2018 American Circus Educators Conference

This workshop will introduce basic physics concepts including center of mass, torque, and moment of inertia, with a particular focus on how these concepts can be applied to teaching and adapting circus disciplines. This will be discussion- and concept-based. No background in Physics or Mathematics is necessary. The goal of the workshop is to show how certain laws and theories of physics can be used to teach and troubleshoot unfamiliar skills, to work out how balance points function mechanically, and how to spot mechanical problems in students' forms. I have been teaching high school Physics for 4(ish) years, and once I started looking at my acrobatics practice with some basic physics in mind, I have found it much easier to conceptualize, learn, and troubleshoot certain new skills. I also use Physics to teach juggling technique (I know why students walk forward when they first learn to juggle). I am interested in how this could be applied in other arts as well, such as aerials, cyr wheel, etc.