Teachers

Eastern Acrobatics Teachers

Meet the coaches and teaching artists behind Eastern Acrobatics. Current teaching profiles appear first, followed by additional profiles from the live site.

Current teaching team

Current Teaching Staff

Active

Jacob Skeffington

Partner acrobatics, handstands

Jacob Skeffington is a circus artist, educator, and original cast member of Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA. He is Assistant Professor of Dance at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he teaches tumbling and juggling and supports the development of an accredited circus arts minor. Trained at École nationale de cirque (Montreal) and Beijing International Arts School, he also studied under legendary ENC coach Alexander Arnoutov of the renowned Arnoutov circus family, associated with the Russian (Korean) cradle tradition. Jacob is co-founder and head coach of Eastern Acrobatics and Circus, with specialties in partner acrobatics, hand balancing, aerial straps, and tumbling.

Active

Jocelyn Olum

Aerial Fabric, Aerial Rope, Handbalancing, Partner Acrobatics

The first word Jocelyn ever spoke was “up.” Fitting, then, that she’d spend her life climbing. She grew up outside Boston, balancing academia and circus from early on—one foot in books, the other in the air. College took her to Portland, Oregon, where she dove into the contemporary circus scene. She trained at San Diego Circus Center, performed with Tempos Contemporary Circus, and taught aerial at Echo Theater. Then came Flynn Creek Circus. She toured the West Coast under the big top, performing night after night as an aerialist and acrobat. Flynn Creek—a traveling circus-theater company blending breathtaking acrobatics with live storytelling—became her stage from California to Washington. Now back in Boston, Jocelyn teaches aerial fabric and rope at Eastern Acrobatics. She’s an aerialist. An acrobat. A writer. A cook. A swimmer. An optimist. Her goal is simple: share her love of movement with every student who walks through the door.

Active

Joseph Pinzon

Aerial disciplines, Act creation, Show creation, Casting

Joseph Pinzon (he/they) is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Short Round Productions and its award-winning show Filament. He was most recently an Artistic Director for Cirque du Soleil’s Bazzar and has over 25 years of international performing and directing experience across contemporary circus, immersive theater, and live production.

Active

Leah Abbott

Choreography, Partnering, Upside down technique, Contemporary dance

Leah Abbott is a dancer and choreographer based in Boston. She holds a B.F.A. in Contemporary Dance from Boston Conservatory at Berklee (2021), serves as Dance Captain for Hybridmotion Dance Theatre, and teaches dance including upside down technique and partnering.

Active

Jun Kuribayashi

Choreography, Dance, Alternative Movement, Creation

Jun Kuribayashi has been a mover all of his life. He began as a competitive swimmer, breakdancer, and martial artist. He took his first dance class at age 22 at the University of Kansas where he earned his BFA in Dance.

Active

Nyla Welsh

Handbalancing, Partner Acrobatics

Nyla’s path to circus wound through a decade of classical ballet. She trained at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet—one of the premier ballet schools in the world, known for sending dancers to New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, and beyond. That foundation taught her precision. Discipline. How to hold a body accountable. At Temple University, she studied dance alongside criminal justice, an unusual pairing that speaks to her interests: movement as art, systems as structure. But the traditional dance world wasn’t the destination. She found circus. At Circadium in Philadelphia—the nation’s only accredited professional circus program—Nyla immersed herself in the full spectrum: aerials, acrobatics, contortion, physical theater. She’s performed at FringeArts’ Hand to Hand Festival and represented Circadium at Viva Fest in Las Vegas. Now at Eastern Acrobatics, Nyla specializes in working with our youngest students. Her classes for Circus Tots and General Circus blend playfulness with real technique—building coordination, confidence, and a love of movement from the very beginning. That ballet-trained eye for form? It shows up in how she shapes even the smallest acrobat.

Active

Katherine Upton

Contortion, Tumbling, Handstands

Katherine Upton is a graduate of EAC’s Performance Track and is currently pursuing other things, including diving and college.

Emeritus

Bud Tumurbaatar

Mongolian Contortion, Handstands, Group Acrobatics

T. Bud, born in 1978, hails from an illustrious lineage with the renowned circus performer T. Enkh-Ayush as an ancestor. His initiation into the circus realm came early, showcasing his acrobatic prowess by 1992. By 1993, he had already earned his place in the esteemed State Honored Circus’s A troupe, marking the beginning of a distinguished career in circus arts.

Emeritus

David Spiegel

Straps, Conditioning

David began his circus training after spending his twenties competing and traveling the world as a professional whitewater kayaker.

Guest and Former Faculty

Kira DiPietrantonio

General Circus, Youth Classes

Kira started circus at six. By twelve, she was training with Flying Gravity Circus. By eighteen, she was touring with Circus Smirkus across Vermont—the show that first lit the fuse. She didn’t stop there. Kira completed the three-year program at Circadium School of Contemporary Circus in Philadelphia, the only accredited circus higher-ed program in the country. She graduated in 2021 with a Diploma of Circus Arts, emerging as a professional performer with a rare specialty: the fluid fusion of juggling, contortion, and hand-balancing—three disciplines woven into one continuous act. That combination caught attention. She’s since performed with The 7 Fingers, one of the most acclaimed contemporary circus companies in the world. She’s worked with Gandini Juggling, the legendary UK company known for pushing juggling into the realm of choreography and high art. She’s appeared at the International Jugglers’ Association festival and venues across the country. Now at Eastern Acrobatics, Kira brings that international-level experience to our youngest students. She teaches General Circus and youth classes with the same approach she applies to her own training: technique first, creativity always, and the understanding that circus skills compound—what you learn at seven becomes the foundation for what you perform at twenty-seven.