Edinburgh Acrobatics Festival

27th - 29th September 2024


I am so excited to bring you the first Edinburgh Acrobatics Festival! There has not been an acrobatics convention in Scotland since before the pandemic, so it is very exciting to welcome acrobats back to Scotland after a long break. The dream is to breathe fresh life into the Scottish acrobatics scene by putting on an event accessible to everyone, especially those of us in Scotland who usually have to travel far for such events. This event is also an opportunity to showcase some local Scottish acrobatic talent and you can look forward to workshops from a lineup of teachers who are predominantly Scottish or based in Scotland.

There will be 8 taught workshops over the three days with a choice of three or four workshops (attendance dependent) at each timetabled workshop slot. There will be at least one beginner workshop running throughout to ensure that even those without a strong acrobatic practice feel welcome at all times. There will also be timetabled jams at the end of each day as well as warm up and cool down workshops should you not wish to warm yourself up or do not feel like jamming.

All practice of acrobatics involves some risk. We will do everything we can to make sure the training is as safe as possible. You should follow the instructions given by coaches/experienced acrobats and always make sure to ask if something is not clear or comfortable for you. By being clear about what is expected of our participants, we intend to establish a safe environment.

The Venue

All three days will be in the same place in Meadowbank Sports Centre, London Rd, Edinburgh EH7 6AE

Date and times - 27th-29th of September 2024

Friday Saturday Sunday

9:30 - 10:30 Led warm-up

10:30 - 12:00 Workshop 3

10 minute break

12:00 - 13:30 Workshop 4

9:30 - 10:30 Led warm-up

10:30 - 12:00 Workshop 6

10 minute break

12:00 - 13:30 Workshop 7
Lunch break

12:00 - 13:00 Arrivals and registration

13:00 - 14:00 Led warm-up

14:00 - 15:30 Workshop 1

10 minute break

15:30 - 17:00 Workshop 2

17:00 - 19:00 Jam and led cool-down

15:00 - 16:30 Workshop 5

16:30 - 19:00 Jam and led cool-down

15:00 - 16:30 Workshop 8

16:30 - 18:00 Jam and led cool-down
Timetable

Catering

The event will not be catered, but there is a large Sainsbury's and Lidl a short walk away. The venue has its own cafeteria and there are also a variety of cafes and restaurants surrounding the venue. There will be a 1h15 lunch break on Saturday and Sunday.

Ticket Prices

Tickets cost £150 for the entire event. Day tickets are also available for Friday (£40), Saturday (£60) or Sunday (£60). Payments will be made to a self-employed account held by Eric Munday (me, the organiser helloooo). Once you have completed the Google Form, an email will be sent to you containing payment information.

Overview

8 workshops

8 taught workshops + timetabled jams, warm ups and cool downs.

3 or 4 workshops in parallel

A choice of three or four workshops (attendance dependent) at each timetabled workshop slot.

£150

Day tickets are also available (£40 for Friday and £60 for Saturday/Sunday). You will receive payment information after completing the Google Form.

All levels welcome!

There will be appropriate workshops for each level at each time slot. Beginners are very welcome!

Teachers

Craig Dagostino
Craig is a Scottish acrobat who trained at the National Centre for Circus Arts in London. He now performs and coaches partner and group acrobatics in the UK and Europe. Craig has recently got many acrobats hooked on chess and can often be found on Chess.com.
Ben Collis
Ben is a Scottish circus artist based in Sweden. He is mostly doing partner acrobatics and perch pole, and he also has a range of unusual skills including hanging from his teeth.
Jakub & Helena
Jakub and Helena are performers and acro teachers. Their background comes from studying Nonverbal theatre at Uni. Right after, they started creating comedy shows full of acrobatics and wild stories under the name The Kitten of Doom. They like standing acro, h2h and the misuse of acro for comedy purposes.
Forma Fortis
Marion started as a gymnast and Alex as a weightlifter. They met at a sports center in Munich and dedicated their physical activities to partner acrobatics. After 10 intensive years of performances they founded an acrobatics group, and contributed to acrobatics communities with shows and teaching in the UK and Germany. Their latest big project was explaining quantum computing with acrobatics.
Lauren Jamieson
Lauren is a Scottish aerialist and acrobat who creates contemporary performance art that showcases the beauty and joy of raw human movement. She has taught and performed for 14 years in the UK, USA and Aotearoa New Zealand, performing for Paper Doll Militia, Feathers of Daedalus Circus, The Dust Palace, Garsington Opera, Autin Dance Theatre and Ockham's Razor.
Adam Wright
Adam Wright is a Scottish, neurodivergent, queer circus artist. Their multifaceted knowledge of circus arts has brought them to distant shores and they've worked with too many wonderful people and companies to name. They're as flexible as their use of pronouns and their talent is unique.
Ian Fraser and Danuta Ramos
Two of the early pioneers of the Scottish Circus Scene, Danuta Ramos and Ian Fraser have taught and performed together worldwide since 2006. Danuta initially trained as a dance artist which srongly influenced Ian and Danuta's early acro and doubles aerial style, which was largely based on contact improvisation techniques.
Camilla Nytun and Scarlot Robinson
Camilla and Scarlot are certified Partner Acrobatics teachers. They will be teaching multi-level L-base flows, Icarians and Whips.
Zinnia Oberski
Performer and maker Zinnia Oberski has an extensive movement background, predominantly in circus. She graduated in 2016 from ACaPA (Netherlands) with static trapeze and now focuses on handstand, partner acrobatics, dance and physical threatre.
Kate McWilliam
Scottish acrobat Kate originally trained as a professional dancer. Kate has been coaching for almost twenty years and runs her own school. Kate is particularly interested in being involved in work that explores crossovers between multiple art forms.
Oran Longmuir and Saya Yamaguchi
Oran (he/they) and Saya (she/her) are Edinburgh based circus artists. They have been working together as an acrobatic and aerial duo since 2017 and have performed at a wide variety of events including arts festivals, pride events, cabarets, live music gigs, film projects and corporate functions. Oran's passion is lifting Saya and Saya's passion is climbing on Oran.

Photographer

We will be having local photographer Jacob attending the event all weekend. They will be snapping away capturing your best and most memorable moments, so if you spot them, be sure to smile and wave!

Jacob Forsyth-Davies
Hi! My name is Jacob, I am a professional event and wedding photographer, as well as a fire performer and acrobat, and will be capturing the weekend, looking forward to meeting you all!

Massage therapist

We're very excited to have Daniel involved in the festival. He'll be on hand, with his hands, to fix you up to keep you in tip top shape! Book here

Daniel Samohvalov
Hello strong-supportive Bases and fearless-graceful Flyers! My name is Daniel, Edinburgh resident sports/remedial massage therapist and acrobat—a unique combo that ensures I can both twist and untwist you!

Organiser

I have been practising acro since I moved to Edinburgh in 2019 and fell in love with the community. So much so that I now do acro and handstands for a living here and want the local circus community to flourish as much as possible. This is a big driving motivation behind organising this convention. I really want to show all my wonderful students at @leithacrobatics what an amazing experience an acro convention can be. I would also love to show everyone else that our small community here is thriving and worth visiting!

Eric Munday
Eric is an Edinburgh based acrobat and handbalancer organising the convention.

Let's get in touch!

Do you have any more questions? Send us an email and we will get back to you as soon as possible!