Second time at Tracy's 615am aerial foundations class and I highly recommend it! If you love a…read morelow-impact but challenging exercise that trains strength, mobility, and even a bit of cardio all while learning skills on the hammock - this is the perfect workout class. Tracy is such a fun instructor and will challenge you safely if you're up for it and has a great playlist. They have a pose of the week they try to get each class to achieve based on your level and the foundations class has adjustments for all levels so it's super beginner friendly! There is an adequate warmup before you start challenging exercises/poses. Facilities were super clean and pretty decent sized studio with around 15 or so hammocks! Culture is also super friendly

Such a fun experience at Air Aerial Yoga! The aerial aspect made the class feel completely…read moredifferent from a traditional workout, while still being challenging. The instructors were encouraging and made it easy to follow along. Definitely a fun way to switch up your workout routine!

Took my first areal class here and loved it! The studio is super cute and Insta worthy. The workout…read morewas fun and I loved doing the tricks in the end. Will come back!

I've been coming to Lisa Spring Studio for a year now and it's my favorite studio in Chicago. They…read moreoffer a variety of classes- aerial tricks, aerial fitness, stretching, dance classes and aerial yoga. All of the instructors are amazing and cater to all levels from beginner level, intermediate to advanced. The instructors are all very kind and motivating during the classes always encouraging/supporting us to do our best. The studio is also very cute on the inside and always well kept by Lisa the owner. I highly recommend Lisa Spring Studio for anyone in the chicago area looking to support a small business with instructors that truly care about their students!

Wonderful experience! Amazing professionals that are great teachers, fun and encouraging. I was…read moreabout scared but they were so patient and were really good at getting me to try it. I felt very safe with their equipment and instructions. I can't wait to try it again!

From the owner: With over 20 years experience, Get a Grip trapeze offers Flying trapeze classes, trampoline,…read moreaerial silks, aerial hammock, static trapeze, and more!! Come by yourself, with a friend, or book a group. In the summer we are right by Foster beach, and in the colder months we are inside the Broadway armory so you never have to go without your favorite activities! Check out our website to learn more: getagriptrapeze.com. Ages 6 and up recommended.

Angela is AWESOME! She has such a unique way of connecting with all her students at one time that…read moreit feels like it's just you and her, even if there are others with your class. She is very professional and gives you the freedom to be as creative and sexy as you want. She doesn't make you feel pressured to be a certain way, so if you wanted to, you could be goofy, sexy, graceful, etc. How you interpret pole is exactly that, your interpretation. She's on time, organized, and really friendly. This isn't just a regular aerobics class. The moves you do are more suggestive and require more athletic ability than you think. It would be really nerve racking for anyone who's just starting out or not comfortable enough with themselves to just strut their stuff on the pole right away, but Angela helps ease that tension. She's got a really cute little studio in her living room with 5 poles. They are all perfectly spaced and she's got sexy lighting and mirrors in their too. Seriously, it's just this awesome girl room where you can just let your freak flag fly! I'll rave about Pole Velocity all day. Had my first class week and was feeling hesitant about how it would go, but Angela is great. She's got credibility, experience, and a nice little set up that makes you feel comfortable there. Plus, she's got these cute fluffy cats that chill out and watch you dance which is hilarious. Love the class, love the prices, love the environment. Great!!! UPDATE 5/30/2014 A year and a half later and I am still going here. Angela is wonderful. She is an excellent teacher and I have learned so much. I have my own pole now and I still take classes because I can always use a little instruction. Her aerial fit class is so much fun. She hosts little "open house" parties for her students so we can all hang out and dance, see each others progress. it's so much fun here! a nice little family.

This place is okay. It's a home studio with decent prices. You learn a lot of spins and the…read moreinstructor gives you one on one attention. It isn't a place to learn sexy moves but it is a good workout. Street parking is decent. This place would get a five if the instructor didn't talk negatively about her students. She's not professional but if you want to learn the basics come here and branch off to something different.

My prior experience with yoga, before discovering this studio, was intermittently attending classes…read moreat large yoga chains whenever I felt like it. i.e. not that often. I thought yoga was great, but for some reason I never felt inclined to go back consistently. I never got attached to any said studios. About 9 months ago, I decided to try a class here because it was nearby and I had heard good reviews about the instructor. Fast forward to today: I have been practicing yoga twice a week consistently at this studio for the 9 months following my first session. If I ever do not live in the area anymore, yoga will still remain a part of my lifestyle. What you might notice at first is the size of the studio. It's tiny. Almost a hole in the wall. Heck, you might have driven past it multiple times and had no idea. When you go inside you'll find a very friendly group of yogi's who attend classes here regularly. They're dedicated to the studio because of the instructor, Tracy, who I would say is the sole reason that I give this business a 5 star rating. Tracy has dedicated her life to teaching the most thorough, balanced, and quality yoga classes I have ever participated in. Usually, she begins class with some brief chanting (they always translate to some wholesome message like spreading positive energy, etc.). No matter what the class is, there is always a thorough warm-up. You'll never find yourself in a difficult pose without your body primed and ready to do so. Her classes also always have a nice rhythm to them. Generally, they start simple and raise in complexity and difficulty as the class progresses. Don't get too comfortable though. Just when you think you have a class figured out, Tracy will surprise you with a completely unique pose or routine that you have never done before (this still happens to me and I've been here 9 months). Also, due to the small room and the intimate nature of the class, Tracy will personally correct you if you're doing something incorrectly. I cannot express how grateful I am for this. You're essentially getting the benefits of a personal training session in a group class. This studio is the best for beginners, and advanced, but especially beginners. Even if you're super fit, if you're new to yoga, take a beginners class. It might be easy for you, but trust me, you learn some fundamentals that will aid you in the advanced classes tremendously. For example, Tracy will teach you how to properly breathe during yoga. It's a very different style of breathing than any other exercise, and it helps a lot. She also gives you the translations for the common poses you will be practicing, so in the future you know exactly what to do when she says a pose in yoga-lingo. You'll also learn what poses work specific muscles and joints, so you'll be able to feel when you are doing a pose correctly. Ultimately, Tracy provides you with the tools you need to make yoga a regular part of your lifestyle, even if you can't attend a class. Lastly, I will say that Tracy offers many different classes catering to all the demographics of her students. There are beginner, intermediate, advanced, restorative, and aerial yoga classes. She also offers private sessions, and a meditation class. Honestly, I can go on and on about what makes this place special, but you should just go check it out and see for yourself. I'm torn between wanting Tracy to be a teacher of the rest of her life or become a guru and train others to teach the way she does, because, wow. This is yoga at it's best, purest form.

I have gone to several classes with Tracy, and she's the best. She learned my name right away and…read morealways makes me feel welcome in her studio. Her classes are the best way to start my weekend, because I feel very happy and serene when I leave. This studio has an amazing community. Everyone you meet here is kind, caring, and is never competitive with one another.

CircEsteem was once a wonderful organization and has great potential, but that is unfortunately…read morecompletely wasted now due to terrible mismanagement. The teaching staff is amazing, talented, kind and knowledgable. However, those at the top of the administration have demonstrated a complete disregard for the working conditions of the entire staff, and pay themselves a very generous salary but constantly ask their employees to make sacrifices. As a result, the staff is constantly overworked, underpaid and underappreciated for their dedication. The turn-over rate of employees over the past several years has grown incredibly high and is a clear indication of the lack of professionalism and respect shown by upper management. Directors have frequently disregarded safety standards and repeatedly ignored the very reasonable concerns brought forward by staff and students. They also actively discourage whistleblowers from raising awareness on safety issues. This naturally creates a dangerous environment for students. For an organization who's core mission statement is to build self-Esteem, they do an incredible job of destroying the esteem of staff, and blatantly demand silence and compliance, and aggressively bully employees rather than making any effort to find understanding or compromise. This type of upper management class division, discrimination and subjugation has happened before with other nonprofit organizations, which inevitably resulted in strikes and petitions that were widely reported on the news. It is a shame that they would choose to risk this and strongarm employees into submission and lay off those who try to stand up for their rights, rather than have civil discourse. When more than half of the staff is extremely unhappy, and those that attempt to raise awareness of any concerns are fired or pushed out, that is a problem that requires consideration on how to restructure and they have taken zero steps to do so and have shown no accountability. I strongly encourage CircEsteem teachers to strike and unionize as soon as possible, or this trend of exploitation will only continue to worsen. The Executive Director also needs to resign, as it is blatantly evident that he is not qualified for the position and is clearly not upholding CircEsteem's mission of mutual respect, humility, patience, love and self-reflection. Bottomline - do not work for CircEsteem, and consider other options for circus arts.

I gave my daughter several options for her 10th birthday party venues and luckily she chose…read moreCircEsteem. I have to say that they certainly made a bunch of kids, and especially my daughter / hero, very happy. The CircEsteem staff totally rocked, from Scott's quick and continued communication leading up to the event to the engaged, happy, and involved staff during the event, and kind communication afterwards to ensure our happiness. Everyone was upbeat, fun, helpful, and excellent. We knew it would be good when one of the kids walked in, looked around and said, "I can tell this is going to be a great party!" She was right. I also have to give a shout out to the face painter and balloon guy. They were tremendous! I've never seen a balloon artist that talented. And one of the kids said re the face painter: "she's a professional make-up artist! Well it's all downhill for me from now on." I wish I were more fluent in 10-year-old, but clearly she somehow meant that as an "epic" compliment. It was great getting the kids together to actually learn some new fun skills, be active, and have fun, even while wearing masks. Where else can kids get on a trapeze, aerial silks, walk on stilts, and act like a clown, all while getting their faces painted and having incredible whimsical balloons twisted for them? I could go on and on about how excellent this was, but let's just say that it was certainly a party that my daughter and her friends will remember. Thanks CircEsteem!!

much warmer than i'd like for a gym, especially on higher floors. i joined when forest fires were…read moreburning and i needed to workout inside, and it was doable but similar to being outside in summer heat, except with no fans/breeze. also, it opens at 7am on weekends, which i wish i had noticed before signing up. that's way too late for me.

Not a safe gym! Especially the men's locker rooms (steam room and sauna). Staff were not helpful.read more

This is a great place to learn Hapkido. Hapkido is a korean martial art that uses fun stuff like…read morekicks, strikes, and joint locks to immobilize your opponet. Hapkido is easier to pick up and use than some other martial arts and they aren't above teaching you some quick and dirty ways to ruin someone's day (which I will leave to your imagination). Master Kevin is the main guy and he is really down-to-earth and patient with total rookies like myself. The hours are great - they have classes seven days a week and evenings. The first class is free and if they see someone new they'll teach some quick, easy-to-learn self-defense stuff along with the regular class. Even if you don't sign up, you will have a new trick or two up your sleeve in case you ever need it. Try it out!

Truly awesome martial arts!!! This is Hapkido as intended without crazy aerials designed to woo…read morecrowds of S. Koreans or writers from Black Belt Magazine... a good indication that a Hapkido school is actually teaching something else. Here the emphasis is placed on learning the techniques correctly intertwined with basic street knowledge and a good dose of common sense which is refreshing. Master Kevin has been teaching Hapkido since he was in his teens, holds his BS in Education, has years of experience bouncing Chicago nightclubs and performing security/bodyguard work for major names in the Hip Hop world, and is now the premier instructor for the Jung Ki Kwan Hapkido in the Midwest. This is a man who understands fighting, self-defense, and the psychology of what happens in a confrontation and is able to teach why the techniques work based on his experiences rather than just teaching material without ever having tested its practicality. Now that I have been training here for the last 6 months, I can't imagine studying Hapkido under anyone else. Also available are classes in Kuhapdo which is a Korean sword style as well as women-only classes in Self-Defense and the new female instructed FitCut class that focuses heavily on core strength through the use of the sword, cardio, and coordinated movement. As Mark noted, Hapkido is a Korean martial art and is commonly translated as "the way of coordinated energy/power". It is also frequently described using words like "dynamic" and "eclectic" because it combines so many different types of response that are all based on redirecting your opponent's energy and returning it in a circular motion, typically along with a final strike or series of strikes intended to end the fight. In addition to basic strikes and low kicks, you learn joint locks, pressure points, throws, and some weapons at more advanced levels. Finally, Hapkido is not a Korean version of the Japanese Aikido whose techniques typically end short before leaving the realm of defensive measures. Simply put, Hapkido is street fighting which also helps distinguish it from competitive arts like Karate, Tae Kwan Do, Kickboxing, Judo, or BJJ. I have nothing but respect for other arts but competitive martial arts generally consider our final strikes "dirty" or "illegal" because they focus on how to score points in a match. In my eyes, if you're in a real fight, I'll skip over anything designed for competitive back-and-forth point scoring and do whatever I need to in order to walk away in 1 piece. Realistically, that may simply mean running but if my back is against a wall, this is a martial art that just may save my neck. This is a great school. Pricing is fair and Master Kevin will never try to get you to sign a lengthy contract. To my knowledge, he doesn't even have contracts other than asking that you let him know 30 days before leaving. Also worth noting, the entire syllabus is available on DVD in English being performed by the current Grandmaster in Korea (http://jkkmedia.com) and is a great way to supplement the material you get in class and reinforce your understanding so that you can train at a more accelerated pace. Check out the International Hapkido USA website (http://jungkifamily.com) for class times and any additional information.

Loved my sculpt class here with Audrey! She was very encouraging and the sequence was perfect. All…read morethe facilities were nice and clean.

I tried CorePower in Uptown and aside from me being bad at yoga, I think it was a good experience…read more The studio seems clean for the most part, but when instructors ask students to use blocks/ straps they never seem to ask people to wipe them off after. And people rarely do before putting them back. And while it is nice to have music playing during classes, it is often too loud to clearly hear the instructors direct the flow. Some instructers need to be more aware of this, adjusting either their speaking volume or the volume of the music.