In this blog post, we wanted to take a moment to let you get to know one of our amazing instructors a little better. Jessie Zeballos teaches silks here at Lotus, and if you’re looking for a teacher to take you further than you thought you could go, look no further! Jessie is a circus powerhouse, and she loves to help students surprise themselves.

Jessie’s background in ballet and acrobatics started when she was seven years old, and from childhood Jessie has always been highly driven. In fact, when she tried out for the ballet academy in her native Ecuador, she was rejected. For two years. But that did not stop her. Even after she finally “forced her way in,” Jessie says the school tried to kick her out several times. Despite spinal issues and discouragement from her teachers, Jessie trained harder than most kids would even think about. Her determination and refusal to be discouraged has taken her far.

About ten years ago, Jessie found aerial arts through the usual gateway drug: pole dance. She taught pole for several years, but in 2012 she found her true calling: silks. According to Jessie, it was “love at first touch” with silks. At first, Jessie saw it as great cross-training to build strength for pole, but in the end silks truly owns her heart. She loves the challenge of silks, both mentally and physically. “You can’t get distracted or forget what you’re doing,” Jessie says. She loves math, and feels like silks has the same type of elegance as a mathematical equation. She acknowledges that silks isn’t for everyone, but that people who stick with it reap huge rewards for their effort.

Jessie says that silks is her favorite aerial apparatus partially because of what an amazing workout it is. To use her words, Jessie kicks her own ass. “I’m looking to hurt when I train,” she says. In addition to teaching and performing, Jessie dedicates her Sundays to “training church,” where she trains all day long, as much as possible. Lately, she had added on tumbling to her repertoire, which has been great for building her shoulder strength and hand balancing skills. Jessie is truly addicted to circus and she says that if she takes even two days off in a row, she feels more sore and less flexible when she goes back to her usual workouts.

Silks, circus, and aerial are all central to Jessie’s life. She currently performs in a dinner show on I-Drive, which incorporates live rock and pop music with aerial and dance performances. She loves the thrill of performing in front of an audience, and says there is something especially amazing about performing to live music. Jessie is addicted to the performer’s high, and with musicians and singers performing alongside her, she says they feed off each other’s energy and everything is that much better.

However, teaching will always have a special place in Jessie’s heart. She knows that silks can be intimidating for beginners, and that it takes a special kind of determination to stick with it. However, as her students grow, she sees them get whipped into shape fast, become stronger than they ever thought possible, and develop amazing skills they always wanted to try. She knows how frustrating it can be, though. “Be patient with youself,” Jessie advises. Especially when people see an apparently effortless silks performance and get down on themselves when it doesn’t come easily, Jessie reminds us that it’s her job to make it look easy! In the end, silks rewards the deep, hard work. Jessie’s favorite thing about teaching is pushing people to push themselves. “I want my students to be better than me,” she says, and she encourages newcomers to challenge themselves!

Her favorite thing about Lotus is the community of students and instructors. Because not as many people stick with silks to achieve the upper levels, she feels that it is an especially close-knit, smaller community within the larger Lotus tribe. They talk about their lives while they stretch and warm up, and check in on each other when someone is having a hard time. Jessie also loves the variety of instructors we have, and feels like every student can find a style of teacher that works for them here. Personally, I can say that Jessie is an amazing instructor and she really will help you surprise yourself with what you can do! Try out Jessie’s silks class, and she’ll see you in the air!