabilities
There are 2 program focuses offered, aerial silks and contortion. Each student will choose a primary focus of either contortion or aerial silks. All other classes including flexibility, dance, improvisation, handstands, acrobatics, and conditioning will be offered in both programs.
Click here to read FAQ’s (frequently asked questions with answers) about Contortion Residency. It might be the perfect thing for you.
*sample schedule*
subject to change
NOW with 2 registration options: 10 weeks of residency or 5 week intensive!
Develop and create your own act with our talented team of circus visionaries or simply take training your hobby to the next level by exploring your bodies capabilities
There are 2 program focuses offered, aerial silks and contortion. Each student will choose a primary focus of either contortion or aerial silks. All other classes including flexibility, dance, improvisation, handstands, acrobatics, and conditioning will be offered in both programs.
Click here to read FAQ’s (frequently asked questions with answers) about Contortion Residency. It might be the perfect thing for you.
*sample schedule*
subject to change
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Slither is a dance class for humans who practice the art of contortion. Slither is not a contortion or a yoga class. Students can expect to use a combination of traditional and modern contortion poses, acrobatic movement, and contemporary dance to build choreographed contortion dance phrases and routines.
Pricing will be on a sliding scale based on attendance, no one will ever be turned away due to lack of funds. REQUIREMENTS: Fish flop Shoulder stand Splits in all directions Dropping into a backbend on two feet and standing up Handstand (straight and contortion, no wall) Forearm stand Chin stand RECOMMENDED: Back walk-overs and kick overs Split rotations Leg scales Croc If you are unsure if this class is right for you please contact Ash directly. |
Mornings M - F 8:00 am - 9:15 am Pacific
Evenings M - Th 7:00 pm -8:30 pm Pacific This all levels, donation based community yoga class builds awareness around the breath and how it can guide us through the challenges of movement during our practice and the mental and emotional challenges outside of our practice. All students need to attend this class is a body that breathes. A yoga matt is helpful. ALL ARE WELCOME! Please feel free to share this class with anyone who might be interested, no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. It's ok to arrive late or leave early, just do so quietly and discreetly. *** Donations collected will be redistributed to a person, organization, or business in our greater community negatively impacted by the global pandemic -OR- to a social justice cause of our collective choosing, by anonymous vote. *** All donations are payable to Ash Rexford Venmo: @Ash-Rexford PayPal: ash.rexford@gmail.com Ash's yoga story: Yoga found me at 18, living on my own for 2 years already, working a few full time jobs, caring for my 2 younger sisters, and grappling with a lifetime of physical, mental, and emotional familial abuse. A retired couple started a yoga studio in their home and nurtured me in the belief, practice, and power of yoga. After a lifetime of service as fire fighters they began to give from home by transforming the entire ground floor of their 2 story home into a yoga studio. All classes were donation based and no one was ever turned away. It was yoga for the sake of yoga. At the end of the year they would host a party for the community, pooling all the donations together in a big glass vase and the community would choose an organization to donate to. This blew me away at 18, let me tell you. As a young domestic violence survivor I had no clue that people so loving, selfless, kind, and generous even existed! This changed my life and is the inspiration for my Moving Meditation classes. |
Available exclusively with the San Francisco Circus Center! Take class with Ash 4 days a week ranging from Stretch to Beginning Contortion there's nothing standing in your way!
Use promocode ASHREXTRAINS for $10 off your first class! Circus Stretch Online Description Ideal for students wanting to stay on top of their circus training. Whether you're an aerialist or an acrobat, this class is going to keep you in shape and supplement the rest of your circus training! Students of all levels will develop and perfect foundational circus movements and postures such as pikes, splits, straddles, and backbends. Students can expect a full body, active stretch work-out through sequences designed to improve leg, hip, back, and shoulder flexibility, evading injury and refining form! Splits Online Description Spend a full hour working those hips, legs, and most importantly those splits! Students can expect to learn the finer details of warming up the hips and legs, active stretching to prepare for split training, proper alignment and engagement during training, and post training conditioning. Backbends Online Description Spend a full hour working the shoulders, spine, and most importantly the backbend! Students can expect to learn the finer details of warming up the shoulders, hips, and core, active stretching to prepare for back bending, proper alignment and engagement during back bending, and post training conditioning. Beginning Contortion Online Description This class will safely introduce the concepts of improving passive and active leg flexibility, as well as back flexibility. In addition, students will begin to learn the foundations for basic contortion skills such as chest stand, forearm stand, and handstands. Students also learn personalized exercises that can be used to increase flexibility outside of class time. Open to All but students should already be comfortable in splits, able to go to bridge from standing and back up. Students are expected to warm up for at least 30min before class. |
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Private Training Online currently fullThe most important thing I like to tell all of my prospective private students is my intention as a private instructor. Flexibility training is a very personal experience. The challenge of flexibility, especially contortion training, is not just physical. My intention as a private instructor is not only to act as a professional eye to ensure safety and progress, but also to help hold you accountable to your goals, assist in developing the discipline required for healthy training, and to act as a mental and emotional guide through the training process.
Personalized training programs: All personalized training sessions begin with a 1 hour initial intake and interview. During this time we will discuss your current state of activity, diet, hobbies and habits, availability, goals, limitations, and expectations. We will also move through some simple range of motion exercises to assess your current mobility. With the info we gather during your intake, together we will set smart goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound). Each package includes your 1 hour initial intake, your personalized training program, and 1 hour follow up training session. Additional training, online or in person, sessions available! Private training: One-on-one training specific to your body and your goals. Sessions are typically one hour long and include individualized active flexibility exercises, various stretch techniques, hands on adjustment, active range of motion drills and even massage. All private lessons begin with an initial check in conversation about recent activities, injuries, stress, diet, and things that may impact your ability to train to the best of your ability and focus on your movement. |
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WorkshopsBook a workshop with Ash for your studio, students, or friends!
2 workshop available as a 4 week series. Classes for both workshops begin with a brief Q&A followed by a group warm-up sequence tailored for the students. The majority of class time will be practicing and fine tuning technique, form, strength, and balance. Each class will end with a 10 minute conditioning and cool down. Following classes students will be sent individualized homework designed to meet their specific needs. Students are expected to practice during the week in preparation for the next class. Each week classes and homework will ramp up in technique and strength driving students toward their goals! This 4 weeks series is custom to the needs of the students enrolled and designed with the intention for students to meet their goals. Students are expected to attend all classes and practice outside of class. Adults only. Trust Dropping Back Sometimes the biggest obstacle for dropping back into our back bend is trust - that you will catch yourself, that the ground will be there, that you CAN stand up! In this 4 week series students will meet with Ash Sunday mornings for a 1 hour class to practice and perfect the art of dropping back into a back bend and standing up. Students can expect to learn foundational techniques ranging from traditional contortion to modern acrobatics, yoga, and dance. Students will also be assigned out-of-class work specific to their personal needs with the goal of perfecting this skill by the end of the series. Forearm Stands and T-rex hands! Do your hands swing in and “t-rex” when you practice your forearm back bend or forearm stand?! In this 4 week series students will meet with Ash Sunday mornings for a 1 hour class to drill, practice, and perfect alignment in this coveted pose. Students can expect to learn foundational techniques ranging from traditional contortion to modern acrobatics, and yoga. Students will also be assigned out-of-class work specific to their personal needs with the goal of perfecting this skill by the end of the series. |
Education and Experience
A contortion practice that started by mimicking Cirque du Soleil as a little girl, a yoga practice that guided her as a teenager. As a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist, Ash was able to develop her passion for anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology. This study of the human body formed the foundation of both her training and teaching. In 2019 Ash worked as Assistant Director & Instructor for Catie Brier's Contortion Intensive, the program in which she once studied.
Training for movement and body awareness is ongoing. Ash has trained with some of the most influential movement professionals in the United States:
Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist 2020
Catie Brier's Contortion Intensive at SF Circus Center 2016 & 2017
200 hour YOGAMAZÉ yoga teacher training with Rocky Heron
Extreme flexibility with Johnathan Nosan's Contorture program
Modern contortion performance with U.S Aerial Championship 2nd runner up Stephanie Bailey
Mindful Contortion with Micah Walters
Mongolian contortionist and coach Serchma Byamba
Has bendy, will travel.
Training for movement and body awareness is ongoing. Ash has trained with some of the most influential movement professionals in the United States:
Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist 2020
Catie Brier's Contortion Intensive at SF Circus Center 2016 & 2017
200 hour YOGAMAZÉ yoga teacher training with Rocky Heron
Extreme flexibility with Johnathan Nosan's Contorture program
Modern contortion performance with U.S Aerial Championship 2nd runner up Stephanie Bailey
Mindful Contortion with Micah Walters
Mongolian contortionist and coach Serchma Byamba
Has bendy, will travel.