Teachers
Bella O'Toole
Fabric, sling, loops, hoop
Born and raised on Hawai'i Island, Bella is the co-founder of Aerial Arts Hawai'i. An accomplished aerial performer and educator with over ten years of expertise, she launched The Airhouse in 2021. In her roles as the principal instructor, studio director, and show producer, Bella is dedicated to nurturing creativity and excellence within the aerial arts community. In her spare time, she enjoys reading fantasy romance books, eating potatoes in all their delicious forms, and tending to her dying houseplants!
Bonnie Margolis
Flexibility
Bonnie Margolis began her formal circus education at New England Center for Circus Arts for a year of their full time professional program before continuing her intensive acrobatic training with Pitch Catch Circus. She has a passion for circus and the performing arts and is very serious about being silly. She is well versed in many circus skills from acrobatics, to aerial, to fire arts, hat juggling, clown, sideshow and more, and has performed in many circus shows both on island and on the mainland. She looks forward to sharing the joys of creative collaboration and dedicated play with Hawai’i’s amazing circus community
Ellen Einhorn
Conditioning
First certified as a fitness instructor then as a yoga and Pilates teacher, Ellen spent 15 years teaching at fitness studios and wellness centers on the Big Island. She began teaching aerial silks seven years ago, and there is nothing she loves more than training, learning new skills and sharing her passion for aerial with fellow aerialists and students.
Gabriel Reuter
Hand Balance
From Colorado, Gabriel is a movement instructor and current co-director of Pole HI. With a foundation in gymnastics and nine years of teaching experience, they have developed a variety of disciplines including pole, aerial, fire spinning, and hand balancing. Gabe believes in play based learning and nourishing an inclusive and accessible community. When they aren’t training, Gabriel enjoys swimming with their very famous dog, George.
Justine Thompson
aka Lady Lily La Douce
Burlesque
Justine Thompson/“Lady Lily La Douce” is an American Burlesque dancer, host, producer, director, and writer...and she insists you just lay back and let the funny happen! Starting her burlesque career in 2009; her burlesque style is neoclassical ultra glam high camp and kitschy! Her most influential inspirations are Miss Piggy, Miss Yvonne “the most beautiful woman in puppet land!”, and the curvaceous Ms. Jayne Mansfield. Lady Lily obviously has an affinity for boisterous ball-busting bouncy blondes. Hailing from the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii she is your 2015 Huli-Huli Chicken Queen - Burlesque Battle of the Islands, and the founder of Acme HourGlass Burlesque Company.
Meg Duka
Trapeze
Drawn to movement and all her forms, Meg has been teaching at The Airhouse since 2021. In addition to her love of Dance Trapeze, she is also a Pole Instructor, Burlesque performer, and Yoga Teacher. The only thing she loves as much as dance is coffee, and she really loves coffee.
Luna Sophia
Aerial yoga
Luna was born at 10,000 feet in Bogotá, Colombia. She has lived and travelled to over thirty countries and discovered yoga in 2002 and aerial movement in 2007. Trained in Australia and India, she has taught yoga for 18 years in Costa Rica, Japan, Colombia, and Hawaii. Her aerial yoga classes weave elements of Hatha and Vinyasa flow with a central focus on the Breath. Her aerial training began in Colombia and she has since trained and performed on various stages and venues. Luna's passions also include gardening, hiking, running, swimming, mountain biking, juggling, learning languages, and spending time with her husband and pets.
Maya Andersen
Aerial
Since college in 2016, Maya has been an avid member of the pole and aerial community here on the Big Island. With four years’ experience as an instructor, she prides herself on her encouraging teaching style and enthusiasm. Outside of The Airhouse, Maya is a substitute teacher for keiki at HAAS and an avid world traveller. If you don’t see her classes posted, she is most likely continuing her journeys abroad. Her backpacking adventures have taken her to studios across the world.
Patrick Faris
Aerial Yoga
Patrick is a RYS-certified yoga teacher, with over 20 years of personal yoga practice, and has called Hawaii home for a decade of that time. With 14 years of aerial experience, merging the disciplined philosophies of Yoga with the gravity defying aerial practice quickly became a passion that is evident in his teaching style. In Patrick's words: "Aerial is much like yoga in that it offers the balance between earth and sky that mirrors our form and breath.”