About
SKYBODY™ is the vision of its founder, Fran Sperling, a certified personal trainer for more than two decades and an accomplished professional aerialist. Fran studied theater and dance before taking to the air as an aerialist and acrobat, and she drew on both her extensive fitness training and varied experiences as a performer to create the SKYBODY SYSTEM™ AERIAL PROGRAM, a unique fusion of fitness and aerial artistry designed to empower students as they sculpt their bodies and expand their minds.
Here’s what Fran says:
“When you ‘take to the air’ on a rope, silk, or trapeze, it takes more than just physical effort. You learn to focus in the moment, to connect your body and mind to orient yourself in space. You need to understand where you are.
My goal is to inspire my students to climb as high as they can in their lives and spirit. Performers know that what they do must seem effortless. I want to give my students that same experience, to teach them that the hard work of becoming fit and strong in mind and body can feel effortless when it is beautiful and playful.
Becoming fit should feel good, should be empowering, uplifting—even addictive!—and most important, it should always be full of amazing surprises! It should take you to a place where you can learn about yourself, over and over again.”
FRAN SPERLING is a Certified Personal Trainer of 22 years, an ISHTA Certified Yoga Instructor, a Thai Massage Therapist, and an accomplished Professional Aerial Performer, Acrobat, and Aerial Instructor. Over the years Fran has studied with the Cirque du Soliel performers Juliana Neves, Aloysia Gavre, and Serenity and Elsie Smith; with the San Francisco Circus School; and with Terry Beeman, Kevin O’Conner, Chelsea Bacon, Tanya Gagne, and the beloved Irina Gold.
Fran has performed locally and internationally as an accomplished aerialist and acrobat. Some of her performances include the David Letterman show, Alessandra Belloni’s Tarantella-Spider Dance, Lincoln Center Out-of Doors, The Little Orchestra Society, Chezzam Entertainment, Big Apple Circus To GO, MTV, Zampirla Circus, Streb, Above the Belt, International Zircus Festival, Circus Sunday’s in June, Bindlestiff Circus, and the NY Theatre Ballet.
Reebok Sports Club NY, the prestigious fitness club near Lincoln Center, was the first facility to bring Fran's Skybody System programming on board. It was there that she further developed her fitness aerial fusion concept, offering a stunning visual element to the Club, as well as an effective,new, empowerirng training experience. It drew acolades from the press.
