WORKSHOPS & RETREATS

Jessica John Business Coach

Upcoming Workshops & Retreats


 
I’m excited to bring live workshops and destination retreats back to you in 2023! Click here to receive more info as it becomes available.

October 8-9, 2023

Teaching the Straight-Arm Inversion

at the American Circus Educators EdCon2022, Austin, TX (and virtual)

Frustrated that you have gotten this far in your coaching but still struggle with a straight-arm invert? Feel like something is missing in your approach to straight-arm work but you need help to figure out what that is? Eager to teach and train this technique in a way that is efficient and safe over the long term? This workshop will break down the components of the straight-arm invert, including common sticking points, and give you the drills to help you or your students invert with ease.

This workshop is lecture based and available in the online-only ticket.

 

February 20-23, 2023

The Parish Meeting

at Aerial Arts Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii

When I started The Parish, I didn’t want it to JUST be a collection of tutorials & recorded classes. I wanted it to be a virtual meeting–real hearts & minds stuff–of aerialists looking to dive a bit deeper into their movement practices, their connections, and their values.
 
So it brings me so much joy to take those connections up a notch & create space to share & collaborate IN PERSON on February 20-23, 2023, in Hilo, Hawaii (that’s on the Big Island) just for members of The Parish (join here).
 
Do you ever find yourself watching people on Instagram and wondering how they come up with all of that cool shit?
 
Do you fantasize about being part of a creation process for a show just because it looks like so much fun?
 
Do you feel stuck in the ways that you move and in the artistic choices that you make?
Do you just want to hang at the beach with all of your badass new circus friends?
 
The Parish Meeting is not your traditional retreat. Don’t get me wrong; I love retreats! But retreats usually include hierarchy. (“I’m going to teach you this thing, so you had better pay attention.”) At The Meeting, you can choose your own adventure, choose your own apparatus, choose whether to participate or observe, choose whether to go hard or take a break. We’ll have 5 hours of available training per day but also lots of fun in the sun!
 

May 5-12, 2023

Unhinged

Sweet Retreats, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico

You learned the rules. The right way to mount the hoop. The wrong way to climb the fabric. The right way to engage your shoulders. The wrong way to lift the leg. Now, get ready to break them. What if you wrap over instead of under? Will you like it with an arch instead of a curl? What are your limits?

Are you ready to geek out about movement and find out what makes you different? Unhinged is a retreat for aerialists ready to reclaim their time and lean into their desires to throw a middle finger to being told what to do.

Through new skills, sequences, & creative techniques, you’ll fill your artistic cup & speed up that journey toward your personal goals. You’ll veer into uncharted territory, follow your curiosities, and share supportive space. This retreat is for aerialists who are ready to explore the power of being confidently, radically Unhinged. The purpose of this retreat is to explore the creative and technical possibilities of movement on aerial fabric and aerial hoop. It’s going to get weird and we can’t wait.

 

Past Workshops and Retreats


Jun 30 2021 | 4-5pm pdt 

Dynamic Dance Trapeze

On Zoom

This workshop will explore the dynamic side of dance trapeze. We will look at beats in different planes and pathways, with sneaky releases and hand switches. Prerequisites: straddle inversion and one-arm hang.


Aug 8, 2021 | 3:45pm-5:15pm edt

Dance Trapeze: Handstand Handiwork

Carolina Circus Symposium, Charlotte Cirque & Dance Center (and virtual)

This workshop will explore the trapeze ropes and bar as a base of support for handstands on the dance trapeze. One arms or two… tucks, splits, and straddles… lowers, lifts, and presses. Let’s get inverted. Prerequisites: straddle inversion in the ropes & 10-second handstand against a wall.


Aug 8, 2021 | 2pm-3:30pm edt

Holy Shoulders!

Carolina Circus Symposium, Charlotte Cirque & Dance Center (and virtual)

This workshop explores shoulder mobility and stability for overhead movers like aerialists and handbalancers. Both instructive and experiential, students will come away with a better understanding of their individual shoulder, upper back, and neck limitations, as well as strategies to stay safe in their practices. Drawing from somatic, myofascial, corrective exercise, rehabilitative, strength training, and flexibility methods, this workshop pulls from the newest research to provide a blueprint for circus shoulders. There are no prerequisites for this workshop.


Aug 7, 2021 | 2pm-3:30pm edt

Middle Split Ministry

Carolina Circus Symposium, Charlotte Cirque & Dance Center (and virtual)

This workshop sets its sights on the peach. We will focus on the preparation, strength, and mobility for splitting like a boss. Both instructive and experiential, students will come away with a better understanding of their individual hip limitations, as well as strategies to continue to progress at home in their pancakes & middle splits. This workshop pulls from the latest mobility research to provide a blueprint for a productive and safe active flexibility practice. Find depth that you have never experienced before in your middles. There are no prerequisites for this workshop.

Equipment: peanut, 2 yoga blocks, light resistance band or miniband, foam roller


Oct 10, 2020 | 1pm-2:15pm pdt

Online Pop Up: Int/Adv Aerial Silks & Rope Single Strand Dynamics

On Zoom

In this pop-up workshop, we’ll explore dynamic movement on silks or rope (pick your poison). Bring your rosin. 


Sept 5, 2020 | 11am-12:15pm pdt

Online Pop Up: Int/Adv Aerial Silks & Rope Single Strand Choreography

On Zoom

In this online workshop, silks and rope come to detente. Choose your pleasure, because this workshop uses only one dangly thing. We’ll be working on a choreographic phrase and I promise to make it weird.


Sept 14, 2019 | 5pm-6:30pm

Butt Stuff: Active Flexibility

Versatile Arts, Seattle, WA

 

This workshop takes aim at the peach. We will focus on the strength, stability, and mobility for splits and back-bending like a boss. You will come away with a program that you can implement and continue to progress at home.


Sept 14, 2019 | 3:30pm-5pm

Handstand Handiwork: Dance Trapeze

Versatile Arts, Seattle, WA

 

In this workshop, we will explore our inner handbalancers by using the ropes as a steady, and not so steady, support system on the dance trapeze. Bring your chevs!


Sept 13, 2019 | 7pm-8:30pm

Knotty Problems & Ephemeral Loops

Versatile Arts, Seattle, WA

 

Get ready to throw a rope tantrum. In this workshop, we’ll be tossing and turning, and loops will disappear and re-emerge. Your audience will not know what hit them.


Sept 9, 2019 | 6pm-7:30pm

Handstand Handiwork: Dance Trapeze

Boulder Circus Center, Boulder, CO

 

In this workshop, we will explore our inner handbalancers by using the ropes as a steady, and not so steady, support system on the dance trapeze. Bring your chevs!


Sept 8, 2019 | 10am-11:30am

Double Entendres: A Play on Loops

MOTH Contemporary Circus Center, Denver, CO

 

This workshop geeks out on double loop theory, using sling, straps, and spansets as our tools. We will explore familiar pathways leading to new wraps and tackle layered drops that use the entire sling length.


Sept 8, 2019 | 11:30am-1pm

Helter Skelter: Loud & Dirty Inversions

MOTH Contemporary Circus Center, Denver, CO

This vertical apparatus workshop looks at the fluency that comes from changing the shape of our bodies or pathways of our limbs mid-inversion. We will explore loops with our legs, slack drags, direction shifts, frontal-plane initiation, and well-timed releases.


Sept 7, 2019 | 12:30-2pm

Helter Skelter: Loud & Dirty Inversions

Fort Collins Circus Center, Fort Collins, CO

This vertical apparatus workshop looks at the fluency that comes from changing the shape of our bodies or pathways of our limbs mid-inversion. We will explore loops with our legs, slack drags, direction shifts, frontal-plane initiation, and well-timed releases.


Sept 6, 2019 | 5:30pm-7pm

Aerial Hacks

Boulder Circus Center, Boulder, CO

 

This workshop offers tips and techniques for mastering the flashiest tricks. Planches, roll-ups, crocs, and more will be explored on a variety of apparatuses. Ground-based educatives and conditioning will lay the groundwork for your dream skills.


Sept 3, 2019 | 7pm-8:30pm

Double Entendres: A Play on Loops

Voler Aerial Academy, Kansas City, KS

 

This workshop geeks out on double loop theory, using sling, straps, and spansets as our tools. We will explore familiar pathways leading to new wraps and tackle layered drops that use the entire sling length.


Sept 4, 2019 | 5:30pm-7pm

Helter Skelter: Loud & Dirty Inversions

Voler Aerial Academy, Kansas City, KS

This vertical apparatus workshop looks at the fluency that comes from changing the shape of our bodies or pathways of our limbs mid-inversion. We will explore loops with our legs, slack drags, direction shifts, frontal-plane initiation, and well-timed releases.


Aug 31, 2019 | 11am-12:30pm

Aerial Hacks

Cycropia, Madison, WI

 

This workshop offers tips and techniques for mastering the flashiest tricks. Planches, roll-ups, crocs, and more will be explored on a variety of apparatuses. Ground-based educatives and conditioning will lay the groundwork for your dream skills.


Aug 31, 2019 | 1pm-2:30pm

Butt Stuff: Active Flexibility

Cycropia, Madison, WI

 

This workshop takes aim at the peach. We will focus on the strength, stability, and mobility for splits and back-bending like a boss. You will come away with a program that you can implement and continue to progress at home.


Aug 31, 2019 | 3:30pm-5pm

Handstand Handiwork: Dance Trapeze

Cycropia, Madison, WI

 

In this workshop, we will explore our inner handbalancers by using the ropes as a steady, and not so steady, support system on the dance trapeze. Bring your chevs!


Aug 30, 2019 | 6:30pm-8pm

Knotty Problems & Ephemeral Loops

Cycropia, Madison, WI

 

Get ready to throw a rope tantrum. In this workshop, we’ll be tossing and turning, and loops will disappear and re-emerge. Your audience will not know what hit them.


Aug 27, 2019 | 6pm-7:30pm

Dance Trapeze: Twisted Transitions & Handstand Handiwork

Agora Arts, Ferndale, MI

 

In this workshop, we will wind and spiral between the ropes and then flip the script, taking our hands to the bar and feet to the ropes. Learn to balance upside down and a variety of twisty transitions!


Aug 27, 2019 | 7:45pm-9:15pm

Double Entendres: A Play on Loops

Agora Arts, Ferndale, MI

 

This workshop geeks out on double loop theory, using sling, straps, and spansets as our tools. We will explore familiar pathways leading to new wraps and tackle layered drops that use the entire sling length.


Aug 25, 2019 | 11am-1pm

Aerial Hacks

Bird’s Nest Circus Arts, Buffalo, NY

 

This workshop offers tips and techniques for mastering the flashiest tricks. Planches, roll-ups, crocs, and more will be explored on a variety of apparatuses. Ground-based educatives and conditioning will lay the groundwork for your dream skills.


Aug 25, 2019 | 1:15pm-3:15pm

Helter Skelter: Loud & Dirty Inversions

Bird’s Nest Circus Arts, Buffalo, NY

This vertical apparatus workshop looks at the fluency that comes from changing the shape of our bodies or pathways of our limbs mid-inversion. We will explore loops with our legs, slack drags, direction shifts, frontal-plane initiation, and well-timed releases.


Aug 25, 2019 | 4pm-6pm

Handstand Handiwork: Dance Trapeze

Bird’s Nest Circus Arts, Buffalo, NY

 

In this workshop, we will explore our inner handbalancers by using the ropes as a steady, and not so steady, support system on the dance trapeze. Bring your chevs!


Aug 24, 2019 | 3:30pm-5:30pm

Double Entendres: A Play on Loops

Bird’s Nest Circus Arts, Buffalo, NY

 

This workshop geeks out on double loop theory, using sling, straps, and spansets as our tools. We will explore familiar pathways leading to new wraps and tackle layered drops that use the entire sling length.


Aug 24, 2019 | 5:45pm-7:45pm

Butt Stuff: Active Flexibility

Bird’s Nest Circus Arts, Buffalo, NY

 

This workshop takes aim at the peach. We will focus on the strength, stability, and mobility for splits and back-bending like a boss. You will come away with a program that you can implement and continue to progress at home.


Jun 22, 2019 | 12pm

Handstand Handiwork: Dance Trapeze

The Flying Arts Collective, Toronto, Ontario

 

In this workshop, we will explore our inner handbalancers by using the ropes as a steady, and not so steady, support system on the dance trapeze. Bring your chevs!


Jun 1, 2019 | 11:30am

Introduction to Aerial Straps

DivaFit, Herndon, VA


Jan 2, 2019 | 5pm

Aerial Architecture

Majestic Theatre, Corvallis, OR

This aerial theory workshop on fabric explores the movements and shapes fundamental to moving on any aerial apparatus. Each element is broken down with conditioning, ground-based educative movements, and aerial progressions so that beginners can begin to build physical and mental preparation for more advanced skills and experienced aerialists can find greater strength to support expression in their movement. Minimum skill requirement: Ability to bent-arm invert on any aerial apparatus from the ground.


Jan 2, 2019 | 6:30pm

Unique Inversions: Twisting, Threading, and Looping Mid-Effort

Majestic Theatre, Corvallis, OR

This fabric workshop will look at the fluency that comes from changing the shape of our bodies or the pathway of our limbs in the middle of the inversion. We will explore loops with our legs, slack drags, direction shifts, lateral initiation, and well-timed releases. Although fabric is our medium, this workshop will give all aerialists new ways of thinking about moving on their given apparatus. Minimum skill requirement: Ability to bent-arm invert on any aerial apparatus from the ground.


Jan 2, 2019 | 8:00pm

Circus Mobility: An Active Flexibility Workshop for All Movers

Majestic Theatre, Corvallis, OR

Drawing from Jessica’s background in the GYROTONIC® method, the Functional Movement Screen, and strength and conditioning principles, this workshop will provide students with techniques to prepare their bodies for the demands of circus, dance, gymnastics, and sport training. We will investigate soft tissue preparation, nerve glides, and muscle activation, strengthening and end-range control, as well as breath regulation in deep stretch. Participants will leave with a toolkit to apply to their pre-activity warmup and longer stretching sessions. No minimum skill requirements.


Jun 24-30, 2018

Technical Tune-Up Intensive

AerialWorks, Castle Rock, CO

This weeklong intensive will focus on the biomechanics of and conditioning for foundational aerial movements. We will deconstruct and geek out on the “simple” . . . inversions, meathooks, flags, c-shapes, and more. Then we will subvert obvious pathways and add momentum to create new vocabulary on rope, fabric, sling, and dance trapeze. This workshop is intended for intermediate and advanced aerialists looking to push their technique and artistry to the next level, as well as aerial instructors wishing to deepen their understanding of foundational aerial movements. Participants must be curious about the human body, open to discussing their perceived limitations, and willing to safely challenge those boundaries. The week will include approximately 5 hours per day of instruction.


Jun 8, 2018 | 6:30pm

Active Flexibility

Elements Fitness and Wellness Center, Washington, DC

This workshop is designed for coaches, movement teachers, athletes, yogis, dancers, and aerialists looking either to safely increase their mobility or to control their flexibility and prevent overuse injuries. Participants will focus on increasing the extensibility and the neuromuscular efficiency of muscles, as well as the dynamic stability (strength and motor control) of joints, especially at the end ranges of motion. This workshop will include a dynamic warm-up sequence, soft tissue preparation (foam rolling and trigger point release), nerve glides, and muscle activation and strengthening, including positional isometrics.


Apr 29, 2018 | 3:30pm

String Theory: Double Loop

Monarca In Flight, Falls Church, VA

This workshop geeks out on double loop theory, using both sling and straps. We will explore familiar pathways that lead to new wraps and tackle layered drops that use the entire sling length. Minimum skill requirements: Ability to invert cleanly in the air.


Apr 29, 2018 | 1:30pm

Torque: A Spinning Workshop on Dance Trapeze

Monarca In Flight, Falls Church, VA

Single-point trapeze emphasizes connection with the ground, creating space for dance with the bar. In this workshop, students will examine a variety of spins that serve as launching pads for innovative sequencing in the air and statement choreographic moments. We will break down the mechanics and physics and discuss strategies to build spin-tolerance. BYO ginger chews.


Apr 28, 2018 | 2:30pm

Rope Inversions: Twisting, Threading & Looping

In The Dark Circus Arts, Baltimore, MD

This rope workshop will look at the fluency that comes from moving our bodies and limbs in the middle of the inversion. We will explore loops with our legs, slack drags, direction shifts, lateral initiation, and well-timed hand releases. Minimum skill requirements: Ability to bent-arm invert in the air.


Sept 20-24, 2017

Act Creation Retreat

The Marsh Studio, Darien, GA

Bring an idea or a completed act and the apparatus of your choice and allow yourself to become immersed in the research and creation process. This will not be your typical choreography retreat. There will be no noodle arms or moving to the sound of your soul. You will be given a choreographer’s roadmap, new tools in your creative arsenal, artistic direction, and critical feedback.


Interested in keeping up with Circus Mobility events and offerings? Click here.

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