2014 BACAfest
A Modern Circus Arts Variety Show
This was the official site for the 2014 BACA (Bay Area Circus Arts Festival)
Content is from the site's 2014 archived pages as well as other outside sources.
In 2018 the BACAfest had returned in a different format. Called the EAST BAY JAM (Juggling And More), it was still a free, family and beginner-friendly event with informal activities, workshops and lessons of all kinds.
FRIDAY, OCT 3 5pm - Midnight | SATURDAY, OCT 4 9am - Midnight | SUNDAY, OCT 5 10am - 5pm
Art-In-Motion
A Modern Circus Arts Variety Show
We wish to express our appreciation for an important sponsor without whom this event would not have been possible. The dog lovers among us know GoodNightDog.com as a source for luxury dog beds graced with designer fabrics and elegant simplicity. These are suitable for both very large dogs and very small pups. The sweepstakes items are some of the latest bed designs. All our Bay Area dogs are deserving of these gorgeous beds, so please remember that the next time you look at your dog's current sleeping arrangements. You can enter the sweepstakes at their booth or at the main ticket booth.
SATURDAY, OCT 4, 7:30PM
Do NOT miss the main event! Our performers have been featured in Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Brothers, the Pickle Family Circus, TED Talks, on the Tonight Show and America’s Got Talent. This is serious talent in a great show and for a great cause – proceeds will benefit Maya Lin School, an arts-integrated and inquiry-based learning school in Alameda. Enjoy the show!
Hundreds of jugglers, unicyclists, aerialists, acrobats and more unite for THREE days to share skills, learn new tricks, and make new friends. Come join us and try something new!
FREE workshops from beginner to advanced skills offered all day – see the SCHEDULE for details.
Don’t miss the BIG SHOW Saturday night, juggling and unicycling games Sunday afternoon, and a special Renegade show Friday night at 10pm!
First timers? No problem! No experience necessary for the beginner workshops!
GETTING THERE
The festival will be at Alameda High School, Oak Street at Alameda Ave, Alameda, CA.
This is a FREE event! We love circus arts and work hard every year to create a great event as a community service. You can support the event by buying tickets to our big show on Saturday night: Art-In-Motion.
LINEUP
Confirmed performers: more to come!

Rick Rubenstein has been active in the world of juggling for nearly 30 years, first becoming obsessed with the pastime as a student at Carnegie-Mellon University. Upon graduating with a degree in drawing, he passed up a lucrative career as a starving artist in favor of a ludicrous career as a starving juggler. For a decade he and Jack Kalvan performed as the comedy juggling duo Clockwork, garnering praise for their originality and humor, as well as the occasional gig. Though he eventually retired from full-time performing to pursue a lugubrious career as a software engineer, Rick still frequently graces the stages of juggling and variety arts festivals around the world, where his quick wit has earned him the nickname “That guy who emcees a lot of juggling festival shows”.

Dan Holzman has been a professional entertainer for over 25 years, he has worked all over the world as a solo performer and as one half of the world famous Raspyni Brothers comedy juggling team. Dan holds two guinness book world records, The International Juggling Association’s Bobby May Award and Award of Excellence. Dan’s performances combine one of a kind juggling and balancing tricks with clever dialogue and humor. Dan has also performed as an opening act for Howie Mandel, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Jay Leno, Dennis Miller, Dana Carvy, Gary Shandling, Rosanne Barr, and Tom Jones. Dan has performed on our festival stage for many years, and emceed in 2012.

Anni Küpper, born in Bonn (D) 1988, is a performing artist specialized in juggling and object manipulation. She started juggling at the age of 14 not having a clue that it would once become her profession. Only at the age of 20 – after having received her diploma from secondary school and spending a year in South America working as volunteer – she gave it a go and applied for circus school. During the following years at École de Cirque Zofy (CH) and the Academy for Circus and Performance Art (NL), where she received her Bachelor diploma in 2013, she developed a striking juggling style. Her performances are shaped by conceptual ideas coming from Performance Art. Today Anni has been performing in several European countries as well as Israel and Gabun.

Master Ong, is a representation of our inner self. Many of us of this era are in search of the path or the direction towards the glorious sunset. But it lays within us, the direction, the answer, its the process not the product, the journey not the destination. The master in each of us lays within us, we are masters of our own time, our art. We have the power and the strength to summon as long as we know it exists within us. Love the plateau. Love thy practice. The route to mastery is a never ending one.

Michelle Musser first became a clown when she was 19 yrs old. When she was 21, she auditioned for Ringing Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus on a dare and the show gave her a contract right away. Michelle left three days later on the Ringling circus train where she traveled the entire U.S. In 2008 Michelle decide to come out to San Francisco where she graduated from the Clown Conservatory in 2009. Since then she has Performed with Circus World and Culpepper and Merrieweather Circus.

After a short stint on the East Coast and a performance in the Gala Show of the European Juggling Convention in Ireland Kyleis back in his home state of California. Kyle has developed his juggling style from the influence of the worldwide juggling community through online video. He works to integrate traditional juggling, contact juggling, and movement to make his juggling different.


A San Jose local, Chris has been practicing diabolo since 2003, originally under the watcful eye of Matt Hall in high school. He has taught and performed at various events around the Bay Area and upon going to college at UC Santa Cruz (2008-2012) ran the juggling club and Santa Cruz Juggling Festivals. Chris‘s diabolo style spins at the intersection of mechanical physics and the flows of playfulness.

Dragon is 16, and has been juggling for 3 years. He has performed for the California Revels with Jeff Raz, in the public show at the Santa Cruz juggling festival, at a variety of school events, and on the streets. His favorite things to do are pass loads of clubs between two people, do physics problems, play unicycle basketball, climb trees, and go mountain unicycling.




PRESS
2014 Bay Area Circus Arts Festival: Opening Night | East Bay
Meet some of the best jugglers, unicyclists, aerialists, object manipulators, artistic athletes, acrobats, and performers of all kinds on the west coast and watch in awe as they ply their craft at the 2014 Bay Area Circus Arts Festival.
Whether you’re a master manipulator, or are interested in learning how to start tossing three balls, this is the place for you.
Free workshops include juggling, unicycling, aerial, trapeze, tightwire, belly dance, rope dart, hooping, poi, whip cracking, ball spinning, crafting balloon animals, staff spinning, card tricks, and a Renegade Show that goes ’til midnight on Friday.
2014 Bay Area Circus Arts Festival
Friday-Sunday, October 3-5, 2014
Alameda High School, 2201 Encinal St, Alameda
FREE
- Friday, October 3 | 5 pm to midnight
- Saturday, October 4 | 9 am to 6 pm
- Sunday, October 5 | 10 am to 5 pm
All events are free, except for the Art In Motion Show at 7:30 pm on Saturday, October 4, 2014. Tickets are $15/adults; $5/children under 12. The main show features performers who have been in Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Brothers, on the Tonight Show and America’s Got Talent. >> Get $10 Tickets – Use discount code THANKS for $5 off tickets (only good for first 50 people).
2014 Festival Schedule
Friday, October 3
5 pm to midnight
- 6:00 pm: Juggling Basics
- 7:00 pm: Hat Tricks
- 7:00 pm: Unicycle Basketball
- 7:00 pm: Contact Club
- 7:30 pm: Fly Away With Us (Acroyoga)
- 8:00 pm: Multiball for All
- 9:00 pm: Intro to Whip Cracking
- 9:30 pm to Midnight: Renegade show
Saturday, October 4
9 am to 6 pm (ticketed show until midnight)
- 10:00 am: Unicycle Party Ride
- 10:00 am: Juggling Basics
- 10:30 am: Trapeze for Kids
- 11:00 am: Unicycle for All Ages
- 11:00 am: Learning and Teaching Club Passing
- 11:00 am: Contact Improvisation
- 11:00 am: Ball Spinning
- 11:00 am: Intro to Whip Cracking
- 12:00 pm: Untangling the Tanglr (Poi)
- 12:00 pm: Intro to Whip Cracking
- 12:00 pm: Diabolo Fundamentals
- 12:00 pm: Finding Flow: Beginner Hoop Dance
- 1:00 pm: Tightwire Basics
- 1:00 pm: Intro to Double Staff
- 1:00 pm: Funky Flow: Intermediate/Advanced Hoop Dance
- 1:00 pm: Card Magic
- 2:00 pm: Introduction to mountain unicycling (MUni)
- 2:00 pm: Intro to AcroYoga
- 2:00 pm: Aerial Dance – Off-site in Berkeley
- 2:00 pm: Fun and Simple Passing Patterns for 3-6 people
- 3:00 pm: My First MUni Ride
- 3:00 pm: Intro to Acroyoga
- 3:00 pm: Contact Juggling Fundamentals
- 3:00 pm: Belly Dance Basics
- 4:00 pm: Intro to Slackline
- 4:00 pm: No Hands Rope Dart
- 4:00 pm: Intro to acrobatics and partner acrobatics
- 4:00 pm: How to make Balloon Animals
- 4:00 pm: 7, 8, 9 club patters for 2 people
- 5:00 pm: Street Performance
- 5:00 pm: Trapeze for Kids
- 5:00 pm: Juggling Basics
- 5:00 pm: Double Staff Hybrids
- 7:30 pm: Art In Motion variety show (Tickets are $15/adults; $5/children under 12.)
Sunday, October 5
10 am to 5 pm
- 10:00 am: MUni ride
- 10:00 am: Juggling Basics
- 10:30 am: Trapeze for Kids
- 10:30 am: Honestly Vulnerable: Clowning for Stage
- 11:00 am: Intro to Slackline
- 11:00 am: Behind the Wheel (hoops)
- 11:00 am: 7, 8, 9 club patterns for 2 people
- 12:00 pm: Hoop Jam Skill Share
- 12:00 pm: Contact Club
- 12:00 pm: Ball on Head Balance
- 1:00 pm: Intro to Whip Cracking
- 1:00 pm: Intermediate/Advanced Contact Juggling
- 1:30 pm: Unicycling 101
- 2:00 pm: Lasso spinning
- 2:00 pm: Juggling Basics
- 2:00 pm: Intro to Acrobatics and Partner Acrobatics
- 2:00 pm: Games
GETTING THERE
The show venue is the beautiful Kofman Theatre at Alameda High School (2200 Central Ave, Alameda, CA).
Public Transit
The closest BART station is Fruitvale Station. The AC Transit 51A line from Fruitvale or downtown Oakland passes right by the venue, as does the AC Transit 20.
Driving
Park on the street, or there’s a parking garage a block away at 1416 Oak Street. The Oak Street garage is open 24 hours a day and is free after 5:00 PM.
Partners
Many thanks to the partners who are helping us make this all happen!
Athletic Playground invites and encourages its members to experience their inner-child through ease of body and mind, through awareness and connection with their whole bodies. They believe that moving your body is a truly FUN experience to be enjoyed by everyone!
Circus Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with programs and classes at all levels in acrobatics, flying trapeze, hand-balancing, contortion, juggling, teeterboard, wire-walking, clowning, and anything in the air, upside down, backwards, and seemingly impossible.
Our mission is to inspire passion for the circus arts through training, performance, and outreach.
Circus Moves arts education programs promote physical, social, emotional, and cognitive wellness in “ladies and gentleman and children of all ages” using the principles of developmental circus arts (DCA).
Recreational, developmental, and social circus programs on the move!
Clif Bar is a private, family and employee-owned company guided by five “bottom lines” or what we call our Five Aspirations: Sustaining our Business, Brands, People, Community and the Planet.
FunCheap.com is a San Francisco-based website which features recommendations of upwards of 50 affordable, fun and unique Bay Area events each week.
Maya Lin School is an arts integrated, inquiry-based magnet school that allows students the freedom to explore beyond the standards-based curriculum. In a safe, nurturing environment we foster smart, critical thinking kids who love art and know they can do anything.
Our mission is to embrace 21st century learning and the involvement of our community in building a dynamic school environment.
Upswing Aerial Dance Company specializes in merging dance with low flying trapeze (Motivity Trapeze), slings, bungees and rope & harness work. They offer a rare blend of creativity, aerial technique, improvisation, time and space to motivate the artist within you.
UpSwing pushes the boundaries of dance in the choreography and in the classes they teach.
Brian Frus of Given Light Photography aims for his images to reflect those special moments that tell an entire story in a fraction of a second. Fractions of a second that become treasures.