TEACHERS & FACILITATORS
Danya Xena
She/Her/Hers
Danya Xena on Social Media
FemPower Acro on Social Media
Justice Movement.org on Social Media
Acro SuperHeroes on Social Media
Danya Xena is a full-time traveling acro teacher who creates supportive, safe, collaborative and fun learning environments. With a focus on dynamic acrobatics, she encourages everyone’s inner Super Heroes by offering a community feeling with great progressions and awesome spotting. As a mid-weight acrobat she is both a base and a flyer, and as such, has a great understanding of both sides of the practice.
Danya founded FemPower Acro the SuperHero Circus Academy home of the AcroSuperHeroes and the Acro and Social Justice Teacher Training. Dany also co-founded and co-leads both the the Canadian Acro Intensive and Justice Movement.Org and has taught in 8 countries and over 100 communities. Danya brings with her a career in adult education, coaching and facilitation, a deep passion for social justice, and a Masters degree in Diversity Studies with a focus on pedagogy (the art and science of teaching). Danya is certified as both a Partner Acrobatics and Acro Revolution Teacher and attended 10 weeks of Pitch Catch Circus in 2016, runs the Acro and Social Justice Teacher Training program.
She is so excited to be hosting the 4th FemPower Acro Fest, beyond the festival her goal is to create a FemPower Acro movement, a celebration of the diversity of badass, inspiring, powerful & empowered fempower in Acro.
Natalie B Nguyen
They/Them or She/Her
Instagram: @flightschoolacro @nataliebrewsternguyen @justicemovement.org_
Natalie Brewster Nguyen is an artist and educator in the fields of social justice, yoga, acroyoga, performance, creative writing, and movement. They perform, teach, and create with Flight School Acro, Cirque Roots, Borderlands Theater, La Pocha Nostra and others. She is a certified E-RYT Yoga teacher, a senior teacher and trainer with Acroyoga Montreal, and a Yogaslackers Teacher. Natalie has been teaching yoga and movement since 2008, and social justice since 1998 (and the moment she could form words). They have experience working with diverse communities, and believes in teaching from a culturally relevant and compassionate perspective that does not further exploit marginalized voices, but lifts up communal knowledge and dignity. FemPower Acro is one of the best ways to combine her love of movement, and working towards more accountable and inclusive spaces. Teaching and training with the FemPower Acro community is a joy and an honor. Natalie lives in Tucson, AZ with their co-parenting family, kids, and amazing supportive community. They can be found at Justice Movement, http://nataliebrewsternguyen.com and on facebook and on instagram.
Kannon Elizabeth
She/Her and They Them
Kannon here. Social worker by day and Circus Artist by night. I identify as a queer, leftist radical intersectional feminist. I use they/them and she/her pronouns and like to incorporate social justice into Acro classes and performance. I volunteer a large part of my time around consent issues in the acro world. I have been teaching acro for about 3 years. I teach a Queer and Trans Acro Class in Portland. I had the amazing opportunity to teaching Acro and leading discussions at each FemPower Acro Festival. I have also taught at various festivals around the country. I think spaces like this are important if we want to help create a sustainable practice where we keep people safe and celebrate our differences.
Amy Salguero​
She/Her
Instagram: @amovementmission @acroforsocialchange @acrofarmers
Amy Salguero is a force of movement and fitness. Amy has been teaching acro, yoga, movement and fitness for over 20 years. She taught dance for 26 years, including 10 years at the University of Oregon as full-time faculty. She presents regularly at Yoga & Fitness Conferences, Acro Festivals and other international festivals in her nurturing, challenging, & fun style. Currently, Amy is focusing on hosted events as AcroFarmers, exploring the idea of acro as a vehicle for social change, returning to dance and learning through exploring the planet as a full time nomad. She is excited to be part of the FemPower Acro Fest as a teacher and student, seeing the value of this time together in acro, community and discussions. As someone committed to social justice and learning in our commuity, this is an opportunity to grow as a leader in the community with others as we celebrate the diversity of badass, inspiring, powerful & empowered women in Acro.
Bee Tsuchen
They/Them or She/Her
Bee started learning Acroyoga in Long Beach, CA in 2010. Since then she has learned and practiced in the Pacific Northwest. Moving to Portland, OR in 2013 she started practicing in the strong Acro community of Portland, eventually beginning to teach with Serena Scaglione in 2015. She had been teaching weekly classes, at festivals, events, retreats, schools, and even in a few different countries abroad. As a dancer and preformer, Bee fuses contact improv, acroyoga, vinyasa flow, contortion and dance into her practice creating a fun and unique way of moving through the world.
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Bee has been teaching acroyoga for 5 years in Portland. And more recently co-created the organization Queer & Trans Acroyoga Portland. She is an advocate for LGBTQIA+ inclusivity in the AcroYoga community, and has been happily a part of FemPower Acro Fest since its conception.
Serena Tang
They/Them or She/Her
Serena Tang (sir) brings a unique perspective to their movement practice. Through their art, sir fuses their passion for social justice with performance art, capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian martial art), dance, and partner acrobatics. Sir has taught workshops internationally, including Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, as well as at the FemPower Acro Festival, where they co-lead a discussion on racism and oppression. Sir received their AcroYoga Montréal teaching certification in 2010 and assists in their teacher trainings. Sir performs with Flight School Acro, Sugar Beast Circus, and Cirque Roots, and teaches AcroYoga classes in Tucson, Arizona.
Dean Frolicks
Ze/Hir/Hirs and They/Them/Theirs
A mid by practice and a machine by function of Art, Dean started hir acro journey as a flyer and quickly transitioned into a mid role in an effort to expand hir understanding and body awareness of the practice. Dean does not hail from a movement background and as such has a very personal understanding of what it means to come into the strength and embodiment of an acro practice over time. Currently, Dean organizes and hosts a monthly queer and trans beginner acro workshop in NYC in an effort to expand the community and strengthen the community. Dean is a certified yoga instructor who practices L basing and standings acro with a dual certification by the Superhero Circus Academy and AcroWarrior by Warrior Bridge, NYC.
Zahra Garrett
She/Her/hers
Zahra is a dancer with over thirty years of experience who fell into circus in 2013 as a way to explore new ways of moving. She is excited to be part of an event that's providing a platform for fem identifying folks to collaborate and share their experiences, skills, and stories.
Angela Lynn
She/Her/Hers
Angela discovered Acro 4 years ago and instant fell in love, seeing it as an amazing tool to teach consent and communication. Around the same time she started learning Nonviolent Communication - a form of listening to deepen connection and understanding. In 2018 she joined the first Acro and Social Justice Teacher Training to expand her knowledge and passion for creating a world that works for everyone. Right after she taught acro in Nicaragua before returning to Chicago, where she spends most of her time and is working to make sure members of the Chicago community feel safe, included, and empowered. She's excited to offer her first acro communication workshop at Fempower 2020!
Jules Panagacos
They/Them/Theirs & She/Her/Hers
Jules [they/ them, she/ her; Seattle WA (Duwamish territory)] has identified as feminist for 14 years and has been practicing acro for 11 years. Jules is an organizer and facilitator who works toward gender justice and wealth redistribution. Currently they are expanding their acro practice by studying Thai Massage and Shibari. She loves the playful problem solving, and embodied communication in acro, and is thrilled to be teaching at their 3rd FemPower Acro Fest.
Crissy Pellegrin
She/Her/Hers
As an environmental lawyer, mediator, union representative, parent, and practitioner of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Crissy guides “hard conversations” from the initial pain or reticence of speaking one’s mind through to the sweet relief of finally feeling heard and understood.
She helps each person in a conflict honor their own needs while holding compassion for the other person. She is excited to find that through this process, people often feel empowered to come up with their own joint solutions!
In her free time, Crissy geeks out on brain science, enjoys playing with and mediating conflict with her kids and keeps her brain and body active with Acroyoga, Dragon Boat Racing, and Ultimate Ninja workouts
Erin Ball
She/Her/Hers
Erin Ball is a circus artist and coach based in Kingston, Ontario and she is the owner of Kingston Circus Arts. She is mainly an aerialist but also does some hand balancing and partner acrobatics. She completed the AcroYoga Montreal Teacher Training in 2009. Erin took a year off in March 2014 due to life changing events that resulted in having both lower legs removed. She has returned to her passion of training, coaching and performing. She loves adapting and creating new/different ways of executing skills.
Erin loves to move and to connect with others through movement. She has worked with many diverse groups of people. In 2017, she developed a workshop and manual, called Flying Footless, a course for aerial coaches who want to work adaptively and make their teaching more inclusive. She has won accessibility awards, hosts a ground-breaking yearly amputee circus camp and has taught and performed internationally.
Erin has many current artistic projects, including her company LEGacy Circus with Vanessa Furlong that focuses on inclusive performance, various solo works, public speaking engagements that combine performance and educational talks and much more. Erin regularly collaborates with Canadian and international artists, including Alex Bulmer, Femmes du Feu, Sonia Norris, Heidi Latsky Dance, Anandam Dance, Michele Frances, Tina Carter and many more.
Erin also writes a column for The Kingston Whig Standard newspaper, called No Feet and a Heartbeat, about life since her accident.
Angelique Nelson
She/Her/Hers & They/Them/Theirs
Angelique is a mover endeavoring to be a movement. She is passionate about yoga, wrtiting, bodywork, and energy work. All of these passions she wields as tools for facilitating people getting in reflective conversation with themselves, others, and the environments we live in. She is also fervent about sex positivity as an implement for personal revolution and social change. She has collaborated with sex KiKi (@_sexkiki), a space for erotic affirmation for queer Black femmes through conversation and community activation, as a co-host of The sex KiKi podcast as well as a contributor to their advice column in Spectrum Boutique. Angelique is Chicago born and raised and has been practicing yoga for over 15yrs and teaching for over 10. She came to love the AcroYoga practice while in her yoga teacher training in 2009 and it has been a space of great learning for her ever since. She is primarily and enthusiastically a flyer but few things make her feel as badass as the work of basing. She is thrilled to be engaged with the FemPower community in the role of student, space holder/maker, and facilitator.
Ariel Mihic & Liz Willimas
She/Her & She/Her
Ariel and Liz of Precision Acrobatics began their acrobatics partnership in 2009; dare we say it was love at first flight? They have trained diligently with world renowned coaches over their years of practice together and have been teaching as part of the YogaSlackers crew since 2011.
Motivated by the interplay of strength and receptivity, Ariel and Liz are known for challenging their students with material in a way that is safe and attainable. As a similar-sized female duo, they have worked diligently to understand the technique required for advanced tricks, and they love to share how these can work for EVERY BODY. Precision Acrobatics is committed to providing a safe training space, continually evolving their practice so their teachings reflect their values of communication, trust, inclusivity, and accountability.
It has been an honor to teach at the FemPower Acro festival, bringing standing acrobatics to a room full of empowered folks who are ready to train, hold each other up, and put their egos aside. Thank you for including US in this community.
Ariel has a Doctorate in Pharmacy and certifications in the following disciplines: Ashtanga, AcroYoga, YogaSlackers, Thai Massage/Pranassage.
Liz is a licensed physical therapist and is certified in the following disciplines: massage therapy, yoga therapy, and YogaSlackers.