Ferndale’s Aerial Studio builds confidence and community
Founded in 2015, Daniella Baker’s Pole Playground isn’t just a studio; it offers a safe, inclusive space where people of all backgrounds explore pole, silks, and hoop and reclaim their bodies.
Daniella Baker has been operating Pole Playground in Ferndale for almost nine years and still finds it all incredibly emotional to see her students go through their journeys.
It’s not just fitness or performance for her; it’s about healing, it’s about evolution, and it’s about reclaiming your space in your own body, she said.
“I wanted to create a safe space where people could evolve, challenge themselves, and be celebrated,” Baker said. With her roots in aerial acrobatics, she opened the studio in 2015 with the mission of as many people as possible being able to do aerial sports in any capacity.
Pole Playground has classes in pole, silks, hoop, flexibility, and exotic dance. But something that sets them apart is their emphasis on community and emotional safety. “We have created a space where people feel seen and supported,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what you look like or how strong you are; it is about committing to yourself.”
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That approach underpins everything that they do and how they do all things at Pole Playground. They keep classes smaller and more intimate, and each instructor is trained to help each person support their own pace. Events and workshops are built around community and joy, rather than competition, and again, they do several ‘Pole for a Purpose’ fundraisers to use dance as a vehicle for social change.
Baker’s greatest joy is not the perfected moves or completed routines, but the development of people. “I’ve seen people come in with their head down and leave with their head still up literally and verbatim,” she explained. “Watching someone cry after climbing the pole or landing their first spin never gets old.”
Operating a small business is no easy task. “Especially through the pandemic. I get up every day because I am inspired by the stories of my students. The way that we care for one another is what reminds me of why I do this.”
Baker hopes to expand by offering more workshops while also keeping that same spirit moving forward. “If one person feels empowered and more comfortable in their body because of Pole Playground, then I have already done my job.”
Pole Playground is not simply a studio; it is a community-driven sanctuary in the sky.
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