This is Emily Fulton, a 16-year-old hand balancer and aerialist from New Hampshire. Emily is on the AYCO Hup Squad and dreams of one day attending professional circus school before joining a contemporary circus company. This photo was taken during golden hour at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic Coast.

AYCO Monthly Newsletter
AYCO Youth Membership costs $35 per year and is for anyone 21 and under and college students who are passionate about circus arts. This is your chance to plug into the national circus community, network and show off  your circus pride.

Membership benefits include:

• Surprise swag mailed to your door three times a year
• Eligibility to perform in AYCO event showcases
• Discounts on events and merchandise
• Monthly email AYCOgram newsletter filled with circus opportunities, news, and videos just for you!
• Want to join? Grab an adult and click the button below!

Click to go directly to section news!

Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. You’ll get engaging circus content and our favorite shares from our members. 

Be sure to tag us using #AmericanYouthCircusOrganization and use our new hashtags: #WeCircusBetterTogether and #TheFutureIsCircus (You can follow these hashtags too!)

Mark your calendar for Tuesday, November 19th – Giving Tuesday! Look out for our Facebook fundraiser and contribute to help us meet our goal and unlock a matching donation! Circus arts education promotes healthy mental, physical, and emotional youth development. AYCO/ACE helps make this work possible by providing vital community networking, discussions, and events for circus educators as well as important resources and support for circus schools and organizations!
 
This year during Giving Tuesday we’ll also be thinking about everything we’re grateful for – help us to spread the appreciation vibes!

• Step One: Tag someone in your circus community that you’re grateful for!
• Step Two: Use the hashtag #CircusGratitude
• Step Three (optional): Donate to our fundraiser – we’ll be extra grateful

Thank you – we’re grateful for you, our circus community!

Show off your circus and get your AYCO gear from our online store. PS they also make great holiday gifts for your favorite circus instructors!

Are you or do you know a circus obsessed teen who wants to join AYCO’s Hup Squad Youth Action Team? Applications are now open for our 2023 Hup Squad! Apply by January 1. 
 
The AYCO Hup Squad is a group of super cool, circus obsessed teens. The Squad designs and creates content such as reviews, interviews, and articles for the AYCO CircusIsMyLife blog and AYCOgrams, and advises on swag for youth members and AYCO’s social media presence. Hup Squad members receive special Hup Squad Swag, access to interview professional artists, and opportunities to see and review performances and events. Being on the Squad means you get both the prestige of being a national youth circus leader and a built-in peer community to support your developing leadership.

Take a read at our latest blog post! And be sure to share with a circus friend!  

The ACE Educators Conference 2022: A Personal Review
In October of 2022, Guest Writer Stacy Gubar had the incredible honor of attending the American Circus Educators EdCon. The event itself was an experience like no other, but even more exciting was seeing ideas manifest to reality. Continue Reading…

The Importance of Warm Up

IAs circus performers, we love learning new tricks, impressive feats, and pushing ourselves to do hard things. It’s tempting to jump right into a training session, and not “waste time” with a warm up or cool down but in actuality this will do way more harm in the long run than good. You’ll get more out of your training if you prepare your body for the training, and protect it from injury so that you can continue to train. Continue Reading…

The Importance of Assistance

Hup Squader Annika Egerstedt recently graduated from high school and moved from Atlanta to Las Vegas to attend college. She shares her experience of moving, stepping outside of her comfort zone and how important her support system is. Continue Reading…

Circus Harmony will be offering circus Holiday Camps in December and Circus Sampler Classes during January, in their downtown St Louis, City Museum ring. They started filming for their second Architecture and Acrobats project. This one is at Fort Belle Fontaine, along the Missouri River. See clips on their social media. 

Ring in the New Year with NECCA! Book private lessons over your holiday break and create your own circus training program. Train in our custom built Trapezium (with heated floors!) then head out to the winter wonderland of Vermont for skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing, or just cozy up to a warm fire with a cup of hot chocolate. Treat yourself to the circus training you’ve been dreaming of and level up with our world renowned coaches!
 
WHEN: Dec. 2022 – Jan. 2023.
Book soon to lock in 2022 pricing – any lessons booked before Jan. 1, 2023 receive 2022 rates for you and your friends!
 
WHERE: 10 Town Crier Dr.
Brattleboro, VT 05301
 
BOOK by filling out this form.
 
PRIVATE LESSON INFO: https://necenterforcircusarts.org/training/private-lessons/
 
LODGING/TRANSPORTATION INFO: https://necenterforcircusarts.org/contact/visit-necca/

VIVA Fest is excited to announce that registration for the 2023 festival is now open! Early registrants will receive a free ticket to the World Circus Arts Championships, which will be held in conjunction with VIVA Fest. This is a great opportunity to see some of the world’s best circus performers compete, and we encourage everyone to take advantage of this offer. Early registration ends November 30th, so don’t delay! Register today and join us for an unforgettable experience.
 
https://www.thevivafest.com

Are You, Your Students or Your Kiddos Getting Ready to Audition for Circus Schools This Year? CSAW is Here to Help!
 
CSAW – Connecting Circus Students Around the World has released their 2022 Circus School Application Deadline Mastersheet! Click here: https://bit.ly/csawcircusschoolsheet
 
This spreadsheet includes:
• Circus schools
• Links to applications
• Application deadlines
• Audition dates
• The CSAW Ambassador for the school 
• How to contact that ambassador! 
• What is a CSAW Ambassador? 
 
A CSAW Ambassador is a current student of their international circus school. They are here to support you through applying, auditioning and attending circus school. If you have a question about a school just send the Ambassador an email or a DM and get an honest answer from a student of that school asap!
 
There are currently 16 CSAW Ambassadors to help future circus generations. You can find all of the current CSAW Ambassadors by clicking here: https://www.csawcircus.org/ambassadors

Circus Up’s community troupe, Kirkos, has performed 11 shows at festivals and community events throughout the greater Boston area in 2022. Some of these have included the Wake Up the Earth Festival, Fenway Porchfest, and the Commonwealth Circus Center student shows. Check out their latest performance at the Circus Up Benefit here! 

Materials: None

How to Play: This game can be played with or without an audience, though I find it works better with an audience. Set up an “offstage” area on either side of the playing space. Let the group on stage know the rules. 
1. The goal is to cross the space 
2. You may not stop on stage 
3. The stage can never be empty. 

Encourage them to try as many different ways to cross as possible while also letting them know it’s okay to just walk as well as to copy others if they see something they like. The facilitator calls the stop/start of the game – as well as if the stage is empty. As the students at the end – what was interesting, what was funny, what did they see that they liked?
 
If you like this game, be sure to check out our Games Book! You can purchase directly from the AYCO/ACE store, on Amazon (print and eBook available), or as an eBook from a variety of vendors! Don’t miss your chance to have this great teaching tool! 

Got a game you’d love to share? Reply to this email and tell us about it!

Want to get discounts with these awesome Circus vendors? Discounts are just another awesome perk of being an ACE member.  Become a member today!

Like discounts like this? The more our members use them, the more leverage we have as an organization to encourage companies to provide discounts!

Interested in including your news or events relevant to the national circus community in AYCO/ACE’s newsletters? Send your submissions to communications@americanyouthcircus.org by the 2nd Friday of the month to be included in our monthly newsletter. Submissions should be no longer than 150 words, written in the third person, and include appropriate links and contact information if relevant. We cannot include PDFs or images, but we can link to them. Please also indicate if you would like your submission included in the AYCOgram (directed towards youth), ACE News (directed towards organizations and educators), or both.

Welcome!

PO Box 1123, Easthampton, MA 01027

We are a nonprofit 501(c)3

Support AYCO with a Donation