If you are a woman, you NEED to walk through Femme Fatale’s doors! I’ll admit, it’s intimidating at first, but that first night when you leave, you will feel more confident and beautiful than you ever have. The women that train here are some of the most supportive and uplifting people you will ever meet… and yes, I said women! You will leave with so many laughs, memories, stunning pictures, and great friendships. I waited five years before I finally got the guts to take a class, and now I can’t even imagine life without Femme Fatale! Sign up! You won’t regret it!

I joined intro to burlesque on a whim in 2016, and have never looked back. Burlesque has totally changed how I see my body, made me think more creatively, and given me the most incredible confidence boost on stage and off. The support system at Femme Fatale is so solid, whether I’m nailing a trick for the first time or need a boost to get up and try again on a rough day.

I have been with Femme Fatale for only 7 months and in those 7 months I have built my strength, built my confidence, made so many new friends, and have found new passions I never would’ve thought I would love. It all started with an open class and even though I was new everyone made me comfortable and included. I love Femme Fatale!!

I have never been one to just go lift weights and run on a treadmill. I need variety and to engage my brain. Femme has this in spades. Dance, aerials, kickboxing, piyo. I can change things up every week. Beyond the workout, it is also a great community! I worried being a plus size girl I would get laughed at and judged for flailing around in the silks. Instead I got a group of encouraging ladies who are just excited for anything you manage to achieve. Come for the workout, stay for the community.

I joined Femme Fatale in 2014 after trying an aerial teaser class that a friend of mine begged me to try. I’ve always been active and at the time was actively involved with CrossFit. Femme Fatale offered a new activity for me to try that was unique and I was very curious about. I started taking aerial classes and very quickly got hooked. One of the best parts of Femme Fatale is the community and support system. I quickly learned how supportive every other member was. Everyone cheered for each other when they broke through a plateau. Everyone was positive and uplifting in class. The classes are amazing, fun, and challenging….but the incredible supportive community is what makes Femme Fatale so special. Through this incredible positive and supportive community, I felt safe enough to let myself dance freely and try multiple different apparatuses and dance styles. I let myself take pole dancing, enjoy it, and share it with the world. I would have never been brave enough to try pole dancing, wear tiny pole shorts, or let myself dance so freely without the support of the staff and other members. Before joining Femme Fatale, I thought that CrossFit had an incredible supportive community, but that was nothing compared to what I would experience at Femme Fatale over almost the next 5 years.

Before coming to Femme Fatale I struggled with getting into a consistent workout routine. I could never find a workout that that kept me excited about going to the gym every day. Then I started at Femme Fatale and rediscovered my secret, childhood dream to be in the circus. Now I look forward to class every day, and nearly always walk out feeling better than when I walked in. I love the changes I’ve been able to make to myself over the last few years with the help and support of this awesome community, and it’s an amazing feeling to be continually reaching my goals, only to set new ones!

I had a friend ask me repeatedly to try a class at Femme with her but would not agree to buy the Groupon til after a few drinks one night. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I had only been living in Dayton for about 6 months at the time and had struggled to make friends and feel at home. The studio changed all that. I lost 25lbs when I first started and finally came out of a pretty long bout of depression. The friends I’ve made at the studio are some of the most supportive people I’ve met. The workouts are awesome but the people and the community of the studio are what set it apart from all other gyms. Since joining Femme I’ve done dinners with other femmes, run obstacle course races, mud runs, 5ks, and boxed with friends I made at the studio. These women will encourage and support you in class and in your life outside the studio. The first time I got my “X” I asked another girl in the class to be ready to grab her camera “just in case”. She grabbed her phone before I even started. She had more faith in my ability than I did.

I started at Femme Fatale in August of 2017 knowing that I wanted to do burlesque and give the apparatuses a try. Burlesque is a quick way to challenge your inner thoughts about body image and what a ‘woman’ is. I know for myself I have dealt with body issues since I was 8 and having a young daughter I wanted to be (or at least fake) a woman comfortable with her own skin, confident, and strong. What I didn’t expect is the amount of growth mentally, physically, and emotionally. As I kept coming and getting out of my comfort zone other people noticed my growth in confidence, my growth in strength, and my ability to push myself even when I wanted to quit. My daughter took a quick interest in what I was doing as I shared videos of things I had learned from that week. Before you know it I purchased a yoga trapeze and was showing her how to invert and V kick. She enrolled in ballet and I have had the pleasure to help her at home because of Femme. She takes gymnastics and we do yoga and stretches to improve her flexibility. Femme doesn’t just grown on you; it becomes a part of you. You take the strength, attitude, and will with you everyday. It has been almost 2 years since I joined and not only have I become the role model I wanted for my daughter but she has embodied that same strength, attitude, and will. She is more daring with her activities and has repeatedly asked for a Lyra at home so she can ‘fly’ too. There is a whole tribe of women my daughter looks up too. She has not met a lot of them, but she sees them conquering tricks, performing routines and she wants to be them. They say it takes a village to raise a child and this village has done an awesome job in empowering my daughter. For that, I am forever thankful and grateful that I woke up one day and was like “oh Burlesque seems like fun.”

I have spent so much money at traditional gyms, often not stepping foot in the building for months on end, because working out was something I honestly hated doing. It was so boring! I walked in to Femme Fatale on a whim and signed up for my first open class, Sassy Silks. Femme Fatale is my favorite place to be and you can catch me there 3-4 times a week. The instructors are so awesome – patient, knowledgeable, and passionate. I’ve gained so much strength, flexibility, endurance, and confidence since starting at Femme Fatale. I’m so grateful for this organization and its community of kick ass women.