Rachel Nehmer was introduced to circus arts at French Woods Festival in 1995. Despite her honest attempt to become a normal person, earning her BS in Biology at Haverford College and taking a job in research at UW, she couldn’t stay away for long. In 2004, she joined Lara Paxton’s aerial ensemble The Aerialistas. Not long after she began working with her now-husband Ben Wendel to form a trapeze duet. Known as Duo Madrona, Rachel and Ben have performed thousands of shows all over the world. A few highlights include the famed Cirque de Demain Festival in Paris, a 57-village tour of Switzerland with Circus Monti, and over a decade of dinner show productions with Teatro Zinzanni. Rachel has also created solo work in collaboration with Acrobatic Conundrum, performing single point trapeze in Volume 6 and Rising Sideways. Rachel’s coaching experience includes many workshops and classes over the years at various studios and schools in the region. At SANCA, she taught aerial acrobatics for the professional prep program from 2016-2019 and directed the Cirrus Circus youth company in 2016-7. In addition, she is a certified personal trainer through NASM and a Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist. She is so happy to bring her passion for trapeze, duo work, and fitness to VA!