OUR BEGINNINGS WERE HUMBLE

Black Box Creative was founded by myself, Shelbi Aiona, in 2020. It all began as a way to meet a need I felt in our local community. I knew we needed a space to feel safe, emboldened and empowered to move, learn, and create together. Black Box Creative is that space! Through community support, donations, and good ol fashioned hard work, our studio grew to the spectacular sanctuary and neon dreamscape it is now.

Our space is regularly described by our community members as "Welcoming", “A long-needed part of the community”, "Diverse", "Unique", "Empowering", and "My favorite part of my day". We're doing exactly what we set out to do, and could not be more grateful for our community having our back. 

Black Box Creative is a versatile, collaborative, and diverse space bringing a selection of pole, dance, movement, and fitness classes, as well as a boutique of artisan apparel and crafts to Austin's creative community. We aim to amplify and employ local POC and LGBTQ+ instructors and creators by providing a safe space to teach, learn, create, and sell their wares. In doing so, we offer a one-of-a-kind experience to our community of students and artists.

THE crew

Shelbi

Lead instructor and studio owner

Since moving here, Shelbi has been a fixture in the Austin pole community for over 8 years. She's been fortunate enough to learn from and work with artists such as Boner Bizarre, Velvet nox, Twisted Movement, Butter & Filth, and United Pole Artists, and Snoop Dogg as well as teaching at nearly every studio in Austin. Creating art, teaching, performing, and competing throughout the state has allowed her to hone her craft and become the founder, CEO, and lead instructor at Black Box Creative. She’s got a signature style that is both sludgy and slinky while being heavy and weightless. She is ghastly, hedonistic, and here to hypnotize! As an instructor, she aims to guide students safely through all levels of movement and stylization. 

Zoja Exotica is a queer pole dancer, aerialist, burlesque performer, and event producer! They are the co-founder of Austin's erotic variety show Boner Bizarre as well as our studio manager! They love to teach their signature classes Hard Style and Power Flow. They're also an acro chair expert and enjoy applying pole moves to Chairography! When they're not dancing you can catch them shooting video for Optic Onslaught in collaboration with Shelbi or producing content for their naughty endeavor, Filthy Southern Queers!

Villanelle is a pole dance instructor and pole performer with a teaching philosophy focused on inclusivity, body positivity, and using movement to help realize one's personal power. If you want to get strong as hell while giving the middle finger to patriarchal beauty standards, Villanelle is your girl.

Jacki Moon is a queer Austin-based pole and yoga instructor.She loves the bendy and flexy shapes of pole, and encourages her students to stretch regularly! When Jacki is not stretching or on the pole, she is writing or teaching writing.

Raven is a long time pole dance instructor and physiology enthusiast! Teaching level 1 pole is her absolute joy because she believes a solid foundation makes a strong lifelong pole dancer. Not to mention she enjoys watching the friendships her students make with each other as they join the poll scene. You can catch her Tuesdays for class or occasionally performing burlesque around town.

Deanna holds a Dance degree from ACC and has been pole dancing for 3 years. She choreographs for her classes as well as for film and music videos. She prefers flowy, sensual movement, especially in 8 inch heels. When Deanna is not dancing professionally, she’s dancing recreationally with friends or reading by the pool with her beloved cat.

When you dive into something like pole dancing as an adult, what’s one thing that keeps you going? That’s right: pure passion! Anastasia has spent many years training with the best in New York City, bruising, slipping and sliding, and wondering, "When are those splits going to happen?!". She is heavily influenced by Russian style pole and it brings her such joy to share this style with others!

Elle is a queer artist, community builder, and pole dance instructor in Austin. With three years of pole dancing experience and a BA in Theater and Dance, Elle brings a rich blend of artistic insight and technical expertise to their teaching. Elle is passionate about empowering students to discover their own unique movement styles, broaden their creative scope, and hone performance skills through character exploration and a damn good time.

María has been teaching movement classes in Austin since 2021 with the goal of making dance accessible, inclusive, and fun AF. She’s always had a passion for radical self love, building confidence, and body acceptance. From heels, hip-hop, floorwork, to shaking ass and everything in between, she aims to show that dance is for anyone and everyone because all bodies are beautiful, capable, and powerful.