Mizz Twisted Cherry Studios in Ross-on-Wye has gone from one success to another in such a short space of time since opening in March 2017 residing at unit 3, Chase Industrial Estate, Alton Road.

The Aerial and Alternative Dance Studio currently provides Aerial classes in Aerial Hoop, Pole Fitness and from January, Static Trapeze, Pole Silks and Aerial Hammock/Yoga. There are also regular workshops in Aerial Silks. Its prestigious Burlesque classes are always sold out and sessions in adult Gymnastics are a firm favourite as are the Contortion classes.

Children do not miss out either with Saturday mornings dedicated to the studio’s younger generation with Junior Aerial Hoop and Cheerleading, with a new course of Junior Static Trapeze starting in the New Year.

Instructor and Studio Owner, Natalie Morgan-Dew, who has been poling and teaching burlesque for 10 years has achieved a great deal since opening the Studio. This year she was honoured to receive the Polexcellence Award for Outstanding Teaching at the Pole World Festival 2018 with 32 nominees across the whole of the UK.

Natalie was awarded 2nd place in Best Teacher in the Golden Pole Awards and 4th place in Best on the Pole Video with hundreds of individuals and instructors nominated from the United Kingdom.

Her achievements continued, placing in the top ten in Instructor of the Year award 2018 with Spin City out of one hundred instructors, followed by being a top five finalist in the Instructor of the Year Award 2018 with the IPC, which is worldwide!

Natalie as a performer has reached some great heights this year placing 2nd in the Infinitease heat and 3rd at the semi-final in London’s prestigious burlesque competition, landing a place in the final of ten performers out of one hundred entrants through the stages. Natalie has just been announced as a semi-finalist for the Riverie of The Siren competition in association with the North Wales burlesque and Cabaret Festival.

She also found herself a finalist in the Pole Performance competition advanced category in Scotland.

Natalie and Jessica Watts are a competing doubles in pole fitness, and placed 3rd in Pole Sports UK doubles advanced category competition. Pole Sports UK is the organisation who hope to make Pole Fitness a recognised sport, and one day recognised in the Olympics. They have two other finals before Christmas.

Needless to say you are in good hands!

The studio has achieved so much since opening in 2017 hosting workshops with pole celebrities, Sarah Scott and Tiff Finney. Its annual student Showcase gets larger every year, and this year was held at The Savoy Theatre, Monmouth. A number of polers attended the first ever International Pole Showcase for Schools to come together to perform in Once Upon a Pole in Milton Keynes. This was an amazing and uniting experience for the studios involved.

Local achievement and community spirit has also been present this year, Winning 2nd place at the Carnival float competition for their category with their Greatest Showman themed float was a true highlight. It was a great local event to support and to be part of teaching free Aerial Hoop demos at the Carnival. They also have supported the local Starbucks with Aerial Hoop demos and teaching for Charity, as well as local Herefordshire fun days. The Studio has raised money for a number of Charities; Meningitis now, The Dogs Trust, The Puddy Foundation and Mind amongst many others.

This year has really shone a light on the quality and excellence that that the Studio holds, ranking 4th Best Studio in the Golden Pole Awards out of hundreds of studios in the UK.

As well as recently announcing it is a finalist in the Herefordshire Business Awards: category Customer Service provider, to which they have been invited to a black tie event, with the winner announced on the night.

Natalie says the achievements this year are down to one thing:

“These achievements are outstanding for a studio that has not been open two years and is a relatively small studio compared to those across the country. However, the studio is a very humbling place. Its students are ordinary men, women and children, ranging in age from 8-80 years! every shape, size and all perfectly unique. Every student becomes a Cherry Blossom when they walk through the door, everyone feels comfortable to go at their own pace with their own personal goals and journeys. People’s backgrounds are so different, their life experiences, achievements and tragedies, you cannot fit everyone into the same box. Treating everyone individually is so important as well as emotionally supporting them.

“I have always said mental health is just as important as physical health and finding that balance is something people come to us for. Just to be lifted by the Studio’s atmosphere which was my goal all along. I hated gym at school and was always made to feel it was for the elite few, I started pole fitness not being able to climb, I was always last on the school track field and had never done a pull up in my life. If I can achieve this anyone can. The Studio’s foundations are built on emotional support, friendships and no prejudice, so many clients have said how this Studio is their second home, how they found it hard to even go to their local shop with zero confidence and now they can move mountains. We provide love, care and confidence and this really impacts what you can achieve in both Aerial and Alternative Dance classes. Once you believe you can do it, you really can achieve what looks impossible. Our achievements would not have been possible without being such a solid unit of support and the fact we have achieved so much in only 18 months is testament to our values at the studio. I really cannot wait to see how much more the business grows as our family of Blossom grows and we add our new courses in January.

“If you have ever loved the idea of burlesque, wondered if you were strong enough for aerial, my advice to you is just come and give it a go, you build confidence through burlesque classes, you build flexibility through contortion and you build strength through aerial. That’s how I did it; there are no pre requisites before entering the door. We have ladies and men who have never entered a gym or done anything physical since school and we also have ex gymnasts, horse riders and gym bunnies. Literally everyone is welcome and everyone understands the importance of supporting each other. The bravest and most rewarding thing you’ll ever do is to walk through that door and become a Blossom so don’t delay.”

Natalie and her team of instructors are highly qualified, relevantly insured and DBS checked to give you safe, quality classes. For more information on classes, courses, 121’s or just to have a chat please visit www.mizztwistedcherry.co.uk