Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Finley.
Hi Kate, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Performing arts and working with people have been part of my life for a long time. Before aerial, I spent a decade as a figure skating coach, and then about 15 years as a pediatric nurse. Eventually, aerial became the place where so many of those parts of my life came together.
Lava City Cirque really started with my aerial silks students.
I had been coaching aerial and helping grow a youth program in Bend for years, and eventually my students started competing around the country. It became really obvious that they had outgrown the space we were training in. They needed taller ceilings, more room, and safety measures if they were going to be competitive with what we were seeing at competitions. I realized that if I wanted to give them that, I was probably going to have to create it myself.
The beginning was honestly terrifying. I coached my team out of my backyard on a portable aerial rig while I searched for a building with ceilings high enough for aerial. There aren’t a lot of those spaces in Bend, and we had several possibilities fall through.
Then I found our current building almost by accident. The listing had terrible photos and people kept telling me the ceilings weren’t high enough, but I went to see it anyway. I walked in, looked up, and knew we’d found our home.
What started as a place for my competition team has grown into something much bigger. Now we have kids and adults, recreational students and competitive athletes, performers, acrobats, flow artists, and people who just want to try something completely new. We’ve watched students go from their first aerial class to competing with aerialists from around the world, and we’ve had athletes earn national championship titles. Watching how far they’ve come has been pretty incredible. They’re so strong and so kind; really a lovely bunch of humans. I want to be like them when I grow up.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been smooth sailing. In the beginning, I think I underestimated just how many jobs come with owning a small business. I’m the owner and lead instructor, but I’m also the marketer, bookkeeper, event planner, and janitor. I’m also a homeschooling mom, so there really isn’t much separation between work and life. My kids have grown up around aerial, competitions, and performances, and my family has been part of this journey from the very beginning.
I’ve also had experiences where I wasn’t taken seriously as a business owner. I’ve had people question my decisions or assume I needed someone else’s approval before making them. That’s been frustrating, but it’s also made me more determined to trust myself and keep building what I know this studio can be.
Probably the biggest thing I’ve learned is that you don’t have to know exactly what you’re doing before you start. You figure out a lot of it along the way. When something doesn’t go to plan, I usually like to say “plot twist!” in my head and figure out what to do next. I’ve learned that I just have to keep showing up, pivot and adjust when I need to, and keep going. Life has a funny way of giving us all little learning opportunities and everyday’s a school day!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Today I’m a performer, coach, choreographer, and studio owner. We have students who compete around the country, but we also have people walking through the door who have never touched an aerial apparatus in their lives.
One thing I say in class all the time is, “Find a moment.” Meaning, don’t just rush from one trick to the next. Slow down. Find the part that feels interesting, weird, beautiful, dramatic, or completely your own. That’s the art of circus. You are the art.
I’ve also realized how many adults are looking for a place where they can learn and challenge themselves without feeling like they have to prove anything first. Sometimes, I hear people say, “I need to get stronger before I try aerial.” You don’t. You don’t get strong and then start aerial. You get stronger by doing it. Sometimes the hardest part really is just showing up.
I’m most proud of the community we’ve created. Some of my favorite moments have nothing to do with medals. It’s someone finally getting their first invert after working on it forever, someone who never thought they were athletic or creative performing in a recital, or someone who was nervous and shy when they walked in eventually finding their people here.
We’ve been able to take that outside the studio too. We perform at markets, festivals, nonprofit galas, and community events throughout Central Oregon with aerialists, unicyclists, stilt walkers, costumed characters, and flow artists. Giving performers opportunities to share what they’ve created with a real audience is one of my favorite parts of what we do. I also love introducing people to circus arts who may have only ever seen something like it on TV or at a concert. We make it tangible. We host jams for the local acro and flow arts communities too, so the studio has become a gathering place for more than just aerialists.
As someone of mixed Filipino heritage, creating a space where different people and different ways of expressing themselves are welcomed is meaningful to me. Circus doesn’t have to look one particular way. I think that’s ultimately what sets us apart. We never forget the diversity in circus arts. There isn’t one right way to move, one right body for aerial, or one timeline for learning. Progress isn’t linear, it ebbs and flows, and that is beautiful.
Any big plans?
I want to keep growing the circus arts community in Central Oregon, not just grow Lava City Cirque.
We recently started offering aerial yoga, and we’re expanding our workshops to give people more ways to experience circus and movement arts. I also want to keep getting our performers out into the community. Every time we perform at a market, festival, gala, or other event, we get to introduce a whole new group of people to what we do.
I’m really excited to keep growing the Oregon Aerial Festival too. Our first event was April of 2026 and it was a blast! It brings performers, coaches, and students together from across the region, and our next festival will be January 15–17, 2027, in Portland. Anyone is welcome! We’re a fun, weird, and artistically beautiful community that is just getting started!
Mostly, I just want to keep creating opportunities for people to experience circus, whether that means competing, performing, learning a new skill, or walking through our doors for the first time. We started because I wanted more for my students, but it became something much bigger than I ever imagined. And honestly, I love that for us!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lavacitycirque.com
- Instagram: @lavacitycirque
- Other: https://www.oregonaerialfest.com
