Skywriting
From the Page to the (Aerial) Stage
Casa Chango in Puerto Escondido, Mexico
Instructors: Emily Van Kley & Marlo Winter
April 19-26, 2025
Want more writing and some movement? Check out the Writing is a Circus Retreat here.
BIPOC Scholarship Available. Apply here by January 1, 2025.
Spend a week in paradise with new friends, the beach, delicious food, & aerial creative magic!
This retreat brings together the magic of creative writing with aerial act creation, helping you deepen your relationship with what makes YOU unique as an aerial artist. Along with your experienced instructors and a supportive cohort, you’ll utilize productive play, bodily connection, and experimentation to develop an aerial act around an artistic purpose and message.
Daily generative writing sessions will explore topics such as voice, character, and pacing, while helping you sharpen your powers of observation and description. In addition to classes and free time for choreographic development, each student will receive a focused hour of one-on-one instruction with Marlo or Emily.
We’ll end the week with a show for the community, celebrating what we’ve made! This retreat is suitable for a range of students, from those making their first aerial acts to experienced performers looking for new wells of creativity.
When you aren’t training, you’ll be eating amazing, healthy food, lounging at the pool, swimming in the ocean, reading in hammocks, and enjoying being in nature. Optional extras include nature excursions and a night time epic photo shoot. Get ready to move, play, breathe, feel, stretch, and express. At Casa Chango you are invited to shine and be yourself!
This retreat will have 2 daily classes –
Each morning session will focus on a specific aspect of act creation, from artistic purpose to character, transitions, costuming, pacing, and more. We will use games, improvisation, and supportive feedback to help each student craft an act that reflects their unique power as a performer.
Afternoon sessions will introduce creative writing as a practice to further explore the day’s topic, using prompts, free-writes, experiential note taking, and collaborative games to put language to our intentions and deepen our understanding of the stories we tell onstage.
Skill Level & Prerequisites
Students should be able to move safely on an aerial apparatus for 2 minutes continuously. (Exceptions may be made with instructor discretion for ground- based acts—Contact us if you’re wondering whether this retreat is right for you).
Daily Schedule Sample: Everything is optional!
- 8-9:30 am: Coffee, Tea and Breakfast
- 10am-12pm: Act Creation (some days this will be in the afternoon)
- 1pm: Lunch
- 1-3:30pm: Pool-time, siesta, relaxing
- 3:30pm: Afternoon ice coffee & sweet treats
- 5-6:30pm: Creative Writing (some days this will be in the morning)
- 7pm Dinner
- 8-10pm Evening activities
We’ll take you to our favorite beach for swimming, surfing, snorkeling, and releasing baby turtles into the sea.
Suggested equipment to bring to the retreat:
- Notebook and pencil/pen
- You are welcome to bring your own aerial apparatus or use one of ours.
- Open mind & heart, and willingness to explore
Space is limited, so sign up now!
Your Teachers
Emily Van Kley is a prizewinning poet and circus artist with an MFA in creative writing. She is the author of the poetry collections The Cold and the Rust, and Arrhythmia, both from Persea Books. Emily’s writing has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including editions of Best American Poetry and Best New Poets. Emily has worked as an aerial instructor and performer for nearly ten years, teaching intro through intermediate silks, rope, trapeze, lyra, and sling in Olympia, Washington. As a founding member of the Airbound Underground Circus Collective, she has created dozens of solo, duo, and group acts, and is known for her memorable characters. Her ‘vertical poems’ combine aerial acrobatics, poetry, and film. Find more about Emily and her writing at emilyvankley.com
Eda Begadix—or Marlo Winter, as their father calls them—has been performing in Olympia, Washington, for nearly a decade, predominantly as an aerial artist. Over the years they learned the power of softening the edges of technique and tuning into artistic vulnerability and authentic presence in service of physical storytelling and cathartic experience. With over 50 unique acts under their belt, their magic is shape shifting. They are a founding member of Airbound Underground Circus Collective, an aerial instructor at Sparrow Studios, and a producer of The Brotherhood Takes Flight, a local 13-year-running running aerial show. In New Orleans they perform with LadyBeast, their sexy french-lady doubles rope partner. Their clown characters keep both feet on the ground while reaching into the corners of the mind to see what wild stuff arrives. Marlo is currently on a journey into long-form physical storytelling. In 2023 they wrote and produced two full-length shows: Private Pansy, a renegade experimental theater project about the experience of gay soldiers in WWII, which opened on a local playground structure and featured a cast of aeralists and dancers, and Falsettos and Sunsets, a comedic romp considering polyamory through the experiences of Richard Begaldix, one of Marlo’s clown characters, and George Lamps, played by the talented Luz Glaxiola. Read more about Marlo’s act creation philosophy below!
What is Aerial Act Creation?
Marlo’s act creation philosophy moves around two major intentions: the first is to elevate aerial as an interdisciplinary art form and the second is to teach in a way that
boosts confidence. Aerial is art on its own: music, movement, flexibility, strength, hair whipping, and more. Aerial puts limbs in places we never expected possible. It showcases technical skills, exciting apparatuses, and awe-inspiring performance. This is what we expect from high-level circus, and it is wonderful.
The study of act creation asks, “can we take this art further?” Can aerial be a place for deep self-expression, a means to tell a story, to introduce comedy and drama? Can an aerial act transform so much that it doesn’t look like an aerial anymore? What if the technical aerial art became secondary, the tool or medium a performance artist uses to express something transformative? If we are hired to do ambient aerial as a character, how do we really do that well? How do we become someone we may not normally be?
This approach is unique. As aerialists, most of us are focused on learning skills, tricks, technique: the language of aerial with all its rules. Act creation asks where we can break those rules. How do we expand our minds and bodies into new possibilities and open space to talk about what holds us back? What gets in our way? What prevents us from being present on stage, proud of who we are, aware of the beauty in our naturally individual movements? How do we invite our audiences to truly see and hold space with us as performers?
By the end of the retreat, students will have built an aerial act around an artistic purpose and message, using aerial skills they already possess. They will be prepared for all aspects of their act, from creating introductory material for hosts to read, to makeup, costumes, and technical cues. They will practice how to stay present under changing circumstances. They will explore pacing, learning to find transitions and rest spots. They will be held through lots of play and improv, and be encouraged to see how unique and talented they already are. Together, we will use the language of aerial to answer the question, “what do you want to say?”
Epic Nighttime Photo Shoots
Retreat Pricing (in USD):
| Room | Early Bird Price | Full Price |
| Shared Dorm (gender mixed) | $2000 | $2300 |
| Shared Private Room (2 friends sharing a room) 1 king size bed or 2 individual beds | $2200 | $2500 |
| Private Room with Shared Bathroom | $2500 | $2800 |
| Private Room with Private Bathroom | $2800 | $3100 |
| Private Room with Private Bathroom and Air Conditioning | $3100 | $3400 |
Early bird discount ends January 15, 2025.
Full tuition is due by March 15, 2025.
Rates refer to cost of one person’s tuition.
Couples must sign up together.
Rates refer to cost of one person’s tuition.
Couples/SO’s are welcome at an additional price.
What’s included:
- Ground transportation to/from the Puerto Escondido Airport (PXM) to our accommodations*
- Arrive on April 19. Depart on April 26.
- Accommodations for the duration of the retreat
- Daily meals – breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert & snacks
- 2 Daily classes (4-6 hours total/day)
- Aerial photoshoot
- Evening activities
- Trips to local beaches, baby turtle release, and night market
- 24 hour use of Swimming Pool, Jacuzzi, and Community Spaces
- High Speed Starlink Wifi Internet
- Evening Jacuzzi soaks
What People Are Saying:
For years I fantasied about leaving my daily reality to go train circus all day while living in community, being in the sunshine and not have to worry about food. I had that all with Sweet Retreats. I just completed a month of high class training, incredible food, sisterhood, dance, nature adventures & so much more that cannot be put into words.
The coaches are the real deal and trust me when I say you will be taken with the utmost care not just physically and in regards to your circus goals, but emotionally and even spiritually if you desire. It’s a circus experience for you that can truly be transformative, healing or intensely physical. The experience is crafted by you, held by an array of extremely qualified and caring professionals who are passionate about self expression, play & community.
If you are thinking about attending one or are on the fence trust me when I say you should absolutely invest in yourself. I cannot recommend Sweet Retreats enough. You’ll grow as a circus artist and person in ways that you can’t imagine.
Luna Mammon 2024
I truly don’t have enough words to describe how positive this experience was for me. I came to Sweet Retreats hoping to gain strength and endurance on the silks as well as improve my flow and sequencing in the air. I ended up leaving with so much more than that! Not only did I make substantial progress toward my goals, but I left feeling intrinsically connected to the art of aerial, dance, expression, and creation. Kerri creates such a special environment that nurtures growth and liberation, and that truly allows you to come into your own as an artist. I discovered that through being immersed in this incredible community, the aerial classes, the silliness, the improvisation and creative exercises, I unmasked a confidence to explore my art and express myself in a way that felt healing and inspiring. This was a invaluable gift from this experience that I will hold on to forever.
I could not recommend this special place enough for anyone who wants to feel the magic of circus and community.
Kristine Westergard
Sweet Retreats was so much more than I expected! I knew it was going to be an amazing experience, full of friends, circus arts and nature, but where they also really went above and beyond was the retreat center and the food and hospitality! Such a comfortable space for relaxing and enjoying the views. We had options for Eco-adventure excursions throughout the week! This place is a must see because they hit all aspects of a retreat and learning experience at a top tier!
Tailor Pollak
Questions? Email us at SweetRetreatsMexico@gmail.com.
Links for more information:
- Accommodations – room descriptions
- Meals and Food*
- How to get here. Info and advice on booking your travel to Puerto Escondido.**
- Weather in Puerto Escondido
- Testimonials
- Excursions
Discounts
- Sign up early to get the Early Bird Discount
- Refer a friend to any of our upcoming programs and get a $100 referral discount. You get $100 discount for each person you refer. Referrals must be for first timers at Sweet Retreats.
- Sign up on our mailing list to find out about more discounts.
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