Circus Mobility owner Jessica John is a coach and mentor to performance artists across the globe. With over 30 years of high-level sport experience, Jessica is a premier skill acquisition specialist for circus artists and pole dancers, from Cirque du Soleil professionals trying to stay healthy on tour to committed enthusiasts trying to fit in training between careers and kids. She draws from her own remarkably rich movement background as a circus artist, dancer, and competitive athlete, as well as a former career as an intelligence officer and lawyer, to offer a unique opportunity to learn what it takes to reach high performance goals.
Jessica’s human-centered coaching philosophy is evidence-based and multidisciplinary, addressing technical, strength, mobility, nutrition, psychological, and creative challenges. Jessica uses sport and exercise psychology theoretical frameworks to design performance programs that help her clients achieve their goals through habit-based behavior change interventions. What that looks like in practice is a relational approach to high performance coaching, aimed at helping driven aerialists reach their highest potential while still retaining their autonomy and creative voice.
In a past life, Jessica worked as a leadership analyst with the CIA for more than a decade, where in addition to living in Africa and the Balkans, she developed training programs in applied political psychology. Her background in assessing world leaders from a distance has inspired her innovation in working with and addressing mindset challenges in circus artists from afar. In additional to a bachelor’s degree from University of Colorado at Boulder—where she graduated with a degree in political science while immersing herself in physical and cultural anthropology—Jessica also holds a law degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from George Washington University where she concentrated in political psychology.
Jessica is a lifelong learner and her education did not stop at university. Her movement education began as a GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Trainer, and she continues to take specialized courses that inform her coaching and practice. She is a Girls Gone Strong Women’s Coaching Specialist and a NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, and is certified in the Functional Movement Screen Level 1, Progressing Ballet Technique Levels 1 & 2, Integrated Kinetic Neurology Level 1, and Precision Nutrition Level 1. She has participated in a Dance Movement Analysis course and Katie St. Clair’s Empowered Performance program to up-level her assessment and programming abilities. She is currently in the middle of Clinical Somatics Education Level 1 certification.
Jessica views coaching as a relational practice and an opportunity to shape circus and pole culture. She is a trauma-informed space holder and is a graduate of Katie Kurtz’s program Cultivate. She has participated in James-Olivia Chu Hillman’s 6-month Disobedience School and Fleur Lawson’s Power With Not Power Over: Accountability in Action for White Women. She is currently participating in an 11-month feminist power-building and culture-building program We Are The Culture Makers by Kelly Diels.
Jessica is also the founder and director of Alter Circus, a contemporary circus, dance, and performance company. She is a Galen Hooks Method and Jacob Jonas the Company Digital Intensive alum.
Clients
Previous clients include Cirque du Soleil artists and have been accepted into camps like Circus Smirkus, professional programs at Ecole Nationale de Cirque, New England Center for Circus Arts, and San Diego Circus Center, and competitions and festivals like Cirque du Demain, Circus Stars USA, Vivafest, and the Aerial Acrobatic Arts Festival.
My Advisory Team
Circus Mobility uses a range of outside advisers and referrals to help clients meet their goals.
- Deborah John, PhD in Sport and Exercise Psychology, MS in Health & Exercise Science
- Angie Prescott, PT, DPT, CMPT, CMTPT, CSCS specializing in rehabilitation within the sport of acrobatics
- Justine Bernard PT, DPT, GYROTONIC® & GYROKINESIS® Master Trainer specializing in neurological and orthopedic rehabilitation
- Brooke Newman, Artistic Director & Owner of The Newman Dance Center (MD)
- William Zinser, MS, ATC, Athletic Trainer at The Harkness Center for Dance Injuries (NYC)
GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® are registered trademarks of Gyrotonic Sales Corp and are used with their permission.
