Kat Boston loves to defy gravity. The high-flying athlete has been an aerialist since 2012 when she sought a new way to stay fit. Her sport involves yoga-style movements in the air, using silks, hoops, hammocks or ropes.
“I have a background in Olympic weightlifting and Crossfit, but I kept getting injured,” Boston says. “I needed something different for my body and I was looking for a creative outlet. I stumbled on an aerial class and was instantly hooked.”
Boston is always up for a challenge, which is why she loves aerial performance and the fire service. She became a firefighter in 2006.
“A common thread in my life is that I always like to challenge myself to learn new things and develop,” Boston says. “The fire service is constantly evolving because the world is constantly evolving. I study a lot of different things. With my personality, I need to learn every day.”
Her work provides plenty of learning opportunities. As a professional aerial performer, she learned to market herself and build relationships to get gigs. As an aerial coach, she learned to run a business and connect with students of all levels.
“My goal was to make aerial accessible for everybody and cater to everybody that wanted to try,” she says. “It’s one of many reasons my company is called Rebel Aerial. There are no boxes here.”
As a performer, Boston brings aerial artistry to events throughout the state, including Art Mix at Crocker Art Museum, corporate events, celebrations, weddings and the local mural festival Wide Open Walls.
An instructor since 2013, she taught all over before settling into a 6,500-square-foot location last June called Phoenix Loft. Leasing her “own four walls” was a 10-year goal and part of her dream to develop a Sacramento circus center. Boston completed the Instructor in Circus Arts program at the École Nationale de Cirque in 2017.
“It’s an amazing location and the owners are amazing,” she says of the building on Lathrop Way in North Sac. “They did a ton of work to the inside for us and gave us this beautiful foundation for us to build on. It’s nice to be able to open those doors when I go teach.”
The Phoenix Loft offers level-one, intermediate and advanced classes for all apparatus—silk, hammock and lyra hoops—as well as yoga and acro yoga with Boston and a handful of other independent instructors, including Boston’s aerial partner, Monica Padilla. Next year they hope to offer rope and juggling to round out the circus experience.
“People are concerned they’re not strong enough (to do aerial),” Boston says. “But just like anything, you learn from the ground up and build strength as you learn. If you don’t try, you’ll never know.”
For information, visit thephoenixloft.com. Follow @thephoenixloft and @rebelaerial.artistry on Instagram.
Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
