Samantha Jo
Samantha Jo is an aerial dance performer and choreographer who grew up dancing in St. Louis and has been training aerial silks since 2014. Her disciplines include silks, sling, dance, and trapeze, although she has also performed acro, lyra, and rope.
Samantha first learned about aerial silks when she happened upon a performance in 2013 during a year living in Southeast Asia. She immediately swooned at the idea of dancing off the ground like birds. She began training aerial silks in 2014 with Lilly Steele in St. Louis, and moved to Kansas City shortly thereafter, where she continued her training at Kansas City Aerial Arts (formerly Lucia Aerial Performing Arts). In her seven years there, she grew to become a Silks Coach, then Head Silks Coach, Marketing Director, as well as member of Aerheart KC Circus Company. Samantha is grateful to have trained silks under Georgeanna Layton, Juan Hernandez, Terry Beeman, Jenn Bruyer, and Elise Southwick, as well as to have trained trapeze under Kelsey Aicher.
As a choreographer for both student and professional company shows (such as Masked! A Superhero Love Story, The Spaces Between, and n0rmal), Samantha feels like she’s just getting started. The creations she’s most proud of include a six-person-three-silks battle scene, a rope/dance ensemble intro number about heartbreak, a sling duet with a mirror and a monster mask, and an acro dance trio co-choreographed alongside the acrobatic skills of Kelsey Aicher. Samantha continues to experiment through her choreography, with plans to write her own show in the future. Currently, Sam is refining her dance skills by training with KC Contemporary Dance and Kansas City Dance Collective, with plans to refine her singing voice in the future.
Disciplines: Aerial, Dance, Character
