Meet Aeriosa
Julia is the artistic director of Aeriosa, a Vancouver-based vertical dance company. She has choreographed over 25 works on location including: Stawamus Chief Mountain in Squamish BC, Taipei City Hall, Cirque du Soleil Headquarters, Vancouver Library Square, Banff Centre, Scotiabank Dance Centre and Toronto’s 58-storey L Tower.
Prior to founding Aeriosa, Julia performed across Canada with Ruth Cansfield, and around the world with Bandaloop. Julia attained ACMG Rock Guide certification in 1997. She has worked as a co-producer, choreographer, cast member, stunt performer, mountain safety rigger and creative movement consultant on various film and television productions in Canada and abroad.
Colin was one of the riggers for the 2000-2002 video production of Granite Ocean, that featured Julia Taffe dancing on vertical rock faces of the Stawamus Chief Mountain in Squamish, BC. Since then, he has worked with Julia and Aeriosa on more than 100 productions. His responsibilities have included site safety inspections, risk management planning and documentation, dancer safety supervision, rigging and climbing, tree climbing, training riggers and dancers, and writing the Aeriosa safety manual.
Aeriosa is one of the foremost vertical dance companies in Canada and as a result has collaborated with the Vertical Dance Forum (Europe), Gravity and Levity (England), Kate Lawrence Vertical Dance (Wales), Il Posto (Italy), Wired Aerial Theatre (England), Histeria Nova (Croatia), Compagnie Retouramont (France) and Bandaloop (USA) to support and develop risk management planning and training strategies for the art form.
Colin is a professional member of the Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) and Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG). He is a professional level avalanche educator and operations safety consultant for ski areas, cat and heliski operations. Outside North America, his work training and mentoring mountain professionals has taken him to Europe, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, and Argentina. His rigging and mountain safety experience also includes feature films such as iRobot and Touching the Void and TV programs including Burnett Productions EcoChallenge and Expedition Impossible series filmed in Morocco, Argentina New Zealand, Fiji and Borneo.
Colin’s certifications include ACMG/IFMGA/UIAGM (internationally recognized mountain guides associations), SPRAT (rope access), ACTSAFE Fall Protection, ACTSAFE Aerial Lift Operator, and the SAR Medic Wilderness Responder.
Upon returning to Vancouver, she became captivated by the emerging form of dance theatre and apprenticed with Lee Eisler of Jumpstart Performance. As a collaborator/performer, she has contributed to the creation of dance theatre productions for Gambling Soles, Donna Redlick Dance Theatre, Link Dance Foundation and Raven Spirit Dance.
Juan has worked with Ballet BC, MoveTheCompany, Traverse City Dance Project, Corporeal Imago, Belle Spirale Dance Projects, Dance//Novella, Action At A Distance Dance and Hélène Simoneau Danse. They/he joined Aeriosa, in 2024.
Juan has been a powerful member of the Vancouver queer scene. An ambitious and dedicated performer, Juan is looking forward to what the future offers, and continuing to share their/his beauty and artistry with the world.