I am a wanderlust bohemian and a traveling erotic-noir performer. I’m also a nightlife producer and sensual erotic movement instructor. My fields of interest include Burlesque BDSM, Theater, Pole Dance, and Spoken Word. If it touches the erotic healing arts, I’m all for it. As a “Traveling Showgirl,” I’m sharing a mini travel series, “Burlesque Adventures: Denver, Colorado” as I prepare an itinerary for an erotic bleisure vacation that includes performing in 3 burlesque shows. (It’s my first time performing burlesque in Colorado.)
- Check out Part 1, “14 Fascinating Speakeasy Bars in Denver”
- Check out Part 2, “16 Dazzling Burlesque Experiences in Denver”
- Check out Part 3, “22 Provocative and Kinky Rendezvous in Denver”
INTENSE ACTIVITIES, CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS IN DENVER, COLORADO
(POLE DANCE, AERIAL, LATIN DANCE, ROCK CLIMBING, GLIDING, HIKING & MORE)
I am a pretty active person. I love pole dance, aerial arts, bouldering, hiking, mountain biking, crafting and playing beach volleyball. I’ve taken Kizomba classes, completed 3 Tough Mudders and when I travel I really like to find activities, experiences, workshops and classes that I can take that involve using my body. I love dance and movement classes but even a DIY class has me using my creativity, my hands and my mind.
Typically, I’m looking up pole dance, kizomba, aerial yoga and aerial hoop classes. From finding studios in Barcelona to Houston, there are a few notes that come to mind.
- I wish boutique movement studio websites had instructions for how out of town people with or without years of experience can sign up for their classes. In pole dance, most want you to take an intro class, even if you’ve been a dancer and teacher for years. Or you can call or email to get an exception but goddamn, I just wanna click and sign into the Sexy Striptease class.
- As I often look for pole dance classes, I get real particular. I don’t like pole studios that say pole fitness, instead of pole dance. Most are geared towards women and women aren’t the only gender in the world. So most pole dance studios are not inclusive. I mean, is your studio even Queer-friendly? And is the studio clean and nice and yummy? I love a yummy studio. (Check out the first one on my list below.)
In either case, doing my own research, when looking at what activity or workshop I might get involved with, I’ll be pulling from this list.
1. Sankalpa Collective – Pole Dance and Yoga
- Website: SankalpaCollective.com
- About: Sankalpa, got me on the aesthetics alone. Check out their gallery. Sankalpa (Sanskrit: संकल्प) means an intention formed by the heart and mind – a solemn vow, determination, or will. The Sankalpa Collective offers yoga classes, pole fitness, and a variety of movement and pole dance classes. At the time of publishing this, there is currently an active groupon for one week of yoga and pole classes for $7. Even if you’re visiting for 2 days, I’d get it ahead of time and use that awesome deal. Select classes that appeal to me:
- Pole Gymnastics
- Finding Your XXX
- Aerial Yoga Zen
- Fire Dancing (workshop)
- Flex & Float: Contortion and Hand-Balancing (workshop)
2. Zouk High – Brazilian Zouk and Sensual Bachata
- Website: ZoukHighDance.com
- About: Zouk High provides the highest quality Latin dance events and technique-driven, professional instruction to Colorado. Zouk High specializes in Brazilian Zouk and Sensual Bachata offering weekly classes, private lessons, specialty workshops, and dance conferences featuring nationally and internationally renowned artists.
3. Circus Collective – Circus, Aerial, Acro, and Dance
- Website: CircusCollective.com
- About: Circus, Aerial, Acro, Dance. Allow the strength, creativity, and passion within you to flourish at Circus Collective. They offer all types of circus classes including Aerial classes, acro yoga, handstands, gymnastics, and aerial yoga. Classes and workshops that appeal to me include:
- Exotic Aerial Dance Workshop
- Straps
- Trapeze
- Lyra
4. Rockstar Pole Fitness – Pole, Aerial, Fitness and Dance
- Website: RockStarPoleFitness.com
- About: Rediscover your badassery, become empowered, feel sexy and reveal your inner rockstar. Rockstar Pole Fitness is a pole, aerial, fitness, and dance studio, providing you with a kick-ass alternative to your everyday workouts. Classes that grab my attention include:
- Do Yo Thang (DYT), XXX style
- Pole Level 3/4, Combos and Transitions
- Heels Over Head Intermediate, Low Flow Sequences
- Rockstar Burlesque
- Sexy Sculpt & Time
- Intro to Contortion/Flexibility
5.Übergrippen – Indoor Rock Climbing
- Website: UGClimbing.com
- About: Übergrippen is 12,000 sq. ft. of climbing wall with beginner & advanced features, plus a kids’ area & yoga classes. Yoga includes acro and aerial. That’s pretty impressive, actually.
6. Tease Studio – Pole, Dance, Aerial, and Fitness
- Website: TeaseStudio.com
- About: Since 2007, Tease Studio has been offering the most unique & tempting fitness classes and progressively staying on top of the hottest trends in fitness, led by the most elite team of instructors of its kind. Specializing in pole and dance fitness, classes include beginner through professional level pole technique, team EZ heat workout, ab addict booty botox, pussycat pilates, flexibility & conditioning, cardio gogo, contemporary & classic burlesque, vixen vinyasa, stiletto, and more. Classes that appeal to me:
- Slightly Stripped
- Burlesque
- Contemporary Pole
- Skin series
- Video Vixen
- GoGo Dance (workshop)
Naughty Hour: Lap & Striptease
7. Mile High Gliding – Scenic Glider Flights
- Website: MileHighGliding.com
- About: Mile High Gliding offers scenic glider flights over Boulder, CO and the surrounding mountains.
8. Upstairs Circus – Where DIY Workshop Meets Bar
- Website: UpstairsCircus.com/Lodo
- About: Celebrate individuality, creativity, and ingenuity- together. You. Your Friends. Your Family. Your Date. You’re each your own individuals, so each of you can make whichever project YOU want. A Project Social is a designated time to gather together and make projects with friends and strangers alike. During each Project Social, circus-goers can choose to make one of our projects from our Project Menu. Projects vary in length and in difficulty as mentioned on our menu and are added to the menu seasonally. During a Project Social, patrons are given supplies, tools, space and a photo tutorial for their chosen project. Completing your project should take somewhere from 1-3 hours, depending on how much socializing you do and how many cocktails you consume. An average project with an average amount of drinking and socializing takes about 2 hours. Projects of interest include:
- Modern Jewelry Hanger
- Zen Mala Necklace
- Badass Leather Cuff
- Sassy Tassel Necklace
9. Wild Flowers – Succulent Gardening and Terrarium Classes
- Website: WildFlowersHome.com
- About: Established in 1996, Wild Flowers specializes in home accessories, unique gifts, personal bath and body products, garden fountains and statuary. Wild Flowers regularly offers succulent gardening and terrarium classes for individuals and groups at our Denver store. During your class, our friendly and knowledgeable instructors will teach you how to build your own succulent garden or terrarium and how to properly care for it. Terrariums are easy to design, low-maintenance gardens, and can last almost indefinitely with minimal water.
10. Elevation Zouk – Brazilian Zouk Festival
- Website: ElevationDenverZouk.com
- About: Elevation Zouk is North America’s biggest Brazilian Zouk Festival that takes place in Denver, Colorado! While I won’t be attending this event as it happens after my Denver trip, this is an annual trip that locals and visitors should consider!
11. Cherry Creek State Park – Hiking, Biking, Archery, and Horses!
- Website: CPW.State.CO.us
- About: About a 20-minute drive from downtown, Cherry Creek State Park is one of the largest and best-known state parks near Denver. The park is comprised of over 4,400 acres including thousands of acres of rolling grasslands and woods. Its centerpiece is an 880-acre reservoir, which supplies the city of Denver with water and year-round recreation. The park offers nearly three dozen miles of trails to keep hikers and cyclists busy but also facilitates scores of other activities that most other state parks do not. The park features a shooting/archery range, an airfield for remote-controlled planes, and an on-site stable where you can rent a horse or arrange a hayride. Camping is open year-round here. The reservoir within the park features a sandy beach and unlike other state parks, swimming is permitted. For those looking to explore the reservoir from the comfort of a watercraft, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, motorboats, and sailboats are all available for rental.
12. RastaSalsa – Salsa, Bachata, and Mambo
- Website: RastaSalsaDance.com
- About: Rasta Salsa Latin Dance offers a wide variety of instruction for all skill levels. Tom is passionate about helping each dancer achieve their highest potential, while also having as much fun as possible.
Honorable Mentions
13. Gravity Aerial Arts – Fly, climb, spin, dance & drop! Gravity Aerial Arts is a recreational to profesional aerial dance studio.
Explore these important buttons and come watch me undo my own!
Which intense activity appeals to you the most? Pole dance? Rock Climbing? Hiking? Which class would you take? Which class or workshop do you think I will sign up for?
As mentioned, I’m traveling to Denver, Colorado as part of my burlesque tour to perform in three shows. (SlutChurch, Do Both and Conspiracy Circus). In addition to being meticulous about how I pack my burlesque tour bag using my travel checklist, I’m also researching and preplanning my bleisure trip to have the most blissful and curious adventure. My googling and polling has led to a mini travel series, “Burlesque Adventures – Denver, Colorado.” Upcoming articles include Active Experiences, Geeky Experiences, along with some Special Mentions. If you enjoy sensual, erotic, and subversive travel, I hope you enjoy my curated lists and suggested itineraries!