Colleen Patton
Staff Member
After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia with her teaching degree, Colleen Marie (Coco) taught for 6 years at various schools and then decided to quit her “day job” and follow her passion—dance! With over 30 years of experience in multiple styles of dance, it was a natural decision for her.
Little did she know it would bring her to the aerial world where she would discover an even stronger passion—the challenge of dancing in the air! With the level of difficulty of her new-found love, Colleen Marie sought out top-rated instruction in St. Louis, Chicago, Texas, Vermont, and even as far as the Dominican Republic.
She obtained her coaching certification in silks from Nimble Arts (the New England Center for Circus Arts) and in lyra from Paper Doll Militia. Coco frequently seeks ways to continue her aerial and dance education through numerous opportunities, including taking classes and workshops from local studios in St. Louis, NECCA, and Paper Doll Militia and attending the Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder, Sweet Retreats and the Windy City Aerial Retreat, to name a few.
Her dance background shines both in the air with aerial silks, hoop, and more as well as on the ground through stilt walking.
Career highlights include working as a dance choreographer for Carnival Cruise Line, an aerial trainer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, placing first in the 2018 Aerialympics in the advanced lyra division, and performing silks, lyra, cube, sphere, bungee, somersault harness, and more for 4Hands Lupulin Carnivals, Alexis Tucci’s Nightchaser Discos, and El Monstero, a Pink Floyd Tribute Band.
In the summer of 2020, she co-founded Rainbow Stilt walkers in an effort to create a glimmer of hope and happiness during a worldwide pandemic.
Colleen Marie currently teaches aerial arts and dance to students of all ages and abilities at local studios and on cruise lines, and she performs for audiences as a soloist, a part of artistic duos, and in ensembles.
Certifications
- Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education at the University of Missouri-Columbia
- Bachelor of Science in Spanish at the University of Missouri-Columbia
- Aerial Rigging Safety from Delbert Hall’s Rigging Academy
- Introduction to Teaching Aerials from Nimble Arts
- Foundations of Aerial Silks from Nimble Arts
- Intermediate Aerial Silks 1 from Nimble Arts
- Master the Silks from Womack and Bowman
- Aerial Silks World from Womack and Bowman
- Aerial Silks World 2 from Womack and Bowman