Hey folks, thanks for tuning in! This month we’d like to share with you why we’re excited to be offering alternative high school P.E. credit here at Acro Enso. First off, we need to ask: why do teens dislike P.E. so much? Whether you remember these adolescent years or not, we all know how unique this phase of life is. Not only do teens need to deal with changing bodies and fragile egos, but they’re also wading through a world of dogma where they must decipher their own truths on what a healthy life is. When we throw these kids into a gymnasium and tell them it takes this many pushups and pull-ups to be a healthy individual, it’s no wonder we see such resistance. This one shoe fits all mentality is thickly laden in our education system and it does nothing to support the diverse individuals our children are.

Even as adults there are many of us who disfavor going to the gym to run another lap on the treadmill to meet that half hour goal of daily fitness.  At Acro Enso, we value a more personalized approach to fitness that encourages continuous growth, individual creativity and personal drive. By offering a range of activities like cyr wheel, acrobatics, juggling and more, our members and students are able to discover a way to a healthy life that truly serves their unique selves. This form of meaningful play has boosted my and my partner’s life both physically and mentally, and as parents, we’re eager to offer this to our children.

When we came across the opportunity to join the extended studies program of the Washoe County School District, we were quick to sign up in order to offer the youth of our community the same means to choose their own path to a healthy life. If you have a teenager or are one yourself that is interested in learning more about our program, we encourage you to stop by anytime to chat or to sample any of our classes. Check out our Class Schedule to see all that we offer. We’re sure we’ll have something you’ll enjoy doing.

Thanks for reading!

~ Namastizzle

Acro Enso.

This week we’d like to introduce to you a very talented dancer that many of you might already know. Maggie Stack is well known in our community not only for her professional style, but also for her talented skills as a teacher and choreographer. Her ability to motivate raw beginners and challenge advanced contemporary dancers has been an awe-inspiring experience for us here at Acro Enso. We love and respect Maggie and are excited to share her story.

At five years old, Maggie discovered a true passion for dance that she voiced frequently to her mother and father. After a couple years of pushing, her parents finally caved and enrolled her at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre at the age of seven. She continued to study dance through her entire childhood. During her teenage years, you wouldn’t find Maggie chatting it up at the local hangout but instead happily sewing her point shoes. Even prom took second place when she chose to perform on the same night. After receiving her BS in Dance from Skidmore College in 2009, Maggie moved to San Francisco to train at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance under the direction of master teacher Summer Lee Rhatigan. Maggie built her professional career in the Bay working as a dancer and when her greatest teacher, Rhatigan, suggested Maggie become a teacher another passion was born.

Maggie teaches and choreographs for both ballet and contemporary here in Reno. When we asked why she chose these styles to pursue she answered with “I love that ballet is an impossibly difficult language to master. On the other hand, I love exploring the endless possibilities of movement in contemporary work.” After asking her how dance has changed her life Maggie replied with “Dance is my life.” Movement is only half the story though. She goes on to explain that the friendships she’s established over the years in the dance world are one of her greatest joys in life and that she is forever grateful for.

Well that’s all we have for now. We hope you enjoyed learning about Maggie and will come and discover your own movement by sampling any of our dance classes or other disciplines we have available. Or maybe you might visit and meet a cool friend, or two, or three…

Namastizzle ~

Acro Enso.

These first months of business at Acro Enso have been such an amazing adventure. Up to this point, figuring out how to create a warm and welcoming space for all you movement enthusiasts, has been a huge focus for us, and has required us to make difficult decisions about how to grow this space. Based off recent inquiries we’ve received, we’d like to share a little context on a particular decision we’ve made on whether we should fill our studio with mirrors.

To decide yes or no, we first reached out to a group who would have a very strong opinion on this matter: the dance community. After all, dance is one of our main disciplines, and most dance studios you find are usually filled with mirrors. Surprisingly, we heard a wide range of opinions from dancers, both advocating and opposing mirrors. After going back and forth, we finally reached out to our good friend, Maggie Stack, who is also a highly educated and experienced dance teacher.

Maggie's philosophy on mirrors really struck home with us. She told us that mirrors are a great tool for understanding the body. However, after years of training with and without mirrors, Maggie found that her practice benefited more when she couldn’t see her reflection. Maggie believes, that as a dancer, the key to molding your body into various positions and shapes is a deep, physical understanding that requires you to feel every morsel of yourself from the inside. “There’s so much to investigate,” she remarks - “your bones, muscles, blood, flesh - and it’s easy to forget parts of the body when you’re seeing a one-dimensional version of yourself.” Maggie encourages all of her dancers to tune into the full 360-degree study of the body by directing focus on the self and away from the reference of a mirror.

We understand there are mixed opinions on this topic, however, we agree with Maggie on this concept of connecting with the self. We believe this kind of connection truly inspires authentic movement which is what we're all about here at Acro Enso. So, in the end we decided to not fill our walls with mirrors. We encourage you to come and experience our space for yourself though and share with us what you think. Stay tuned to learn more about Maggie Stack and the classes she teaches at Acro Enso in our next blog. Thanks for reading!!

~ Namastizzle

Acro Enso.

This week we’re excited to introduce you to Tegroc, the first Breaking (break dancing) teacher to join Acro Enso! Tegroc started Breaking when he was 14 years old and has gained extensive knowledge and talent over the years. He is now a current member of the Vibe Vultures Crew & BLCITY B-boys.

​When Tegroc first discovered Breaking in his youth he was captivated by the dynamic, gravity defying movements Breakers could do. He completely immersed himself into Hip Hop culture and went on to enter countless Breaking events. He’s learned from many older generation B-boys including a mentor from the world-famous Rock Steady Crew from New York City!! 

What Tegroc loves most about Breaking is the trance like sensation he feels when he dances. He explains how Breaking sends him into a world where he loses himself to the beat of his own self-expression. Tegroc believes this dance form has changed the way he sees the world, and has made him into the confident person he is today. 

Tegroc is excited to share the liberating life of Breaking with you. He believes you can really express your personality with this dance form and clear your mind of daily stress. He's looking forward to sharing with you the beauty of Breaking and the creative process of adding your own flavor and style. Come join Tegroc after our Grand Opening on April 6th and experience this awesome movement for yourself. Thanks for reading and have a great week!!

~ Namastizzle


Acro Enso.

If you’re a parent with young children who love fun activities, then you probably know what it’s like to be a personal taxi driver for your kids, rushing them from one hobby to the next after your day job is done. Once you’ve completed your fare and accepted that there is no tip for your service you must decide how to pass the time while your little ones complete their martial arts lesson or dance class. Many places require parental presence for these 30 minute to hour long classes; however, if this isn’t the case, you most likely wait around anyways because of how small this window of time is.  Once they’ve finished, you hustle home to begin their school night routines, then you’re off to bed to do it all over again in the morning.

If this description fits you, then you probably know how difficult it is to find time in your tight schedule for the hobbies you enjoy. Even on the off days when your kids don’t have anywhere to be, you’ll need to find a babysitter before you’re able to take that yoga class you like or that jazz class you’ve always wanted to try. At Acro Enso, we understand the demanding schedules of parents and we empathize with their struggle to find time for fun. We believe parents deserve to play just as much their kids do. This is why, at Acro Enso, we’re creating a family focused program that benefits both parents and their kids.

You won’t need to sit around while your child attends one of our dance or acrobatic classes because you’ll have the opportunity to join one of our many adult classes that run concurrently alongside your kid’s class. If a class setting isn’t your cup tea, then you might enjoy our open play hours where you could spend time having fun with your entire family or you could take advantage of our supervised playtime while you work out in our fitness area or enjoy an independent passion like cyr wheel. Once we’ve opened our doors Acro Enso will be a place for the entire family to enjoy. To learn more about our movement center and our offerings, visit our website or social media and contact us anytime. Thanks for reading!!

Namastizzle ~


Acro Enso.

As we spend the next two weeks constructing our 6,000 sf sprung dance floor at Acro Enso, we’re eager to share with you how excited we are to welcome the growing dance community of Reno into our new space! We believe dance is a primal essence of movement, and as such, a fundamental part of our vision at Acro Enso. As our dance floor comes to life, we thought it might be fun to share with you some of the interesting science and history we’ve learned around why we dance in this week’s blog.

When you ask dancers why they dance most will probably say it’s because they enjoy it. Scientists believe this is because coordinated movement is one of the many things that stimulates our reward centers in our brains. Even if you don’t enjoy dancing yourself, scientists have theorized that you are likely to experience great pleasure just by watching a dancer because of how your brain is wired to mirror what it sees. Basically, when you watch a performer dancing parts of your brain, that control your own body’s movement, light up like a light bulb as if you were dancing yourself. By simply observing dancers you may experience innate pleasure that is comparable to the internal rewards you feel from eating delicious food or sleeping! We don’t need current science to tell us how rewarding dance is though, because we’ve been enjoying it for over 9,000 years.

Many historians believe that dance performance was evolved to pass on religious and mythical stories from one generation to the next before written language had arrived. This makes dance one of the original human entertainments and an essential factor to the formation of early human civilizations! Today, with all its different styles, dance is a universal practice that the entire world shares. So, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, whether you have two left feet¸ or an extensive background, dance is a beautiful and timeless activity for everyone to enjoy! At Acro Enso, we’re extremely grateful to be working with so many talented dance instructors to offer a variety of dance styles for you to experience and enjoy. We hope that you will join us to move and groove together once we’ve opened our doors. Thanks for reading and have a great week!

~ Namastizzle


Acro Enso.

Your decision to move with another human being recognizes you as one half of a partnership. At Acro Enso, we like to share this statement with everyone who is interested in sharing a movement practice with another person. No matter which partner activity your heart fancies, whether it be dance, acrobatics, juggling or something you see on America’s got talent like partner roller skating, we believe it is important for you to understand from the very beginning the equal responsibility involved in movement partnerships.

When you and your partner choose to create a life of movement together you form an intimate and dynamic relationship that both of you have a role in nurturing and maintaining. Not only must you both work physically together to achieve a common goal you must work mentally with each others’ needs, fears, frustrations, and insecurities. We’ve learned that if you devote the same amount of energy into addressing the interpersonal issues that arise from working closely with another person as you put into the movement itself, you’ll be able to build a strong partnership with a foundation based on trust and communication.

At Acro Enso we hope to share more than just movement with you. We aim to be a center for education in our community by providing resources, like communication and mindfulness workshops, for you to join and learn helpful tools to support your movement relationships. We believe in building our minds just as much as we build our bodies so that we are able to be our best selves for our partners and the movement we share. To learn more about movement partnerships join us at Acro Enso once we open our doors. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful week.

Namastizzle ~

Acro Enso.

“What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.” ― Karl A. Menninger

Over the last year, we have interviewed and spoken with many amazing teachers interested in joining us here at Acro Enso. After listening to the valuable insights of each of these community leaders, we’ve learned that a true teacher is defined by much more than what he or she is able to teach. A true teacher is defined by the ethical model he or she represents and cultivates within our community.

The Ethical Teacher understands the responsibility of shaping and growing our community from the ground up. This responsibility requires these teachers to invest daily in themselves and in their students in order to create and maintain a safe container and thriving learning environment. They must set the example by leading the conversation around respect, communication, and proper conduct within our community. A commitment like this is undertaken by passionate teachers who care about what they’re teaching and how their teaching is received. These teachers will utilize all of the tools available to them to support the healthy growth of their community.

At Acro Enso we require all of our teachers to read and sign the Ethical Teacher Agreement which illustrates a standard code of conduct for all teachers. Simply agreeing to this document will not be enough, however. We expect all of our teachers to lead by example and to take action by upholding the principles of the Ethical Teacher. Here at Acro Enso, we aim to set the standard for quality and excellence in everything we do.

The Acro Enso Ethical Teacher Agreement

As a teacher at Acro Enso, I ______________________ accept that I am a respected leader of my community and that my role is to establish and maintain a safe and nurturing container in which all students may grow and learn. To rise to the role expected of me, I will abide, to the best of my ability, by the ethical teacher agreement as follows:
 
I...
     - Am passionate about what I do
     - Am responsible for myself, for my class, and for my students
     - Accommodate and respect the needs and boundaries of every student
     - Lead by example for healthy and honest communication
     - Invest in my studentship and in my practice to provide quality instruction
     - Maintain my integrity by treating all people equal
     - Practice and teach consent at every opportunity
     - Am responsible for resolving any inappropriate or dangerous misconduct in my class
     - Uphold a professional relationship with my students
     - Am accountable for my mistakes
     - Adhere to my sobriety leading up to and during my class
     - Practice gender neutral, non-sexual, and non-violent communication 
     - Respect power differentials and the vulnerability of the student teacher relationship
     - Give credit to my lineage and strive to foster my own ingenuity in my practice
     - Strive to speak positively of others
     - Motivate and encourage every student, especially the shy and timid
     - Provide constructive and concise feedback to all my students
     - Take care of my physical and mental presentation during class

Acro Enso.

Happy Tuesday everyone!! We hope the first few weeks of this new year have been treating you well and have brought you many new insights. If you’ve made a resolution this year to add more movement into your life, then this blog is made just for you! If not, keep reading anyways to learn how we celebrate and cherish the movement (a.k.a exercise) in our life here at Acro Enso. Too often in our culture we overshadow the glory of exercise, when we think we need to do it just to burn off last night’s dessert or because we have to for the sake of our health. If exercise is viewed as something we must endure, like a shot at the doctor’s office, it easily morphs into this burden of necessity; when in reality it could be quite the opposite. If approached in a genuine way, movement has the potential of being a desirable and celebrated part of your life.

At Acro Enso, we follow and encourage one simple rule that allows us to embrace and enjoy the glory of movement: If you’re not having fun doing what you’re doing, then do something different that is worth celebrating! If you wish to fully utilize the amazing tool of exercise to support your physical and mental well-being in the best way possible, then we suggest you seek out the kinds of movement that speak to your heart and unique individuality. If your motivation to exercise comes from a place of genuine passion it will no longer seem like a burden that you must endure; instead you will crave and celebrate the movement in your life because it makes you happy, and the health you gain from it will become a wonderful bonus.

At Acro Enso we’ll be offering a diverse range of fun disciplines for you to choose from to help you find your passion in movement. Join us this year to discover more ways that move you by trying classes like cyr wheel, juggling, acrobatics, dance, yoga, conditioning, martial arts, and more. Come and find your play at Acro Enso once we open our doors! For more information or if you have any questions please feel free to contact us at our website or visit our social media anytime. We hope you enjoyed this blog and we’re excited to play with you soon!

Namastizzle ~

Acro Enso.

“If you want to go fast you go alone; but if you want to go far you go together.”

In the spirit of the holidays, a time for friends and family to come close and appreciate one another, this week’s blog is inspired by our love and gratitude for our community. One of our primary motivations for creating Acro Enso is to provide a home in which our community may lay down its roots, grow, and thrive. We believe that one of the greatest rewards in life is to sincerely connect with those whom we love. This is why we have signed a seven year lease which will allow us to build a community hub where all shades of people are welcome to play, learn, and connect with each other.

Without our community, Acro Enso would not be as close to becoming a reality as it is today. We are so grateful for the genuine support from all of the people who have been with us from the very beginning. Each person, from the wonderful teachers with whom we’ve had the pleasure of speaking and working to the excited movers who are ready for us to open our doors, has given us nothing but encouragement for the hope and potential of this project. With the love of this community Acro Enso is becoming a living, breathing dream molded by the people it serves. Just as the community evolves and grows, so will Acro Enso, because its life depends on the people who believe in it.

Thank you, to each and every one of you who have shared your support, as well as to all of the people we hope to meet and grow with from here on. You are the true heart of Acro Enso. Your vision for this community hub is important to us because this project is all about you. So please reach out to us through our website, or social media to learn more, and to let us know your desires and wishes for Acro Enso. Thank you for reading and happy holidays!!

Namastizzle ~

Acro Enso.