The Acrobatic Arts Podcast

Introducing Meaghan Wegg and Tim Buckley! In this episode, Meaghan and Tim talk about what motivated them when they were growing up and how they came to work with Acrobatic Arts. They also share a suspenseful story of when they were caught in the Australian fires of 2020. Meaghan and Tim's journey is truly inspirational and their positive outlook on life and words of wisdom make you believe that dreams really can come true!

Meaghan Wegg

Meaghan grew up dancing where she studied Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop and Acro. In 2001, Meaghan was accepted in to L'Ecole Nationale de Cirque in Montreal where she specialized in aerial hoop and contortion with additional training in Ballet, Contemporary and Modern. Upon graduation in 2005, Meaghan performed professionally as a principal dancer in many roles, including the cast of ‘Tomorrow' (Pigeons, International) and the cast of ‘Loft' (7 Fingers). From 2009 – 2012, Meaghan performed on tour globally with Cirque Du Soleil's ‘Quidam' as a feature aerialist.

Following an extremely successful performance career, Meaghan shifted her focus to coaching and choreography. In 2013 Meaghan graduated with a diploma from L'Ecole Nationale de Cirque (Montreal, Canada) with a major in Research of Acrobatics, and a minor in Hand to Hand partnering for dancers.

Currently she works as a private acrobatic coach and choreographer, and attracts students from around the world with a focus on career development, choreography and professional stage preparation. Meaghan founded Move With The Beat dance competitions in 2013. She is the Australia, New Zealand and Singapore Division manager for Acrobatic Arts since 2015. Most recently she has launched her Aerial Arts Online syllabus guiding teachers with her course for their students and class preparations. Meaghan started The Academy Circus as a local London, Ontario circus and acrobatic facility in 2017.

Meaghan recently has been hired for global choreographic projects in Australia, Montreal, France, China and India creating large scale shows for special events, Casino shows and year end performance university shows. She is passionate about welcoming everyone into the performance industry while sharing tips and tools about making it a reality. She is now an on call Artistic Coach with Cirque du Soleil. Meaghan is very happy to be settled in her home town of London Ontario with her small family!

Tim Buckley

Tim Buckley is a Sports Physiotherapist from Melbourne, Australia. He has worked exclusively with elite ballet dancers, circus artists and orchestral musicians during his 14 year career and has spoken twice at IADMS conferences in Australia and the USA. He was one of two full time physios with The Australian Ballet from 2006-2008 and toured Australia, China, England and France. He joined Cirque du Soleil in 2009 and toured Japan, South America and North America with ‘Corteo' and ‘Quidam', before settling in Montréal to work at Cirque's international headquarters as the Supervisor of Performance Medicine.

Tim then toured again as the Head Physiotherapist on Cirque du Soleil's production, ‘Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities' in 2014-15, before moving back to Melbourne in 2016.

After another year at The Australian Ballet, Tim returned to Canada and now manages the Australia / New Zealand Division of Acrobatic Arts, as well as several business ventures in his new home country. Having recently completed his Masters of Sports Physiotherapy, he is also a consultant physiotherapist to Acrobatic Arts and Aerial Arts, providing input on the continuing development of syllabus and programs.

Email: [email protected]

AcrobaticArts.com

Have you ever wondered if there is a benefit to wearing socks that are specifically made for dancing? Today we are sharing a very informative talk from Dr. Jeff Russell. Dr. Russell tries to determine if wearing padded dance socks can reduce the forces that are place upon the feet when dancing. Listen as he provides us with the results from one of his research projects.

Dr. Jeff Russell is Associate Professor of Athletic Training and Director of Science and Health in Artistic Performance (SHAPe) at Ohio University. SHAPe comprises three components of performing arts medicine: clinical care of injured performing artists, applied research in the medical aspects of performing arts, and education of both artists and healthcare workers. Russell earned his PhD in Dance Medicine and Science from the University of Wolverhampton in England. He is a Fellow of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (FIADMS) and a member of the Research Advisory Group of Cirque du Soleil.

Jeffrey A. (Jeff) Russell, PhD, AT, FIADMS

Associate Professor, Athletic Training

Director, Science and Health in Artistic Performance

Ohio University

[email protected]

SHAPe Clinic: https://www.ohio.edu/chsp/ahsw/community/shape-clinic

OHIO Faculty: https://www.ohio.edu/experts/expert/jeffrey-jeff-russell

Introducing Mark Nash! In this episode, Mark talks openly about how the pandemic has changed the structure of his division, as well as, his own personal life. You will learn how passionate he is about teaching the arts and the wonderful attributes that accompany them; creativity, communication, critical thinking, physical literacy and of course, the fitness aspect.

Mark is the US Division Manager for Acrobatic Arts, as well as an acro adjudicator, educator and certified examiner. He enjoys choreography and has won the Josephine-Hermene Schwarz award as well as received commissions to choreograph repertory and full-length works for various dance companies throughout the US. He was a professional dancer and has danced for Dayton and Cincinnati Ballets, and Ballet West.

Mark is also an eight-time Men's World Baton Twirling Champion, and has taught numerous world champions as well. He values education and has Master's Degrees in Business and Arts Administration, as well as many dance related certifications. Mark is also a devoted husband and father of three, and lives in California.

AcrobaticArts.com

Email: [email protected]

FB https://www.facebook.com/nashmark/

IG @nashmark23

https://www.nashtwirlingacademy.com

Taking care of your mental health has always been an important part of self care, but during a pandemic it is imperative that you focus on and preserve your physical and emotional wellbeing. Listen as Dr. Leisha Strachan provides us with a few useful tools and activities that we can use to protect our own mental health.

Dr. Leisha Strachan is a professor at the University of Manitoba with a research focus on positive youth development through sport. She is also interested in research with coaches and parents in the deliberate delivery of positive sport experiences for children and youth.

Research Areas

Education

Leisha has been involved in sport and dance for the majority of her life. She began baton twirling at Crestview Community Club in Winnipeg at the age of 5 and continued for 18 years. She is a former Canadian Senior Freestyle Champion (1994), Grand National Solo and 2-Baton champion (1994), CBTF Senior Athlete and Overall Athlete of the Year (1994), and a 7-time Canadian Contingent member competing in freestyle (highest placing - 6th in 1994) and pair events garnering 2 world bronze medals for her efforts (with Kristin Macaraeg). In her time on the national team, she traveled to France, Japan, Holland, Italy, and Hawaii. Leisha is one of the founding coaches of Aerial Fusion Baton, which has been in existence for 25 years. In addition to being a Level 3 certified coach, she is also certified as a Module 1 teacher in Acrobatic Arts. She is also a certified M1, M2, M3, and Masters judge. She has had the opportunity to coach provincial and national team members and continues to choreograph for different athletes across Canada, England, and Scotland.

www.projectscore.ca

www.sportpsychologyforcoaches.ca

www.theplayerstribune.com

https://umanitoba.ca/faculties/kinrec/about/strachan.html

www.leaguelineup.com/afbaton

IG @drls250

What does it take to run a successful business? Well, if the saying "lead by example" is true, then it's no wonder why Mandy Yip is the leader and the driving force behind Acrobatic Arts!

As the founder and CEO of Acrobatic Arts Inc, Mandy manages the staff and delivery of all training programs, and the Acrobatic Arts syllabus in over 6500 dance studios in over 30 countries. Over 500,000 dancers participate in Acrobatic Arts classes on a weekly basis. Mandy created the Acrobatic Arts training and certification program, and the Acrobatic Arts Curriculum, producing the most comprehensive, researched program available for AcroDance.

A lifelong learner, Mandy has achieved certification in countless courses, including contortion, hand balancing, inclusive learning, tap, jazz, gymnastics, and safe coaching, to name a few. Mandy currently sits on the advisory board for YPAD, and assists with the mission of keeping kids safe in dance through this organization. Highly sought for workshops, Mandy has taught thousands of dance teachers, and provided expert classes around the world. Mandy is known for bringing passion, technique and in-depth practical knowledge to engaging classes.

AcrobaticArts.com

The founder of acrobatic arts Mandy Yip interviews certified teacher Kelly Peterson. Kelly shares her struggles as well as her successes with teaching acro online. Learn how she survived teaching during the first lockdown and actually increased her class sizes!

Kelly Peterson is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of guiDANCE experience. guiDANCE is the only YPAD certified dance competition in the world. It is more than a competition it is an educational experience. She is an Acrobatic Arts Module One certified teacher, and certified to teach Rhythm Works Integrative Dance. Recently she received her Module One certification from Alixa Flexibilty. Kelly is an office manager, Wingman for Dance mentor, and fundraiser coordinator for Dancer's Studio in Clarion, PA. She is YPAD (Youth Protection Advocates of Dance) certified, is a mandated reporter, healthcare CPR and first aid certified and has all clearances. Safety is one of Kelly's top priorities with students. Kelly has worked in tabulation and the administrative side of many dance competitions over the years. One of her many goals is to give dancers the opportunity regardless of financial situation and to educate dancers about compassion, kindness, resilience, internet & social media safety, and confidence. Kelly helps with many nonprofit organizations in her community. She is continuing her education to help ensure the physical safety and psychological and emotional health of each dancer.

During 2020 my goal was not only to bring in revenue but to keep our kids happy, healthy and safe. Not just physically but mentally as well. I took my business background and my nursing degree along with the tools that acrobatic arts provides to create “Acro punch cards” and “4 Week Online Acro Training”

4-Week online Acro training required each student to purchase their level of my Acro app and four 30 minute zoom private lessons.

Acro punch cards started when one on one instruction was permitted.

From June till December we sold over 500 one hour private sessions.

If you charged $20 and hour thats $10,000

$30X500=$15,000

$40x500=$20,000

I can't express how much the acrobatic arts app is an essential tool for instructors and students.

Dancer's Studio is owned by A-Jo Gallagher, also an acrobatic arts certified teacher. Because of the Acro punch cards we have increased our Acro class enrolment to 65% of all our students. We added another Acro class this past fall and they are now all completely full. Acro Island has been implemented in some of the classes as needed.

In addition to these punch cards I did a special Black Friday card for younger students or students that never have taken Acro classes. These sold out in 5 minutes.

All of my punch cards were created using Adobe Spark.

www.guidanceexperience.com

Acrobatic Arts

Have you ever wondered how to leave a good impression during an audition? Do you struggle to find the words to say to your student after an emotional audition? What about video auditioning? Video auditioning is quickly becoming even more necessary during these crazy times!

Rick Tjia's inspirational talk about auditioning is something you definitely won't want to miss! He provides us with an insight into what casting directors are looking for, a healthy way to accept audition set backs and gives us his top tips for producing a successful audition video.

Rick's early training years began with tap dancing, eventually branching out into professional studies of classical ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and contemporary dance (training with teachers like David Howard, Finis Jhung, Christine Busch, Bruce Marks, Laura Young and Geri Houlihan). He also trained in other disciplines (trumpet, physics, and later on, guitar studies and various studies in business).

After an extensive career in dance and acting that includes performances with Ballet Austin, Boston Ballet and Delta Festival Ballet, as well as three years of work in film and television in Los Angeles doing hip-hop, jazz, and ballet (with choreographers like Twyla Tharp, Joe Layton, and with film directors like Mark Rydell, and James Brooks), Rick joined La La La Human Steps in Montreal in 1993, with whom he danced and toured the world for 8 years. As with many dancers and musicians, Rick is also a composer, a dance and acrobatic choreographer, and judges dance competitions, and teaches various workshops around the globe.

For the last 16 years he has been a Talent Scout specializing in dance at Cirque du Soleil. Rick's contributions to the Casting Department has extended itself to contributing to and drawing up new operational and business strategies, as well as contributing to creative and innovative internal and external strategies of various types.

Rick also works closely with International Performing Arts & Theatre (I-PATH) through leading dance education in the 21st Century. He is a member of Phoenix Associates in the UK, an organization that offers opportunities and masterclasses to students aged from 6 right through to professional dancers.

In 2016, he joined the creative team of the Cirque du Soleil Big Top touring show Volta as an acrobatic choreographer, and In 2018, he started up the online choreography market Choreography Online with two partners, which had its official public launch in September, 2019.

www.ricktjia.com

https://choreography.online

https://www.iodc.online

Acrobatic Arts