Brass Butterflies

In the fall of 2012, the opportunity presented itself to purchase her own studio in Kitchener and she took the leap into entrepreneurship, moving with her family to the Waterloo region the following year. The years since then have been an incredible journey. She loves all the amazing people she meets every single day in this business, be they students, instructors, suppliers or fellow entrepreneurs. She loves introducing new students to Pole Dancing, Aerial Arts, and general fitness, and nurturing the incredible community that has developed in our studio.

Heather is a certified Fitness Instructor Specialist with CanFit Pro, certified Pole Instructor through the Canadian Pole Fitness Association, and earned her Introduction to Teaching Aerial Arts Certificate through Nimble Arts. She has also completed instructor specific training with Aradia Fitness Canada, YogaFit Canada, and the US Pole Sport Federation, just to name a few. She also holds as Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and a Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) from McMaster University.

Maya is a registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and has her aerial teaching certification from Nimble Arts. Her background as a yoga teacher informs her approach to aerial training: focusing on body awareness, mobility, functional movement, and acceptance. Maya currently teaches Hoop and Silks classes up to the Advanced level and also offers private lessons in Trapeze and Corde Lisse (by special request), as well as private conditioning and training programs for strength and flexibility. 

She cherishes working with youth students, as she loves helping them achieve new heights (literally) and find confidence in their body which can support their interpersonal development outside of the circus studio. Recently, she’s been expanding her practice to teach broader circus skills such as clowning, fire spinning, hula hoop, and other object manipulation skills. She spends her free time geeking out on anatomy and finding new ways to target training strength and flexibility for aerial skills. When she’s not in the studio you can find her cuddled up at home with her FOUR cats (yes she knows that is too many cats).

Amy’s pole journey started in 2018, when she signed up for an Intro session on a whim, and instantly fell in love with the sport. Since then, she has performed in three studio showcases, and discovered a love for developing routines. The years have flown by, and her passion for the awesome pole community has led her to a teaching role, so she can support others as they learn and grow! Amy’s favourite moves the Oona spin and and stargazer. When she’s not doing pole, she loves to spend time playing video games and board games with friends. 

Meet Andrea, one of Brass Butterflies' newest pole dancing instructors! Andrea has been pole dancing since February 2017. Her journey started in the typical way when she was reluctantly dragged out by a friend to an aerials teasers class, but then she discovered pole dancing and it was love at first sight. Her absolute favourite pole moves are the Cross Ankle Layback, and Remy Bridge. Andrea hopes to help others conquer their nemesis moves, as well as achieve the same level of confidence that pole dancing provides for her.

Carla is an aerial instructor at Brass Butterflies who is always looking for new ways to challenge her students and herself to improve technique and movement quality. She began her circus arts training on silks in 2013 at In Motion School of Performing Arts in Waterloo, Ontario. Since then she has expanded her aerial practise to also train lyra, straps and rope. She has taken classes and workshops from various aerialists locally, from the Greater Toronto Area, and from Europe.  She is a certified Instructor of Circus Arts through École Nationale de Cirque in Montreal. Carla loves watching her students succeed and is passionate about ensuring that students are able to perform basic skills well before layering in more complicated tricks.

Carson started taking Pole classes at the beginning of 2017. As he was not a fan of the conventional gym, he was in search of something unique and exciting...that's when he took his first Condition and Sculpt class at Brass Butterflies. He was immediately hooked by the unconventional workout that was not only fun, but more rewarding than any other workout he's had. From there he moved into the curriculum courses and worked his way up to the Masters Class. Pole Dancing has become a lifestyle and every time he steps foot in the studio he looks forward to learning something new and being surrounded by all the supportive staff and students.

Erika began their movement training as a competitive gymnast at the age of 14, and continued to explore many modes of movement knowledge, ranging from cheerleading and dance, to parkour and free-running, and rock climbing – after finding a home and heart within the circus arts in 2016. Erika holds a level 1 NCCP gymnastics certification and has been teaching in the aerial arts since 2016. In 2018, Erika left Canada to immerse within the circus world by completing a two-year, full-time intensive circus arts training program in Chicago, IL, USA. Erika is passionate about all things art (but especially circus and the movement arts) and loves to spend their free time geeking-out about neuroscience and theoretical physics, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and trying to befriend all the community street cats.

After finding inspiration in some friends, Jaclyn started her pole fitness journey at Brass Butterflies in 2018. Her love for the sport, and its integral part in her quest for improved health and confidence, pushed her to become an instructor and help others grow. Her favourite move is extended butterfly.  Jaclyn loves to be outdoors, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and showiring love on her two dogs.

Jen started pole dancing at Brass Butterflies in 2019 and hasn't looked back since! What started as a fun fitness class turned into a full-time passion. In 2022 she participated in her first pole competition and loved the process of preparing and training a full routine. She is so excited to help others on their pole journey and help them reach their full potential. Jen is also a high school music teacher and loves everything to do with her day job. She also loves anything to do with minions, dogs (especially her two pups), and watching live music. 

Justine began her aerials journey in January 2018, and was hooked from the very first class. She loves that aerials can be exactly what each individual needs it to be- physically demanding or more relaxed, artistic or athletic, static or flowing- and is excited to help her students figure out what aerials is for them. Justine has a teaching degree, and 15+ years of experience coaching youth basketball. When she is not in the studio, you can find Justine playing basketball, volleyball, rock climbing, or geeking out over her newest board or video game.

MaryKate started taking pole dancing lessons in 2014 and has been hooked ever since. She has performed in 4 showcase and aspires to one day perform a solo routine. Her aerial journey started a few years later in 2016 on both silks and hoop. She loves the challenge and energy each fitness discipline has to offer. As one of the new aerial instructors, she is very exited to help others conquer their nemesis moves and have fun at the same time. When not hanging upside down, Marykate loves binge watching netflicks with her pug Montgomery and hitting up cycle classes for a good sweat.

Steph began her aerial training in 2015 after trying aerial yoga for the first time and immediately getting hooked. In 2016 she was offered a position as an aerial hammock instructor and jumped on the chance and began her instructor training. In addition to hammock she has trained in aerial silks, lyra and pole and is always itching to try more. As a graduate of the Music Theatre Performance program at St. Clair College she has been working on incorporating her performance training with fitness instruction and has been seen at Brass Butterflies as a performer in multiple showcases and as co-director for the aerial troupe in the studio's 2017 summer showcase. For the past 2 years she has been performing around the world as a Production Cast Singer under Norwegian Creative Studios and Oceania Cruises. As an instructor and performer she loves to explore and create with students and friends!

Emily has always been an admirer of the aerial arts, so when she finally had the opportunity in 2019 to try out aerials at Brass Butterflies she jumped on the chance.  While Emily started her aerial journey on the aerial silks, she quickly fell in love with the aerial hoop which continues to be her primary apparatus to this date.  Though she mainly trains on the aerial hoop, she loves to experiment on a variety of apparatus and recently also started taking pole classes at Brass Butterflies.  She coached CanSkate for four years and is also a former competitive figure skater in singles and synchronized skating, having competed at two ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships.  In her free time you’ll find her drinking tea while cuddling with one of her snakes.