DAYF Spring 2024 TEACHERS
dutch acroyoga festival
Mati & Coni (CL)
Icarian & Whippops
@acro.conciencia
Coni and Mati, acroyoga teachers from Chile, are super happy to be in this super festival again!
They love to explore and play with whip-Whipops, pops, icarian tricks and flows. They want to share their knowledge, experience and technique, to get smoothness and height in a trick.
It’s why they created ACRO CONCIENCIA; a new concept that seeks to understand the practice from the science of movement and the understanding of our body with the mind.
Cuzio & Jessica (IT)
Crazy Icarians
@acrolinks
It’s like a little explosion, what comes together here. Marco (Cuzio): always been fascinated by observing the biomechanics of acrobatic movement. And Jessica: passionate about finding the best preparing paths to build a functional acrobatic movement. Together they are Acrolinks. And since they train and teach together, they are setting new standards in Acro, especially in Icarians. Not knowing each other yet, both started their acrobatic journey as parkour teachers in Italy. One of the reasons, why solo acrobatics plays a fundamental role in their practice, understanding of the movements and also in their teaching. When they first met, they immediately recognized in each other a special and similar way of feeling and expressing the movement, which created an unbelievable connection through which they could instinctively trust each other. This also influences their workshops and classes, as it is important for both, that the students first find out the sensation of an acrobatic movement and get in touch with their own preparation, so once they try in partner acrobatics, they will be supported by this knowledge of their body. What they love about this kind of teaching, is seeing students transform their practice and understanding the movement and at the same time understanding their Acro-partners in a more supportive way. For being able to realize this harmony in the movements, both emphasize the importance of a constructive communication, the feeling of oneself and the partner, so both can step into a physical and non-physical dialogue. That’s probably their secret, cause otherwise they would not be able to step over the limits as they regularly do and invent new crazy movements.
Evan Josef Cohn (USA)
Acrobatics
@acrobeatbox
Evan is an international acro teacher who’s certified through Acroyoga Montreal as well as Partner Acrobatics and eventually joined the PA team as a coach. Evan recently moved to Cologne Germany after 7 years of traveling the world teaching, training and doing what he loves. He has completed over 20 weeks of studies with Pitch Catch Circus School of Acrobatics and specializes in teaching H2h, F2h and lots of standing dynamic tricks. With a background of music and a bachelor’s degree in dance and performing arts, Evan teaches with a passion for movement, improvisation and self expression. He’s a strong believer that values such as trust, communication and supporting one another are among the building blocks of this practice. This man’s enthusiasm for acrobatics and the community is contagious and will inspire you to dive into this practice with an open heart and a ready mind.
Zenzero & Cannella (AR & IT)
Acrobatics
Zenzero e Cannella is a hand to hand duo as well as being a delicious herbal tea!
Michal & Sara (SK)
AcroYoga Teachers
@misaris
Misaris (Michal + Sara) is a partner acro duo based in Bratislava – Slovakia, where they teach regular classes. Professionally, Sara is a qualified physiotherapist and Michal is studied strength and conditioning coach.
Sara fell in love with acroyoga almost 10 years ago during her high school. After she met Michal almost 5 years ago, she immediately hooked him up and they progressed quickly mainly thanks to Sara’s experience and Michal’s colorful sport past.
During this period, they visited several foreign and domestic workshops and festivals. They also taught at some of them, mostly their favorite whips and pops, including icarians combined into graceful flows.
In addition, they like to train and teach Standings, dance acro and also simple and effective “party tricks”.
They like to teach lessons in a playful way, but with an emphasis on technique, detail and on point spotting for more demanding elements 😊
Fabian Conrads (DE)
Handstands
Fabi is a Movement and Handstand coach from Frankfurt. He’s been practicing Handstands for over 6 years now, and for the last 4 years he has learned from the best coaches worldwide and collected the most effective drills and processions. Handstands have taught him a lot about himself and he’s confident that every participant will have the same experience.
For most people, handstands will forever remain a mystery because of the lack of a proper process to progress. The right process is very crucial and ultimately determines whether we feel comfortable on our hands or not. Every level is welcome and we learn with the help of the right tools, but above all from each other. Every participant has their strengths and weaknesses; we try to work out these specifically and enable everyone to follow their own individual path. Learning to do a handstand offers an extreme improvement in body awareness and will have a positive impact on any other movement practice. Let’s go!
Eden & Noam (IL)
AcroYoga Teachers
Pacôme (FR)
Acrobatic teachers
Pacome is a jack of all trade! He explored various dance disciplines and movements, was coached by many mentors spread on different continents during more than a decade. These fantastic and blooming experiences led him to pilates, posturology and functional movement analyses. Always wanting to go further, he followed his passion stepping into the Acro world in combination of his other knowledge and kept sharing his passion and skills investing thousands of hours around the globe.
A couple of years ago he became a recognized
instructor at the national circus center in Lille.
Lennert and Yvonne (NL)
Yoga & AcroYoga Teachers
@acroyogamoves
@dutchacroyogafestival
Lennert and Yvonne met in 2017 and they played some acroyoga the first time. They’re both quite new to the practice, but both got an active background in sports and yoga. Ever since that day, they’re highly addicted to the practice. You’ll find them often at festivals, conventions and workshops to improve their skills, connect with others, and get inspired for their own classes and workshops. In 2018 they both graduated from the AcroYoga Teacher Training (AYI). They have a huge love for flowy washing machines, whips, whippops and of course icarians.
Besides teaching at festivals and teaching regular classes and workshops, they’re the founders of Dutch AcroYoga Festival, which is held since 2019 in different Dutch cities, several times a year. For the local community, they created AcroYoga Moves, active mainly in The Hague and Leiden.
Recently they got their own AcroYoga temple, a beautiful space in the centre of Leiden where they will organise regular classes, jams, and workshops by both themselves and guest teachers as soon as it’s allowed again!
They’re looking forward to meeting you!
Lennert
Yvonne
AcroYoga Moves (Lennert & Yvonne)
Natalia & Joshua (PL & UK)
AcroYoga Teachers
@acro_nerds
Natalia and Joshua met on the 28th of January 2016, it was love at first acro. Ever since they have cultivated an acro practice that focuses on: in depth technical analysis and understanding of the acro system, mindful and controlled movement with emphasis on smooth execution and impeccable technique. What does all this mean? It means they make acro feel good, and they believe it is an exercise in effortlessness
Tim & Laura (UK & IT)
AcroYoga Teachers
@acroyogaontheroad
Tim and Laura, aka AcroYoga on the Road is an Italo-Welsh duo whose passion for moving keeps them up in the air & on the road!
Aside from designing and producing activewear specifically for acro and yoga, they live and travel in a camper van, teaching & practising acro in beautiful locations, connecting with local communities, performing at cultural events, festivals, resorts, schools, teaching classes & workshops.
Nenad & Jelena (RS)
AcroYoga Teachers
@nsacrobalanace
You know the feeling when you love something so much you want to share it with the entire world, well that was our biggest motivation to learn not only how to do acro but also teach it and explain it in a way that is comprehensible to everyone while being fun. We wanted everyone who comes to learn from us to leave with a positive mind set and a feeling of victory for that day. Our goal is not only to teach our students but also for them to develop a desire to be better and advance in their knowledge and skill.
As we are both quite active people, way back when we met in 2016, we started exploring the world of standing and L-based acrobatics. With previous experience in rather different sports (basketball, figure skating, ballet and latin dance) it was no easy transition, but that was what made it fun and made us learn all the ways you could fail before succeeding. After developing our practice we started holding workshops and as interest grew we formed NS Acrobalance with regular classes held weekly and a community growing around it. Since then we held workshops in our region (Serbia, Croatia, Greece) and performed in different venues and festivals (Exit Festival, Piano City, Cirko Balkana) and even landed interviews on local TV shows.
Our goal is to develop a sense of freedom, playing with different shapes and connecting them to music while transitioning from L-basing to standing tricks and back. In other words, to have fun
Nicole & Josh (CA)
AcroYoga
Hi! My name is Nicole and I have been practicing acroyoga for 6 years. Initially I had tried it as an extension of my regular asana yoga practice, but it didn’t take long for it to take over my life. My favourite part about acroyoga is its ability to empower someone to move past fear and accomplish more then they had expected to be possible – it’s magic. The other special part is that because it is practiced in partnerships and small groups, it can expand beyond a physical practice as you also engage in exercises of communication and trust. I did my acroyoga teacher training in 2019 and since then have taught regular classes in Canada. I have organized and taught workshops at festivals, co-organized and facilitated my own acroyoga festival, assisted at Wanderlust Whistler and am ambassador for the Victoria Yoga Conference. In addition to acro, I also teach vinyasa yoga and massage.
Breandán & Cami & Róisín (IE & CL & IE )
AcroYoga Teachers
@thehumanbalancer
@cfjaque
@roisincmtb
Breandán will teach workshops with Cami and with Róisín seperately.
Breandán is an adventurous movement practitioner who has been exploring different movement practises since he was a teenager. Coming from a background of Parcour and Yoga, he discovered AcroYoga in 2014 which felt like the perfect synthesis of the elements he loved from both practices.
He has been teaching regular AcroYoga classes in Cork City since the beginning of 2022, building up to four weekly classes. He was featured on RTÉ’s Today Show in late 2022 for his classes, launched his own website in the beginning of 2023, and was the co-founder of the highly successful West Cork Flow Festival 2021 & 2022, whose mixed movement mash-up was a driving force behind his motivation for opening his own mixed movement studio, Free Flow Studios.
In June of 2023 he ran the first year of “Acronnection”, the first national-scale retreat for AcroYoga in Ireland, with the first Winter Edition success in January 2024, he is now a part of the team behind the Irish Acro Festival 2024!
Cami is a spontaneous person who has enjoyed the diversity of movement since she was little. She has explored different sports but never excelled in any, until she found her passion at an acroyoga jam almost 2 years ago where she met Breandán. Since then she has not stopped practicing in her free moments. She became an acro addict.
She likes to explore shapes, flows, icarians, and her most recent discovery are the Whips. Little by little she began to stand out in her practices, so she began assisting Breandán’s classes, and then teaching beginner level classes when he was absent. She has also been teaching at Acronnection summer edition and winter edition, among other activities with students from the University of Cork. Cami hopes to be of helpful to anyone who wants to start their path in this beautiful sport and she will always be happy and willing to support you as a flyer as a spotter and even sometimes as a base.
Róisín is an outdoor educator and adventure activity instructor with a background in theatre, improv and dance. For her, the pillars of acroyoga practice are fun, communication, inclusion and connection.
Róisín was introduced to AcroYoga in 2021, it became a means of connecting with people in a safe, engaging and creative manner. She has since attended conventions at home and abroad to deepen her knowledge and experience of the practise. Róisín began assisting AcroYoga classes in early 2023. Sharing this joy for acroyoga led her to complete her Teacher Training in August 2023 and she has since been co-teaching in Free Flow Studios, schools and at Acronnection 2024.
Bart Bendie (NL)
Yoga, Thai & Fly Teacher
Biography Bart Bendie
With a background as a mechanical and electrical engineer in the heavy lifting industry, Bart uses that knowledge and translates it into understanding body mechanics. Having done yoga for 20 years, Acro for 15 and massage for about 10 years, Bart found out: When heavy things are handled delicately, life becomes easy.
With his bubbly energy, a big smile and a soft approach, Bart likes to focus on getting the technique right, rather than moving fast forward. When going slow, magic happens, is therefore one of his favourite mantra’s.
David & Liana (IL)
AcroYoga Teachers
Hello! I am David, I’m a certified Acro Yoga teacher by VanCityAcro, teaching classes, conventions and festivals in Israel and around the world. I have been doing this amazing hobby for more than 6 years now; I found out about acro yoga in a local gym and fell in love with it since then. After 1 year of training I’d already decided to become a teacher, I love watching how peoples’ faces smile and become excited when they try it. For me acro yoga is not only for the body but also for the soul, you get stronger from the outside and also from the inside. And the real surprise is: Anybody can do it!
Then I met Liana at her first acro convention and we’ve been part of a team since. #DTLTD
Liana here, and I wholeheartedly agree with David’s perception of acro! Acroyoga has been a blessing since finding it 8 months ago when I moved to Israel. I was looking for a dynamic sport, utilizing my background in gymnastics, pole dance, and circus aerial arts {so Icarian is my jam}. While practicing I feel the thrill of the dynamic, stamina of high flying, and mindfulness of low flow. I also appreciate that it is challenging, collaborative, pushes limits, and boosts brain development.
I am eager to explore learning together the wonders of Acroyoga, and make new connections globally!
Tobias Bader (NL)
Acrobatic Teachers
Tobias has an enormous and detailed knowledge about Partneracrobatics & Acrobalance tricks and training techniques, as well as dynamic “Rock ‘n’ Roll and Lindy Hop tricks” & Dance Acro. He has a yearlong teaching background and knows how to break down a trick and how to provide the necessary cues for both base and flyer. Apart from that he’s a singer-songwriter and has a super nice and sweet personality and you definitely don’t want to miss the opportunity to train with him and a fun group of acrobats! 😉
Karel & Veronica (NL/BE)
AcroYoga Teachers
Karel Salet is a dedicated acrobat and has been teaching over the last 6 years in weekly classes, national and international conventions.
Veronica Cruz
Veronica is a passionated mover enchanted by body practices with an artist’s soul. Dedicated to sharing her practices by workshops, classes, personal coachings, and artistic performances.
She’s a former professional contemporary dancer and choreographer that fell in love with aerial arts such as Aerial Hoop, Pole dance and Acroyoga.
Certified Yoga Teacher by NowHereYoga and Simon-Borg Olivier. Also certified Acroyoga Teacher. Master & Post-master in Performing arts.
Paying attention to detail, pedagogy and progressions to make these disciplines approachable for everyone. It has been already 13 years of experience teaching regular classes, workshops, and international festivals.
From the beginning of acroyoga movement in Belgium, she has been an active community builder. Her main project “Every Body Can Fly” offers yoga, acroyoga, pole dance, aerial silks, aerial hoop and the joy of living fully in your own body while building a kind community through physical practices.