Teachers — Handstand Fiesta Festival Valencia
Here are some of the teachers from previous editions:
Past teachers
Teachers from Handstand Fiesta editions in Valencia, 2024–2026.
Mau Jara
Costa Rica
Over 20 years in handbalancing. Teaches at INAC, the national circus school in Portugal, and performed with Punto Muerto.
Eamonn Doran
Ireland
Founder of Handstand Fiesta. Trained at the London School of Handbalance with Sainbayar Janchivdorj and Sammy Dinneen.
Elaine Briant
France
DOCH Stockholm graduate. Solo, duo and group work across Europe, including Duo Bulldogs and Right Way Down.
Antonio “Tony” Panaro
Eleven years of artistic gymnastics, then FLIC Turin and DOCH Stockholm. Works with Cirkus Cirkör, Right Way Down and Duo Bulldogs.
Katrijn De Wilde
Belgium
Handbalancer and flyer with a master’s in Sports and Movement Sciences. Teaches at intensives and festivals across Europe.
Javier Garrido
Spain
Canes specialist, training towards 6 metres on stacked canes. Runs Evolution Calisthenics.
Vasiliki “Vaso” Anastopoulou
Greece
Handbalancer and circus artist. Trained under Mau Jara in Portugal; performs and teaches across Italy and Spain.
Pepo Llabrés
Mallorca
Handbalancer and physiotherapist.
Julieta Tissera & Luis Mantilla
Proyecto Recóndito
Movement duo working with floor work, partnering and handstands.
Silje
Nestor
Ángela
Mauricio Jara
Mauricio Jara is a professional handbalancer from Costa Rica, who has dedicated most of his years to the study and practice of handstands.
He began as a floor acrobat, and did one year of competitive gymnastics before starting his journey in the handstand discipline. He was a pioneer handstand specialist in Costa Rica, were he developed his own method of training, and starting teaching handstands as a main discipline.
He started performing at that same time, with a contemporary circus company called Punto Muerto, and as a freelance. In 2016 he traveled to Europe and trained with handstand teachers like Claude Victoria.
Since 2018 Mauricio is working at circus school Instituto Nacional de Artes do Circo in Portugal, where he continues both performing and teaching handstands as a main discipline.
Eamonn Doran
Eamonn Doran is an Irish handbalancer currently living in Valencia. He began his regular handstand practice in 2017 while working in IT, attending classes at the London School of Handbalance with teachers Sainbayar Janchivdorj and Sammy Dinneen. Before focusing on handbalancing, Eamonn practiced Ashtanga yoga and AcroYoga. He also enjoys distance running and has completed several marathons. In 2023, he started performing and now teaches handstands through workshops, sharing his growing knowledge and passion with others.
ELAINE BRIANT
Elaine is a french handbalancer who completed her circus education at Stockholm's DOCH circus school. She is regularly involved in solo and duo work, as well as group collaborations all over on Europe.
As a handbalancer, Elaine is always happy to push the limits of technique using her imagination in a fun and playful way. With her natural high energy, she is engaged in sharing her knowledge and curiosity with others through teaching and exchanging. With her backgrounds as a gymnast, dancer and piano player, she nourishes her practice from these fields.
As a performer she has been part of very various types of shows: for kids (kompani giraff), site specific (rightwaydown), theater (collectif d'equilibristes), street shows (cie trait d'esprit), variete (@bulldogsduo with @antoniopanaro) and she also recently directed a short handstand movie (Noon).
Antonio Tony Panaro
ANTONIO TONY PANARO Eleven years of artistic gymnastics. Two years of circus education in FLIC Scuola di Circo in Turin, Italy. Graduated at DOCH (University of Dance and Circus) / SKH (University of the Arts) in 2020. Circus artist, hand balancer and acrobat. Tony is currently working with different companies and projects in Europe: Fabbrica C, Circus Cirkör, Right Way Down e Duo Bulldogs (together with Elaine Briant). He teaches handstand mainly through workshops and private classes.
KATRIJN DE WILDE
Kat is a handbalancer and flyer from Belgium. She started acrobatic gymnastics at the age of 6, after that, she spent a solid 10 years teaching herself the art of handbalancing : refining her skills through persistence and a love for the craft.
She continued following her passion and obtained her Masters degree in Sports and Movement Sciences as well as her teaching degree in 2016 from the University of Leuven.
After stepping into the circus world 8 years ago, Kat had the opportunity to meet and train with incredible international handbalancers and acrobats. Since then, she has been traveling across Europe, sharing her passion through teaching at intensive training weekends, festivals and online coaching.
The time she doesn't spend on her hands she enjoys DIY renovation projects. Her latest adventure? Together with her partner she took the plunge and bought a piece of land in Germany with a historic church to transform it in a handstand- acro- cultural haven.
JAVIER GARRIDO
JAVIER GARRIDO is a Spanish professional handbalancer, he has dedicated most of his practice time to reaching the maximum height in canes, he started as a ground acrobat, doing parkour tricks, he always learned alone, watching videos on the internet, today he is the boss of a gym called (Evolution calisthenics) He has currently reached 5.80 meters tall, he wants to reach the world record this year by exceeding 6 meters in height on intertwined canes. He dedicates most of his time to teaching in-person classes and online handstand classes and performing numbers and shows for various entertainment or theater companies.