Aycofest information

We are so excited for our regional youth circus festival of 2025! Hosted by Momentum Aerial, this is a three day event packed with circus workshops and activities, bringing together youth from all over the region. This event is for participants between the ages of 8 and 20, people over the age of 20 are not permitted to attend.

Event Date
October 9-11

Location
Momentum Aerial Arts

1802 W Kaibab Lane #170
Flagstaff, Arizona
United States
86001

schedule
presenters & workshop descriptions
Floor plan of a dance studio building with four main studios labeled A, B, C, D, a Pole Studio, and three bathrooms. Studio A is 926 sq ft with wood laminate flooring. Studio B is 1387 sq ft with rubber flooring. Studio C is 1512 sq ft with rubber flooring. Studio D is 1660 sq ft with rubber flooring. The Pole Studio is 800 sq ft with wood laminate flooring. There are several suites numbered 130, 140, 150, and 170 with parking areas designated as 'Parking OK' and 'No Parking,' and a separate business area called Blackstone.

schedule

THURSDAY OCT 9TH

12-1 PM

  • Registration Opens - Studio C

1-2 PM

  • Welcome from Festival Organizers, Festival Intros & Orientation, Ice Breakers Games - Studio B

2-3:15 PM

  • Chinese Pole - Studio A

  • Game Based Clown Creation - Studio B

  • Partner and Group Acrobatics - Studio C

  • Vaulting in Wheel Gymnastics - Studio D

3:30- 4:45 PM

  • Balance Jam: Rolling Gobe, Rola Bola, Tight Wire - Studio A

  • Flexibility/Contortion - Studio B

  • Dynamics for Static Trapeze - Studio C

  • Beginner Juggling - Studio D

5-5:45 PM

  • All Group Pyramid & Pictures

6-7 PM

  • Dinner

7-8:15PM

  • Circus Games & Activities

FRIDAY OCT 10TH

8 - 9 AM

  • Morning Announcements, Stretch & Warm up

9-10:15 AM

  • Game Based Clown Creation - Studio A

  • Intro to Flow Staff - Studio B

  • Static Trapeze Dynamics - Studio C

  • Spider Webs: Creative Silks Exploration - Studio D

10:30-11:45 AM

  • Balance Jam: Rolling Gobe, Rola Bola, Tight Wire - Studio A

  • Partner Acro - Studio B

  • Beginner Juggling - Studio C

  • Intro to Stilt Walking - Studio D

12-1 PM

  • Lunch

1-2:15 PM

  • Flexibility/Contortion - Studio A

  • Specialty Aerial Apparatus - Studio B

  • Intro to Poi - Studio C

  • Partnering in Wheel Gymnastics - Studio D

2:30-3:45 PM

  • Beginner Chinese Pole - Studio A

  • Mini Trampoline - Studio B

  • Juggle Jam - Studio C

  • Beginner Silks - Studio D

4-5:15 PM

  • Showcase Rehearsal Time - Studio A

  • Beginner Duo Lyra - Studio B

  • Foot Juggling - Studio C

  • Learn to Unicycle - Studio D

5:30-6:30 PM

  • Dinner

6:30- 7:30PM

  • Student & Coach Showcase!

SATURDAY OCT 11TH

8-9 AM

  • Warm Up with Energetic Dance

9-10:15 AM

  • Group Juggling - Studio A

  • Beginner Duo Lyra - Studio B

  • Beginner Stilt Walking - Studio C

  • Up, Up & Away: Vaulting in Wheel Gymnastics - Studio D

10:30-11:45 AM

  • Intro to Hula Hoop Flow- Studio A

  • Spider Webs: Creative Silks Exploration - Studio B

  • Mini Trampolene - Studio C

  • Foot Juggling- Studio D

12-1 PM

  • Lunch

1-2:15 PM

  • Circus Games - Studio A

  • Specialty Aerial Apparatus - Studio B

  • Learn to Unicycle - Studio C

  • Beginner Partner Acro: Animal Acrobatics - Studio D

2:30-3 PM

  • Closing Celebration

presenters

A man wearing a black hat, a white shirt, and suspenders holding a sign that says 'Switch off your mobile phones!' in front of red stage curtains.

  • Brian Foley recently celebrated 35 years of clown performance. As an Associate Artistic Director of the World Clown Festival, he has performed in China with Bambouk Clown Theater at six festivals. He has performed on multiple episodes of Sesame Street, on cruise ships, at theme parks, and in circuses in Performing Arts Centers and under canvas. He has taught clown at New York University, ASU, and is presently teaching Theater at Arizona School for the Arts. He holds a terminal degree Phi Kappa Phi in performance directing, and has taught circus long enough that he's forgotten exactly how long.

  • Using games rooted in status, competition, and imitation, the students learn to create original clown performance and adapt existing clown performance material into something new.

BRIAN FOLEY

A woman in a red jacket performing an acrobatic pose inside a large circular metal ring, with a man standing behind her in a spacious, well-lit gym or studio.

  • Jennifer Richard is the founder/director of Circus Kazoo (Chicagoland) and Level 2 Coach and VP of education for USA Wheel Gymnastics Federation. She has a passion for her family, the circus community and the hunt for the “ah-ha” learning moment as an educator.

  • Vaulting over a gym wheel is a thrilling experience. Learn to start/stop the wheel, swing through it, stand on top, and move over the top in a basic vault. Build a foundation of basics to grow from, maybe even work towards becoming a wheel gymnastics competitive athlete someday!

Jennifer Richard

A woman with red hair in an orange dress performs an aerial move on a hoop outdoors, with orange trees in the background.

  • Katherine has been training aerial arts since 2019 and began coaching circus in 2022. Her favorite disciplines include dance trapeze, lyra, and partner acrobatics. In addition to coaching, Katherine enjoys performing at local studios and occasionally enters competitions such as Aerialympics

Katherine TESCH

Young woman swinging on a swing hanging from a tree with red rock mountains in the background.

Morgan Louvier

  • Melanie started juggling in 2005. Since then, she has thrown things at hundreds of people in the US and abroad, and developed her own flow style with clubs. In the summer of 2024 she performed at the European Juggling Convention in Portugal. She enjoys numbers juggling, passing club patterns, and the art of practicing to get better. She's open and willing to share all of her secrets with you!

  • In this beginner-advanced friendly workshop, we'll become spiders and create complex wraps and hitches using multiple silks! We will be utilizing 2 groups of people: people holding the spiderweb in place, and spiders crawling around on the web. Groups will have the opportunity to switch! Once we have a safe spider web, we'll explore shapes, poses and movement within the spiderweb.

A woman smiling with arms outstretched in a mountainous outdoor setting, wearing a black T-shirt and yellow floral pants.

Colleen Maccomber

  • Colleen MacComber is an international teaching artist and the founder of Creative Arts Momentum (CAM), established in 2016. Inspired by the teaching pedagogy of the National Dance Institute, CAM is a dynamic, uplifting program designed to ignite children’s creativity through dance and live music. Colleen has had the honor of teaching in public schools across Latin America, SE Asia, and the United States. Rooted in building self-esteem and confidence, CAM incorporates educational themes such as literacy, history, geography, world cultures, art, and science. Get ready to experience the high energy and infectious spirit of CAM — a celebration of learning that will leave you filled with JOY!

  • A joyful and energetic dance class accompanied by love music.

  • Carlee Graves is a passionate aerial instructor and performer who began her aerial journey in 2018. She specializes in teaching aerial hammock, flexibility, and a variety of specialty apparatuses including aerial net, crescent moon, lollipop, and chains. She is also trained to teach beginner silks and lyra, and brings a strong foundation in form, technique, and creative expression. With a background in performance and a personalized, supportive teaching style, Carlee helps students build strength, confidence, and artistry in the air—always in a fun and safe environment.

Carlee Graves

A man with glasses and a beard wearing a teal T-shirt with 'Phoenix Youth Circus Arts' logo, standing indoors at a circus training space, holding a metal pole, with red aerial silks in the background.

  • Jens spent 19 years performing in circuses in the USA and around the world. His  specialties were aerial Roman Rings, Handbalancing, and Rola Bola. He spent 14 years as a high school educator. He then created Phoenix Youth Circus Arts 2015 and became a circus educator!  In 2020 he joined the board of directors of AYCO. He loves bringing to kids of all types the joy of exploring the fun and challenging world of circus.

  • Start with the basics and learn to fly and flip in a safe progression, each according to their level: try jumps, handsprings, dive rolls of all kinds - over people or through a hoop, and front flips. Tramp is also a great act to add some comedy to!

Jens Larson

A surreal scene of a woman balancing on the feet of a man lying on the ground, with her body stretched out horizontally, set against a scenic landscape background.

Kevin O’keefe

  • Experience how basic developmental patterning ie. Push and Pull translate into Partner Acrobatics. Invent new shapes to form new neural pathways in the mind/body and connect with others through play.

Woman with blue hair smiling, wearing a black and white striped shirt, with three beige surfboard-shaped objects in front of her.

  • Melanie started juggling in 2005. Since then, she has thrown things at hundreds of people in the US and abroad, and developed her own flow style with clubs. In the summer of 2024 she performed at the European Juggling Convention in Portugal. She enjoys numbers juggling, passing club patterns, and the art of practicing to get better. She's open and willing to share all of her secrets with you!

  • Learn to juggle! Really! We've got 75 minutes to make it happen, but it won't even take that long

Melanie Webster

Fire performer spews a large flame into the air at night.

  • Corinne, specializes in a variety of fire dance styles, including fire breathing, fire eating, fire fans, fire poi, fire dart, and more. Her skills in fire dancing are unparalleled, and she has performed all over the world since 2007. In addition to fire dancing, Corinne is also a talented stilt walker. She is passionate about teaching flow arts classes for all ages and abilities, helping others to develop their own skills and love for the art of movement.

  • This beginner-friendly class introduces the mesmerizing and mindful "flow art" of poi spinning. Students will learn to manipulate a pair of tethered weights (the "poi") through a variety of graceful, rhythmic, and geometric patterns. No prior experience in dance or juggling is required.

    Poi originated as a traditional practice of the Māori people of New Zealand to increase strength and flexibility and as part of ceremonial performances. This course honors that history while exploring modern techniques. Through guided practice and step-by-step instruction, students will build a foundational vocabulary of fundamental poi moves.

    Participants will develop their coordination, rhythm, and body awareness in a supportive and fun environment. The class will also introduce the concept of "flow state," a meditative, focused mindset that many poi spinners aim to achieve.

Corinne Vivers

A performer in gray costume doing a contortion act on a hanging trapeze with ropes in a dark theater setting.

  • Jes (she/her) is an experienced circus arts instructor specializing in aerial arts, with a large focus on trapeze, rope, & pole. Throughout her years of training & teaching circus, Jes has worked with students at various skill levels, disciplines, & age groups but especially thrives when working with younger youth students.

  • Join me on one of my favorite apparatuses to learn the basics of dynamic movements that can lead to exciting dismounts & big, crowd-pleasing transitions. We will go over a variety of beats & other dynamic pathways.

Jes Palmer

A person in a chicken costume balancing on a table, with two performers supporting them from below, while a third performer stands nearby.

  • Orlene trained in China and at the Clown Conservatory at San Francisco’s Circus Center. Her main roles currently are foot juggler, clown, mother and multidimensional time traveler. She’s performed in tents, theatres, the streets and ashrams all around the world. She loves connecting with people from all different cultures and countries and ways of life. Orlene has been seen with the Zoppe Family Circus, Flynn Creek Circus, Circus Monti, Circus Bella, Piccolo Zoppe, Krystallpalast Variete, America’s Got Talent, the Ellen Degeneres Show and had fun times on the Gong Show.

  • Exploring the world of foot juggling from objects to humans. Learn the basics in this intro level to the world of foot juggling (antipodes and Icarian games).

Orlene carlos

A man with a gray beard and mustache, wearing a red T-shirt with 'Phoenix Youth Circus Arts' and website URL printed on it, standing in a circus training or performance space with juggling clubs, holding three juggling clubs in one hand.

  • Coach Dave self-taught how to juggle in 7th grade.  He bought a giraffe unicycle and self-taught that in high school (before ever riding a normal uncycle!).  Much later Dave became known for creating interesting juggling (passing) patterns that jugglers work on all over the world.  He has taught thousands of people to juggle and enjoys just about "anything circus".  At least the safe stuff.  He was lucky enough to be in a 500 mile unicycle relay race.  They came in third ... from last.   And even luckier to be able to share his skills with new generations.

  • It takes hours to learn to unicycle. That is both daunting and almost trivial once you accept that is what it takes. This workshop will teach best-practices to minimize the hours required. We will start the process and go over everything one needs to learn this wonderful skill.

Dave Davis

Two women in stage costumes perform a pole dance. One woman is dressed in red with a black tutu and fishnet stockings, holding the pole and smiling. The other woman, wearing black with a red tutu, is upside down, holding the pole with her legs and smiling.

  • Katherine has been training aerial arts since 2019 and began coaching circus in 2022. Her favorite disciplines include dance trapeze, lyra, and partner acrobatics. In addition to coaching, Katherine enjoys performing at local studios and occasionally enters competitions such as Aerialympics

  • This workshop will be for those who have some prior lyra experience to explore working on shapes with a partner. We will focus on beginner-intermediate poses while exploring how to communicate, transitioning together, syncronizing movements, and more.

Katherine Hunter

A woman with long blonde hair and red lipstick, wearing a black fishnet top and blue textured leggings, is sitting on a swing with metal chains, against a plain background.
A man balancing on a tightrope made of a pole and ropes, smiling, during daytime with clouds and trees in the background.

  • Shukrani Mato was a member of the Diani Mambo acrobats located on the coastal area of Kenya in Eastern Africa.(https://dianimamboacrobats.org/) His acts included human pyramids, limbo, rope skipping, roller balancing, chair balancing, tiger jumps, one-pole and two-pole shows, and juggling. In December, 2024 he moved to Phoenix and started working with Phoenix Youth Circus Arts.

  • Students will be learning basic segments of the Chinese pole show, such as free-style climbing and simple formations.

Shukrani Mato