montana - “the last, best place.”

Born February 18, 1971 in Châteauroux France, Virgile Peyramaure grew up in show business. His father ran a small circus company, his mother was a wardrobe mistress. For a time Virgile considered a ballet career. But he eventually opted for the circus. At age fifteen he entered the Centre National des Arts du Cirque, the French state circus college in Châlons-en-Champagne, where he was trained and mentored by the legendary Claude Victoria.

Under the wing of Claude Victoria, he developed a hand-to-hand balancing act with another student at the Centre. Virgile embarked on a brilliant international career that took him to prominent venues such as Circus Knie in Switzerland, Cirque du Soleil in Canada, Circus Roncalli, Berlin’s Wintergarten in Germany, Paris’ Lido in France and many more around the world.

In 1995, Virgile won a Gold Medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris. He first performed his impressive act in the U.S. at the Big Apple Circus in 1996-97 and returned in 2000-01 for their farewell season. Virgile remained at the Big Apple Circus. He became a member of its resident company and performed there in a diverse variety of acrobatic acts. During that time he became Assistant Performance Director, in 2009 the Artistic Coordinator, and moved up to the position of Assistant Artistic Director of the Big Apple Circus in 2014.

In September 2017, Virgile was hired to coach the Handstand and Hand to Hand acts for the Cirque du Soleil show Crystal. Prior to the pandemic, Virgile was traveling throughout the United States teaching and sharing his thirty plus years of knowledge and experience within the acrobatic art of handstand and hand to hand. As well as teaching workshops, private and master classes at various New York City prominent venues like Pure Yoga, Alo Yoga, Google and many more. He currently teaches from home and online to the most determined and dedicated Handstanders

Benjamin Sears began practicing Yoga in 2001 to address serious back and knee injuries, and stuck around because the practice gave him a safe-haven to process a great loss. In 2017, Yoga Journal called him a “master.” He doesn’t buy it but is grateful for the kind words.

In 2007, Benjamin founded the LUXYOGA retreat in the South of France, an experience featured in Esquire, Yoga Journal, Vogue, the New York Times Magazine, and more. LUXYOGA now exists as a transformational experience both in person at retreats and trainings in the Paradise Valley of Montana, wherever Benjamin travels, and online. He conducts seminars worldwide, mentors yoga teachers, and leads acclaimed 200, 300 and 500 hour Yoga Alliance certified teacher training programs. Throughout the Covid-19 Pandemic, LUXYOGA’s online programs generated over $20,000 for charity and were credited by students around the world as a “lifeline” through the madness.

Benjamin believes in empowering students to make their own realizations with material that transcends dogma and simply uses concentration and consistency make magic. He teaches an ever-evolving integration of Yoga, mobility science, breath-work, and meditation, and is renowned for connecting the dots with clarity, humor, and for laughing at his own jokes. Benjamin has certifications in Katonah, Bikram, Forrest, Dharma Mittra Yoga, and Functional Range Conditioning, as well as studies within the Ido Portal Method, Ashtanga Yoga, Mindfulness Meditation, Wim Hoff Breathwork, The Oxygen Advantage, and Marma Ayurveda. He is obsessed with practice, committed to the evolution of his work, loves to cook, spend time in nature, make fires, and go to museums in cool outfits while traveling. Do not allow him more than one sip of a caffeinated beverage.