THE 2016 U.S. AERIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

Held in New York City May 13, 14, 15, 2016, the second annual U.S. Aerial Championships featured professional aerialists on silks, lyra, pole, and new & innovative apparatus from all over the world.

  • 450 aerialists submitted videos
  • 45 elite aerialists were selected for the live shows
  • 7 champions were crowned
 
 

Meet tHE 2016 U.S. AERIAL CHAMPIONs

 

2016 Male Silks Champion
Brandon Scott, USA

In January 2013, Brandon walked out of his first silks class and into the snow, his life forever changed. In truly cliche fashion, he "ran away with the circus", training for 2 years intensively with Darla Davis at Aeris until May 2015, when he moved to Las Vegas to pursue his wildest aerial dreams. He lives there now, training with his partner TJ Stutts, teaching classes at Trapeze Las Vegas, performing as a freelance aerial acrobat, running the Instagram @brandonscottacrobat, and working with organizations like U.S. Aerial to strengthen and expand the community that has given him so much. 

Watch Brandon's Winning U.S. Aerial Performance

 

2016 Male Pole Champion
Magnus Labbe, Denmark

From Denmark, Magnus has 10 years of dance experience and is trained in Jazz, Contemporary, and Hip Hop. He has been teaching dance since 2008, but he fell in love with Pole 5 years ago. The new way of dancing in the air and combining dance and aerial arts was fascinating and Magnus had to explore this new way of dancing. 

His unique style has made him a respectable and world known Pole Dancer in the Pole community, where he has been a judge at Pole Art France, Pole Theatre Sweden and Pole Dance Competition Denmark.

Magnus was a finalist in the TV-show Denmark Got Talent and the professional male winner of Pole Art Cyprus 2014 and the current U.S. Aerial Champion.

2016 U.S. Aerial Championships 1st Place
2015 Pole Classic at Pole Expo 3rd place
2015 Pole Art Italy 5th place
2014 Pole Theatre Paris 1st place in Pole Art
2014 Pole Art Cyprus 1st place
2014 Copenhagen Pole Competition 1st place
2013 Danish Pole Dance Championship 1st place
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MagnusLabbePoledancer
Instagram:MagnusLabbe
E-mail: Magnus_labbe@live.dk

Watch Magnus' Winning U.S. Aerial Performance

2016 Male Lyra Champion
Лёша Ишмаев (Alexey Ishmaev), Russia

Лёша Ишмаев (Alexey Ishmaev) graduated from Sverdlovsk college of art and culture, circus faculty. He has been in circus since he was ten. Now he is 22 and works as an aerial artist in Leningrad Center Theatre, St. Petersburg city. Achievements for the last 4 years include: three special prizes of the circus festival "Princess of the Russian Circus" (duet aerial performance on belts "Romeo and Juliette"), first place at the international circus festival Baby "Mammoth" (performance "Romeo and Juliette", Yakutsk), the special prize at the international festival Baby "Mammoth" from the director of the German magazine "PlanetaCircus" (Yakutsk), the Grand Prix at the international circus festival "Gold Key". Perm (performance "Romeo and Juliette"), the Grand Prix at the international circus festival "Circus Maybutne" (performance "Romeo and Juliette", Lugansk, Ukraine), the silver medal XI of Delphic games (Moscow), the Participant of the television project "Ukraine Mai Talant" (Kiev), the first place and a prize of spectators' sympathies at the Pole-dance championship (Perm).

Watch Alexey's Winning U.S. Aerial Performance

2016 New & Innovative Apparatus
Champion Mathieu Bolillo, France

Mathieu is an Acrobatic Athlete who is mixing his strength and gymnastics skills with his creativity and the field of the Art. He is the creator of the act "Trampo Mix" - Called CirKolution - which means the Evolution of the Circus. Mathieu has experience performing with Cirque du Soleil, many TV Shows, big events and Theaters, Cabarets worldwide! Challenges, passion and doing things "outside the Box" drive his entire life.
Connect with Mathieu:  IG  FB  YouTube  Website

2016 Female Silks Champion
TT Robson, USA

tamijoy77@gmail.com

TT Robson started her aerial training in 2003. She performs with the Vau De Vire Society (San Francisco), Circus Beyond the Ring (Oakland) and as an independent contractor. She is the recipient of the Best Overall Performance award for the 2015 Aerial Acrobatic Arts Festival. She has also performed with The Chicago Contemporary Circus Festival, Paperdoll Militia, Earth Circus, Velocity Circus, Cirque Mechanics, TrapezeWorld, Skyana Entertainment, The Gravity Girls, Mir & A Co. and Karl Schafer Dance Ensemble.  Her dance and aerial training includes Alvin Ailey School of Dance in New York, Circus Center San Francisco, Project Bandaloop, DeLeon Productions, UCSC Dance Department, Boulder Aerial Festival, Motion Pacific Dance Studio and Cabrillo College Dance.

Watch TT's Winning U.S. Aerial Performance

2016 Female Pole Champion
Angela Nelson, USA

Angela is an accomplished pole performer and competitor, and is the U.S. Aerial Women's Pole Champion 2016. She has a combined 20 years of experience with pole, gymnastics, various dance styles and stage performance. She is Co-Owner of The Moxy Movement, a movement studio in Utah offering pole, lyra, yoga and various dance styles. The space facilitates the mind/body/heart connection through physical movement. Angela is also a Licensed Massage Therapist and Structural Integration Practitioner, and uses this knowledge to enhance strength, alignment and balance through these movement arts. She is currently teaching various workshops related to pole dance and performance. Please see her website: moxymovement.com, follow on Facebook/Instagram: @moxymovement and @angelanelsondancer, email: moxymovement@gmail.com.  

Watch Angela's Winning U.S. Aerial Performance

 

2016 Female Lyra Champion
Darya Vintilova, Ukraine

Born into a circus family in Kiev (Ukraine), Darya began her assent into the world of circus at the age of 4. At 7, she worked alongside her parents in a hand-to-hand trio act, for Cirque du Soleil’s Saltimbanco. She won gold with swinging trapeze at the prestigious Cirque de Demain festival in Paris. She toured Cirque Du Soleil in Kooza, performing a trapeze act that she helped create. Darya has performed all over the world, winning a silver at the Latina Circus Festival in Italy, and appearing in the off-broadway show Queen of The Night. Since 2013 she has worked with 7 Fingers of the Hand.

Watch Darya's Winning U.S. Aerial Performance

 

Watch Mathieu's Winning U.S. Aerial Performance

 

Photos from the 2016 Championships

Photos by Cristian Buitron, Ed Esposito, Rich Riggins.
Click on a photo below to see the larger version. See more on Facebook.

 

Meet Our 2016 Sponsors

 
 

Click on any link below to visit a sponsor website and learn more about the products, services and experiences they offer to enhance your aerial life!