In a quiet mountain town where pine trees outnumber people and the air carries whispers of adventure, one woman is defying gravity—literally. With nothing but fabric, strength, and vision, she’s transforming a rugged community into a hub of aerial artistry.
What began as a personal passion for aerial silks has blossomed into a thriving company. Charlotte Gavura began Golden Aerials after discovering aerial silks at a music festival in Argentina 11 years ago. Captivated by the blend of athleticism and artistry, she brought that passion to Golden, where she now runs Golden Aerials offering classes, workshops, and performances.
Exploring the World of Golden Aerials
Her studio, nestled between peaks and pines at the Mount 7 Rec Plex, is more than a training space—it’s a sanctuary. With high ceilings, and exposed beams, it’s a place where students gather and learn to fly.
It is a unique experience for people of all ages to tap into their creativity, build skills and test their physical limits. Gavura launched Golden Aerials in 2017, she says she “loves” seeing her students progress and continues to build her own skills to help her students grow their practise and continue to bring community performances to Golden.
“I love teaching it. The more I do it, the more I love it … I want people to come in and feel like they are part of a family. We laugh and have fun with it – because it’s so hard. I love watching my students progress, learn the fundamentals and the sequences. Some of them (sequences) are painful,” she says.
“It takes time to get to understanding how to lay yourself into a position. Until you know how to engage and get into that wrap – it’s painful,” she says.
Anyone who has ever tried to climb a rope or a mountain will admit, climbing is hard. In a community where mountain climbing is accessible right-out of ones back door, Gavura says, silks, dance and cirque related activities happening in the community of Golden, bring a “beautiful balance” to the small ski town vibes, combining physical strength and skill with creativity and artistic ideas.
“I love sharing the artistic side and letting the silly and crazy come out. It’s very fun,” she says.
Gavura has built partnerships with various expressive performance arts groups and event organizers in Golden, bringing silks performances to the Golden Dance Co’s Nutcracker show in 2024; CirqueKids year-end show with local schools in 2025; and Emberfest and Summer Kicks events with Kicking Horse Culture. Every year Golden Aerial’s shares the progress of its students during its year-end show and each year spectators are delighted and in awe of the skills and talent shared by her students.
“The kids are super creative. I love that, seeing them being creative with what they’re learning,” Gavura says, explaining performance skills come after building strength and learning silks movement patterns and various ways to “lay into a pattern.”
Teaching aerial silks in a remote mountain town comes with unique challenges. Limited access to equipment and a small studio mean that every class is intimate and intentional. Gavura invests in training opportunities to build teaching and safety skills for her 40 plus students enrolled in her programs, and she has a waiting list of individuals interested in learning.
Through her passion and determination, she meets challenges. She has brought professionals in to have the ceiling at the Mount 7 Rec Plex assessed and certified and has built her own knowledge to ensure safety for all her students and adapts programming when possible.
During classes Gavura adapts her curriculum to suit all levels and tailors’ classes to what her students like to do—from curious beginners to seasoned climbers looking for a new vertical thrill. Her students range from teenagers seeking confidence to curious adults hoping to discover movement and strength. She says they have a lot of fun though learning can be painful and hard. Experienced students “decode” various sequences and use their curiosity to build their own unique sequences while, she says, “a lot of adults give it a try, find out it hurts and get discouraged.”
“It (Aerial silks practise) works both sides of the body and is good for the brain. It takes time. It’s not something you can just do, for example, when you jump on a bike, you don’t ride on your own in the same day. It’s a journey,” she says, adding, “you get to make it what you want once you get to know it.”
Gavura said she was “hooked” right away after her first experience seeing an aerial silks performance. The physical strength required to perform and practise the artform has helped her “work” many parts of her body. She says it’s like, “Pilates in the air.”
“There are tons of benefits. You don’t have to be a performer. The performance part of the practise slowly gets developed. It’s fun,” she says.
Recently, Gavura attended training in Greece where she built skills and connected with others practising “silks.” She says she is interested in building knowledge to add to the theatre production component of the artform and is interested in story telling through performances.
In a world that often feels heavy, Gavura’s work is a reminder that flight is possible. Her aerial silks company is more than a business— it’s a movement. One that lifts bodies, spirits, and communities. Local performances inspire and bring beauty to a small community of people nestled in the mountains and those attending her programs build confidence, strength, and a unique skill to last a lifetime and build long-lasting memories.
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