Welcome to Akrosphere, the best Aerial Silks & Circus Classes in Greater Atlanta. This is where your child begins their exciting journey into the magical world of circus. As a mom myself, I understand how difficult it is to choose activities for our children; something that engages them physically while amplifying their creativity, yet keeps them safe…which keeps us parents from worrying! Here at Akrosphere, your child will work directly with our highly-specialized coaches (each of them trained and certified in circus coaching by some of the top trainers in the world), flourishing in small class sizes with lots of individual attention. In our 5000+sf specialized circus gym where safety is at the forefront, your child unleashes their creativity, makes wonderful new friends, and creates memories and relationships to last a lifetime. With over 500 happy local families served, you can look forward to the “parental peace of mind” that goes along with knowing your kids are in the best aerial hands around!
— Jen MacQueen, Owner of Akrosphere Aerial & Circus Arts
Our coaches (each specifically trained and certified in their circus apparatuses) have been explicitly chosen for much more than their skills alone! Firstly, we believe that happiness and joy play a huge part in an overall successful learning environment. We are dedicated to hosting a positive experience for all students. Also, we believe that creative exploration is crucial for learning. We encourage our students to think for themselves, taking what they learn and expanding on it, making it their own. In these core values and many more, we strive to raise the bar when it comes to the best aerial training for youth, all while maintaining a warm, supportive, nurturing and relaxed environment where our students can thrive. We truly wish for success and growth for our students in the cirque arts and in life.
“Akrosphere has been amazing!! This is the first extra curricular I have never had to encourage getting ready to go to! She is learning so much about self control and the importance of following instructions carefully! Yet she thinks it’s the most awesome thing EVER! Thank you so much for doing what y’all do!” — Shae Marie; Vittoria’s mom
Jen MacQueen
CEO of Akrosphere, Director of AKme Instant Circus, Head Coach of Cyr Wheel, Head Monkey Wrangler.
"I saw this in a cartoon once, but I think we can do it!"
Originally an elite-level competitive gymnast, Jen discovered a love of performing at a young age. After completing her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Dance and Movement Education, she moved on to a successful performance and choreography career in New York. Eventually, Jen found the circus arts; she picked up a Cyr Wheel and never looked back.
Today, Jen continues to evolve her coaching skills through mentorships with the instructors of the world renowned ENC / Ecole Nationale de Cirque (namely Eric Deschenes) located in Montreal, Canada. The only thing Jen loves more than sharing her love of Cyr Wheel is challenging kids to create innovative, thought-provoking performances.
Michael Edwards
Director of Akrosphere Circus Arts Camps, Co-Director of AKme Instant Circus, Head Coach of Trapeze, Rope / Spanish Web, Cloud Swing, and Duo Aerial.
"If it feels good, it looks good."
Michael started his circus journey at the age of eleven. After a successful 15 year performance career in circus, he retired from performing, choosing to use his two decades of experience to develop the next generation of circus enthusiasts and performers. He has attained numerous certifications through ACE/AYCO (American Circus Educators / American Youth Circus Organization) to both coach the aerial arts, and to safely train others to become coaches themselves. Michael views circus as more than a performance art; it is an outlet for joy, creativity, and personal growth.
Emily Stratton
Head Coach of Aerial Silks, Head of Circus Kids Youth Program
Emily began to dance as an enthusiastic youth then kept moving and creating her way through a BA in Theater and Dance from Westmont College. After moving back home to Asheville NC in 2013, Emily immediately threw her first paycheck at the local aerial studio and said “teach me everything!” Two years later, Emily was accepted to the elite training program at the Santa Barbara Center for Aerial Dance where her continued education in traditional aerial dance led her into membership in The Paloma Project as a performer. Five years later Emily was suddenly uprooted and plopped into Fargo ND without an aerial studio in sight. After much coaxing, Emily agreed to add the “aerial” to FM Aerial and Movement Arts thus co-creating the first dedicated aerial studio and performance troupe in North Dakota. As Emily is more “lizard” than “polar bear”, she and her husband happily accepted the opportunity to move back south to Atlanta where she dedicates her days to pushing forward her project "Archipelago", conceptualizing new performances, experimenting with aerial theory and working as a booking agent for her beloved FM Aerial performers.
Tara Copeland
Head Coach for Lyra & Contortion
Tara Copeland was competitive in gymnastics and cheer in her youth. As a flyer, she found a true love for soaring through the air. In adulthood, she was thrilled to be able to continue her acrobatic journey through circus arts. As a teacher and performer, she focuses on lyra, contortion, and hand to hand acrobatics. Teaching is her passion, and she is proud to be a part of the Akrosphere family.
Lyndsay Brown
Executive Administrator
Lyndsay is a born and raised “Georgia Peach.” She graduated from Berry College with a degree in musical theatre and has had the good fortune of working in and around the artistic community for over the past 10 years. Most recently she performed the role of Guenevere in Camelot at the Atlanta Lyric Theatre.
She and Jen met doing a show together and became fast friends sharing a love for theatre, music, and all things Japanese! It was after forming her friendship with Jen that she was introduced to the amazing world of circus. Given her gymnastics background from childhood, she quickly fell in love with aerial silks (and was even able to do a small performance during a Christmas show at the Aurora theatre).
Lyndsay’s will be the first face you see when you walk through the door, so give her a nice big smile when you see her!
Akrosphere is a proud member of:
Akrosphere: Best Aerial Coaching in Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Cumming, Milton, & the surrounding areas
A note from Jen, “Head Monkey Wrangler” of Akrosphere Aerial & Circus Arts:
Did you know that if you use either ice or heat for the wrong thing, you can actually make it worse?! If you have a fresh injury, and decide to use heat, it will make the swelling larger and make it more painful than it originally would’ve been. On the contrast, if you ice muscle pain, you can actually make yourself more stiff, and then prone to other injuries. This is the case for most neck and back pain: people often try to ice these, when the answer should be to use heat to loosen everything up.
If you’re taking aerial silks near you somewhere (or here at Akrosphere, the best aerial training in Georgia)…
then let’s talk about recovery, and how important it is to keep our bodies working. One of the techniques I mentioned is therapeutic icing and heating. Now, here is a question I get ALL THE TIME from students and parents: Should I use ice or heat for an injury? The answer to that is that it depends! Basically, ice is for fresh injuries and heat is for stiff, aching muscles. Seems simple, but there are a lot of details that go into it. Let’s look at some!
Icing:
Ice is for injuries. You use it to calm down damaged tissues that are inflamed, red, hot, and swollen. When you get an injury, swelling is normal and healthy, but it also happens to be pretty painful and stubborn. Using ice is a drugless way of dulling the pain and taking the swelling down a bit.
Heating:
Heat is for muscles, chronic pain, and stress. You use it to take the edge off symptoms like muscle aching and stiffness. Heat is also helpful for soothing chronic pain, especially back pain!
Icing and heating are great home remedies, because they are fast, easy, and cheap! As always, the best person to diagnose an injury is a doctor, so don’t forget to seek professional, medical help whenever necessary.
Don’t forget to breathe and drink water! Join us at Akrosphere, for the best aerial training near you…and other classes as well!