Voler: Thieves of Flight

Voler — Thieves of Flight is an aerial acrobatics studio and performance ensemble in a converted church at 556 Lowell Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, just south of Sixth and Central. It runs the Voler Aerial Academy — weekly classes and workshops in aerial silks, hammock, lyra, straps, static trapeze, hand balancing and acroyoga — alongside a booked performance company, and describes itself as Kansas City’s first aerial studio, with fifteen-plus years behind it. Owner and director of performance is Rachel McMeachin.

Description

Voler — Thieves of Flight operates from a former church building on Lowell Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, which the studio calls its “Aerial Church” and has rigged for aerial work.¹² The business runs on two legs. The first is Voler Aerial Academy, the teaching side: weekly scheduled classes booked online, one-time intensives taught by staff or visiting instructors, and private lessons.² Named class formats include acroyoga, handstand clinics, partnered acrobatics, and circus circuit fitness.¹ The second is the performance ensemble, a professional troupe booked for benefits, fashion shows, private parties, art openings, variety shows, concerts, business expos and corporate events, either as individual aerialists or as the full group.³

Apparatus and disciplines taught and performed include aerial silks (also called fabrics or tissu), aerial hammock, lyra (hoop), aerial ringlet or mini lyra, straps, static trapeze, rope loop, aerial swings, a “cloud hammock” the studio describes as unique to Voler, hand balancing, acroyoga, aerial yoga, flexibility work, and modern and contemporary dance.¹⁴ Individual company members also list circus specialties including fire spinning and fire breathing, bull whip, bed of nails, broken-glass walking, living statues and body balancing.¹³

The studio also books private parties for groups of up to twenty — birthdays, bachelor and bachelorette parties, team-building and city outings.¹

Goods and services

• Weekly aerial classes — reserved online through the studio’s schedule²
• Workshops and one-time intensives — taught by Voler staff or visiting instructors¹²
• Private lessons — booked by phone or email, designed per student²
• Acroyoga, handstand clinics, partnered acrobatics, circus circuit fitness¹
• Class-pass bundles with discounts¹
• Private parties and group events — up to 20 people¹
• Professional performance booking — ambient characters, short pieces, full-length themed shows; circus, burlesque, futuristic, classical and character-based themes; custom themes on request³
• Vol-Lab — a separately navigated program on the site “ — not described on any page read this pass

History

Voler describes itself as Kansas City’s premier aerial academy and performance ensemble, an “edgy and experimental collaboration of aerial dance and acrobatics” made up of performing artists from the Kansas City area.⁴ It states more than fifteen years of operation as of 2026, which places its start around 2010, though a heading elsewhere on the same page claims seventeen years; no founding year is published and the two figures are not reconciled here.¹ The Kansas City Kansas visitor bureau and the ArtsKC directory both list the organization at the Lowell Avenue address.⁵

Rachel McMeachin is the owner and director of performance and the lead aerial silks and acroyoga instructor; the press packet describes her as specializing in bull whip, bed of nails and fire movement in addition to aerial work.¹³ Named company members in the press packet include Jade Osborne — whose credits list Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, Quixotic Fusion, City in Motion and Beribazu Capoeira, with performances in eleven countries — Anya Shevelyuk, who moved to Kansas City to train with the Kansas City Ballet before turning to circus, and Nichole Raab.³

The studio’s stated mission is “to demonstrate the beauty of movement that is inspired by various acrobatic, athletic, dance and performance backgrounds.”³

Sources

Links

• Website: https://thievesofflight.com/
• About: https://thievesofflight.com/about/
• Classes: https://thievesofflight.com/classes/
• Contact: https://thievesofflight.com/contact/
• Press packet: https://thievesofflight.com/media/press-tech-packets/press-packet/
• Facebook (performance): https://www.facebook.com/VolerAerial/
• Facebook (academy): https://www.facebook.com/Voler.TheivesOfFlight/
• ArtsKC listing: https://artskcgo.com/organization/voler-thieves-of-flight/

Footnotes

1. Voler — Thieves of Flight — official site, home page — asserts: address 556 Lowell Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101; phone (816) 668-6292; email aerialfabrics@gmail.com; “Voler – Thieves of Flight have been Kansas City’s hometown aerialists for 15 years”; a separate heading on the same page reads “17 Years Of Amazing Feats of Beauty and Strength”; described as Kansas City’s Premier Aerial Academy and Aerial Performance Ensemble; “Our Urban Church is outfitted for a unique and fun aerial experience”; class types including acroyoga, handstand clinics, partnered acrobatics, circus circuit fitness and visiting-artist workshops; private parties for groups up to 20; discounts on class-pass bundles; instructor listing naming Rachel McMeachin as OWNER / DIRECTOR OF PERFORMANCE and lead aerial silks / acroyoga instructor, and Carolyn Fisher as secondary aerial silks instructor. (Retrieved by direct fetch 2026-08-14.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

2. Voler — Thieves of Flight — Classes page — asserts: Voler Aerial Academy branding for the teaching arm; ongoing weekly classes reserved online; special one-time intensives taught by visiting instructors or Voler staff; private lessons booked by phone or email; studio located at 556 Lowell, Kansas City, KS 66101, “just south of 6th and Central Avenue, near downtown Kansas City, KS.” (Retrieved by direct fetch 2026-08-14.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Voler — Thieves of Flight — Press Packet — asserts: mission statement; described as a fully insured professional performance group licensed as part of a certified national insurance organization; performances require 12-foot-plus ceiling height; booking for benefits, fashion shows, private parties, art openings, variety shows, live concerts and business expos; themed shows in circus, burlesque, futuristic, classical and character styles; pricing from $400 for short pieces and ambient characters and $2,000 and up for full-length shows, with nonprofit discounts; company-member biographies for Rachel McMeachin (lead aerial instructor; bull whip, bed of nails, fire movement), Jade Osborne (credits including Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, Quixotic Fusion, City in Motion, Beribazu Capoeira; international performances), Anya Shevelyuk (moved to Kansas City to train with KC Ballet before turning to circus), and Nichole Raab. (Retrieved by direct fetch 2026-08-14.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. Voler — Thieves of Flight — About page — asserts: “over 15 years experience”; self-description as an edgy and experimental collaboration of aerial dance and acrobatics comprised of performing artists from the Kansas City area; full apparatus and discipline list including aerial silks, hammock, lyra, mini lyra/ringlet, straps, static trapeze, rope loop, aerial swings, cloud hammock (described as unique to Voler), hand balancing, acroyoga, aerial yoga, flexibility, modern and contemporary dance. (Retrieved by direct fetch 2026-08-14.) ↩ ↩²

5. Visit Kansas City, Kansas — listing, Voler - Thieves of Flight — asserts: third-party civic listing of the business in Kansas City, Kansas. Companion arts-sector directory listing: ArtsKC Go — artskcgo.com. These are the only non-self-published instruments located this pass; both are directory listings rather than reporting. (Surfaced via search 2026-08-14; not fetched directly.) ↩