Straps & Rope Intensive Retreat
Momentum Meets Chango!
with Yiaki
Casa Chango Mexico, Puerto Escondido
August 23 – 30, 2025
50% BIPOC Scholarship Available. Apply here by June 1.
Train both straps AND rope with Yiaki for a whole week in paradise!
STRAPS!
We’ll explore training straps with safety and proper methodology, in a way that supports a healthy evolution of our body. Straps are one of the most demanding aerial disciplines, and they can often become a key to growth for those who already train on other aerial apparatuses but feel like they’ve hit a plateau. More importantly, straps teach you a whole new way of thinking and training—with patience and structure. They require solid preparation and time. You need to allow yourself the time to understand, so that eventually your body can respond with the strength and precision needed to execute challenging and complex movements. For sure, one week is not enough. That’s why we will focus on how to program our training better, more efficiently, and safely, so you can continue your practice when you get back home.
ROPE!
Rope won me over from the very beginning with the sense of freedom it offers in movement. You can release, catch, spin, climb, roll up, roll down, slide… The possibilities are endless. In this intensive, aside from focusing on some important tricks and techniques, we’ll also dive into the flow of movement. We’ll explore how to create momentum even while already in a position, and how essential it is to give each movement its own time—without rushing ahead or losing presence. If your mind jumps three steps ahead, you’ll miss the first one — but we still want to keep the movement going, without breaking the flow. All of this will happen without pressure, but with joy and musicality. Our goal will be to create a small choreography by the end of the retreat. If it comes together—amazing! If not, it will be a work in progress to take home with you.
Classes
Morning classes (Straps) include preparation, static technique, technical training for skills, transitions, dynamic technique and spinning to advance your training. Your teachers will also give you drills to take home to work towards continuous and efficient progress.
Afternoon classes (Rope) include important techniques like roll up, spinning technique, technical training for skills and dynamic technique. Choreo classes will focus on timing, -dynamic- combos and musicality. Students who are interested in making an act can start the process on this retreat.
Open gym is available outside of class times so students can practice and play on any apparatus.
The rest of your time will be spent eating delicious food, swimming in the pool, lounging in hammocks, and enjoying being in nature. There will be time to explore local markets and beaches as well as the local night life.
BIPOC Scholarship Available.
Daily Schedule Sample:
Everything is optional.
- 7:30-9:30 am: Coffee, Tea and Breakfast
- 10am-12:30pm: Warm up and Straps Class
- 1pm: Lunch
- 2-4:30pm: Pool-time, siesta, relaxing
- 3:30pm: Afternoon Treats & Ice Coffee
- 4:30-7pm: Rope Class
- 7pm Dinner
- 8-10pm Evening activities and open gym / aerial jam
We will take you to our favorite beaches for swimming, surfing, snorkeling, and releasing baby turtles into the sea. Optional evening adventures include a bioluminescent lagoon & local night market.
Read more about our excursions here.
Prerequisites
You should have some previous experience with each apparatus under your belt. It can be ugly and messy. If you only have experience with one apparatus, that might be okay too. If you are not sure if you are the right fit, reach out to bakiriaki@gmail.com
- Previous experience with aerial acrobatics
- Previous experience with dynamic technique: front and back beats, side beats
- Able to invert multiple times in the air
- Familiar with hooks and flexi cat (skin the cat)
Your coach: Yiaki
Yiaki (Kiriaki Baili) spent her early childhood in Germany before moving to Athens, Greece, where she still lives today. She has been practicing aerial acrobatics for over ten years. Specializing in straps and rope, she enjoys exploring dynamic movements in the air. She focuses on proper strength training and static technique to gain better control of her body and by combining the above she aims to feel weightless.
Having taught numerous workshops across Greece and abroad (including Argentina, Uruguay, Thailand, Spain, Austria, United Kingdom, Turkey, Germany), she shares her passion for aerial acrobatics and dynamic transitions in the air. Additionally, she has organized Straps and Rope Intensive Retreats in Costa Rica and Turkey.
In 2022, she opened her own studio in Athens, Momentum Aerial Acrobatics. As a performer, she has participated in numerous events and festivals in Greece and has directed the annual performances of Momentum Aerial Acrobatics. Her video “Aerial Straps – Bageion” was featured in the SESC São Paulo International Circus Festival 2021 in Brazil, the Athens Video Dance Festival 2022, and other events.
Find Yiaki on Instagram @yiaki_.
What’s included:
- Ground transportation to/from the Puerto Escondido Airport (PXM) to our accommodations*
- August 23 – 30, 2025. Arrive on August 23. Depart on August 30.
- Accommodations for the duration of the retreat
- Daily meals – breakfast, lunch, dinner, & desserts and treats!
- 2 daily classes
- Aerial photoshoot (with up to 15 photos)
- Trips to a local beaches and night market
- 24 hour use of swimming pool and community space
- Evening Jacuzzi soaks
- Starlink Wifi Internet
Retreat Pricing in USD
Early Bird Price available until June 1, 2025!
| Room | Early Bird Price | Full Price |
| Shared Dorm (up to 4 people) | $2000 | $2300 |
| Shared room w shared bathroom (1 king size or 2 individual beds) booking with a friend | $2200 | $2500 |
| Shared room w private bathroom (1 king size or 2 individual beds) booking with a friend | $2300 | $2600 |
| Private room with shared bathroom | $2500 | $2800 |
| Private room w private bathroom | $2800 | $3100 |
| Private room w private bathroom & air conditioning | $3100 | $3400 |
$500 Deposit is required to secure your spot.
Early bird price ends June 1.
Full tuition is due by one month before the first day of the retreat.
Rates refer to cost of one person’s tuition.
Couples must sign up together.
Significant others and friends who are not taking classes are welcome at a special price.
Dorms are mixed gender.
Click here for room descriptions.
Need a payment plan? Email us at SweetRetreatsMexico@gmail.com and we will set that up for you.
Deals and Discounts
- Book and pay before June 1, 2025 and save $300!
- Refer a friend to any of our retreats and save $100 with our referral discount.*
50% BIPOC scholarship available.
Links for more information:
- Accommodations
- Meals and Food
- Getting Here – Travel Advice
- Weather in Puerto Escondido
- Testimonials
- Excursions
- Registration FAQ’s
Email SweetRetreatsMexico@gmail.com with any questions.
ECO RETREAT CENTER
Casa Chango is an Eco Retreat Center. We do our best to live in harmony with the natural world. We are off grid, and use 100% solar power. We have dry composting toilets and use the humanure and food waste to create soil to feed the amazing plants and trees all around the property. We ask all of our staff and guests to come with the mindset of learning about and respecting nature. The gray water from our sinks and showers filter out to water the plants. Therefore we ask you to bring natural shampoos, conditioners, and toothpaste to your retreat. All of our buildings were designed and built to be cool and comfortable, and we hope you enjoy your stay with us.
Casa Chango is an animal friendly place. There are several friendly animals on site including dogs and cats. They will not enter your rooms, but they will be on property and in common areas during your retreat. Animal lovers will be in their happy place.
Native insects live in this area of Mexico. We fumigate regularly to keep insects away and out of your rooms. We also acknowledge that the insects are an important part of keeping nature in balance. Most of the community spaces at Casa Chango, including the gym, dining area, pool, lounge are open air which means there are no walls. You can expect to see a variety of native insects, birds, and lizards during your visit. We hope you enjoy the experience of living more connected to nature.
*Food service begins with lunch on arrival day and ends with breakfast on departure day. All meals, snacks, and desserts are provided. The food is amazing!
*Your taxi to/from the PXM airport is included if you arrive/depart on designated days. Click here for info about getting to Puerto Escondido.
*Referrals must be first time retreaters and not already have had communication or a relationship with Sweet Retreats.
Cancellation Policy:
- No Refunds.
- Deposits are non-refundable and non-transferrable.
- Cancel more than 60 days before 1st day of retreat: 50% of your tuition paid can transfer toward a future Sweet Retreat within 18 months of cancellation.
- Cancel 30-60 days before the 1st day of retreat: 25% of your tuition paid can transfer toward a future Sweet Retreat within 18 months of cancellation.
- Cancellations up to 30 days before the 1st day of the retreat will not be credited or refunded for any reason.
- At the time of payment for your retreat, we strongly advise purchasing a travel insurance policy. Make sure your policy covers the full cost of the retreat fee, as well as unexpected cancellation, trip delay, losses and other risks. Also, consider protection for canceled or delayed flights, lost luggage, medical needs while traveling. Please bring the policy with you in case of emergency. Click here for IM Global Insurance. Click here for WanderWell Insurance.
- See complete list of terms and conditions here.
Aerial Fit For Life Retreat Aerial Fit For Life Retreat Aerial Fit For Life Retreat Aerial Fit For Life Retreat Aerial Fit For Life Retreat Aerial Fit For Life Retreat