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MARTIN BURTON
Martin Burton founded the Academy of Circus in 1993, at a time when there was little formal training available in circus skills. Although there are now many groups, organisations and centres catering for the sector, the ACA remains unique in offering vocational circus training on tour with a real circus, with its Big Top as its classroom, the training ground and the performance area. The proof of the outstanding success of Martin’s creation lies with the graduates now performing in circus and related performing arts not only in the UK, but around the world.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Academy's board of directors give their time to the Academy, which benefits from their wealth of experience in circus and related arts. They are Martin ‘Zippo’ Burton, the founder and director of Zippos Circus; Chris Barltrop, now a circus consultant and previously Director of the Moscow State Circus; and writer and broadcaster Dea Birkett.
TRAINING, ARTISTIC & PERFORMANCE DIRECTORS
Blaze Birge and David Jones look after the everyday management of the Academy. With skills in aerials, acrobatics and comedy, they are best known for performing doubles trapeze . When they are not teaching or performing internationally, Blaze and David spend their winter months operating Flynn Creek Circus near San Francisco.
ASSOCIATES
Greg Milstein was the Academy’s Managing Director from 2005 until 2008, and now works in circus training in New York. Greg has been a circus performer for more than 25 years, and as a world class clown was the first American artist to work in the Soviet State Circus ring, in Moscow, Russia and Riga, Latvia. Greg remains involved with ACA as an Associate Director, and plans to return to ACA as a visiting teacher and to help students with act development and technical production skills.
Ann Dorwin is the Academy's Artistic Advisor, and worked with ACA for five years, first as Course Director and then Training Director. Ann has been an aerialist for more than 20 years, and has also spent the past decade teaching circus skills at circus schools, summer camps, schools, universities and recreational facilities around the US. Ann teaches in many disciplines as well as act development, presentation and production management skills. Ann works in the US for much of the year and also intends to return and teach at ACA for part of our course. TUTORS
Our tutors are professional circus performers and teachers, chosen for both their specialist skills and their experience in teaching a variety of performance disciplines. |
