By: Hannah Frazier 

   While some sixth graders spend their free time going to the movies, Penelope Sitzler and Lola Bellavia are dancing through the air! These two girls have been practicing aerial arts together for almost two years. 

   Lola discovered her love for aerial on a family vacation to California where she took a parkour and aerial class. When she got home, she found a studio in Arizona called Vertical Fix Circus Arts where she pursued aerial arts and asked her friend Penelope to join her. 

   Penelope says, “Lola did dance for seven years and I did contortion for six years.” This explains Penelope and Lola’s natural liking for aerial arts.

   The girls put in the hours to achieve their goals with two to three hour classes almost every day of the week. Lola says she loves “sequences and getting to experiment and create routines.” 

   Penelope says her favorite part of doing aerial arts is “definitely not the burns and bruises, but the passion that everyone in our gym puts into their art.”

   Check out an exclusive video of Penelope and Lola performing a routine on Instagram @tpaknightlife.