Acro Mel
Partner Acrobatics & Acro Yoga
Acro includes acro yoga, high standing acrobatics like hand to hand, adagio, acrobalance, or acro dance, banquine, cheer-style stunting and basket tossing, and partner Thai therapeutics. Classes range from beginner to advanced! Workshops range from one to four hours in length, depending on number of students and ability level.
Workshops
Intro to Hand to Hand
Students will learn hand to hand and reverse hand to hand grips for both base and flyer, two-high entrance for standing hand to hand, L-base hand to hand practice, tempo for flyer and base, spotting, exiting, and tips for balance.
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Beginner: learn the art of the hand grip and exercises between base and flyer that will support hand to hand development, low hand to hand such as L-sit and straddle sit in L-basing.
Intermediate: low hand to hand L-basing, jumping into low hand to hand, twisting out, L-basing from start and relevant variations
Advanced: intro to high hand to hand with supported spot, learning tempos and jumping in
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Standing hand to hand prerequisites for intermediate and advanced: flyers should be able to hold a handstand with spot for a minimum of 30 seconds; bases should be able to bench press minimum of 50 kg or 110 lbs.
Hand to Hand Entrances, Exits, and Sequences
Learn fun new entrance, exits, and sequences to hand to hand, including forearm up, booty pop, tom poms, cut throughs, handstand shape variations. Intro to inlocates and relocates.
Prerequisites: flyers and bases should be able to hold a minimum five second standing hand to hand without spot
Foot to Hand
Starting out for standing stunting? As a pre-curser to hand to hand and a good way to learn high acro, focus on L-basing and standing partner foot to hand, second basing and spotting techniques, as well as the different entrances into foot to hand and reverse foot to hand. Students will also learn varying grips and standing posture for flyers.
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Beginner: intro to foot to hand L-basing, pistons L-basing, learning extension foot to hand, intro to standing foot to hand
Intermediate: standing foot to hand, entrances into standing foot to hand such as two high step in and post up, intro to reverse foot to hand
Advanced: standing foot to hand, toss to foot to hand, walk into reverse foot to hand, toss to reverse foot to hand, and post up. Focusing on tosses in and out.
High Acro
High acro is great for students who love standing acrobatics, either in twos or groups. Standing acro can include some pre-hand to hand variations as well as hand to hand.
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Beginner: students should be comfortable with two highs and moves include cathedral and high L-sit
Intermediate: learning tosses, working in and out of hand to hand, varying entrances into side star
Advanced: working in and out of hand to hand such as toss up to bridge (foot to hand and hand to hand) to extension to hand to hand
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Prerequisites: students should be comfortable getting in and out of two highs, foot to hand, and hand to hand for advanced workshops.
Cheer Style Quad Stunting
Cheer stunting with two bases is fantastic for students who want to introduce themselves to high acro and standing stunting! The technique for cheerleading is great for both bases and flyers as well as spotters! With two to four bases, flyers can feel more secure in the air and bases can share the balance of weight getting used to holding a flyer. For all levels, beginners, intermediate, and advanced students!
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Beginner: thigh stands, basics into elevator, extension, and cradle catch,
Intermediate: elevator, extension, high cradle catching, twisting
Advanced: extension stunting, single leg holds high and low, twisting
Banquine and Basket Tossing
Love flying through the air or tossing people into the air? Learn the art of banquine and basket tossing! Two different styles depending on students' current acro levels! Learn how to grip, throw, catch, fly, and flip!
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Beginner: intro into the differences into basket tossing and banquine, basket tossing with cradle catch and banquine starts
Intermediate: basket tosses to cradle, banquine starts, stomach pops, cradle, and twists
Advanced: basket tossing to cradle, banquine starts and finishes, twists and saltos (recommended for the use of lines/safety belt for salto banquine finishes).
Cheer Stunting & Basket Tossing
This workshop is great for all levels of students interesting in learning cheer style stunting as well as tosses and how to catch, spot, and fly correctly. This workshop is for groups of at least three or more. Students will learn the basics of cheer stunting and how to translate this knowledge into basket tossing and banquine.
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Beginner: basics into elevator and cradle catch, intro to basket tossing
Intermediate: elevator, extension, high cradle catching, basket tossing and twisting
Advanced: extension stunting, single leg holds high and low, basket tossing, twisting, and saltos.
L-Basing & Acro Yoga
L-basing and acro yoga is a form of partner acrobatics that takes place with bases on the floor on their backs holding flyers up with hands and/or feet. Classes range from beginner to advanced poses to washing machine flows. These classes are great for students being introduced to acro and acro yoga.
Thai Therapeutics Partner Acro (L-Basing)
Need to relax? This workshop combines L-basing with Thai massage. Students will learn and introduction to Thai massage practices in yoga, massage, and acro contexts. Great for learning acro as well as getting a massage! For students still learning the basics to acro yoga and L-basing.
Acro & Thai Therapeutics (L-Basing)
Interested in learning acro and Thai massage and combining them? This workshop is great for beginners and intermediate students looking for a thorough introduction to the different types of acro. Students will learn different combinations and sequences in both traditional acro L-basing and Thai therapeutics.
Standing Partner Acro & Counterbalancing
This workshop is great as an introduction to standing acrobatics and learning to work with a partner. Poses and combinations include counterweighting, standing acrobatics, group work, and pyramids, as students will learn how to balance different weight combinations and how to adjust weight for control. For students who are pre-hand to hand.
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Beginner: intro to two high, standing counterweighting,
Intermediate: two high variations, standing counterweighting, high bird, back bird
Advanced: calf popping, princess down, straddle hold in extension hand to hand, tempo entrances, high side star
Pyramids and Groups
This class is great for group work, from standing and L-basing to hand balancing and counterweighted two highs and everything in between! Great for beginner to advanced acrobats!
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Beginner: L-basing pyramids, with mostly four points of contact, L-basing and standing, for example, L-base to feet on back, to standing on thighs or front bird
Intermediate: standing basing and pyramids, two to four points of contact, including cathedral, front bird on hands, shoulder standing, and handstands
Advanced: standing pyramids, two points of contact, single base two flyers, intro to three highs (safety belt required), two bases one flyer
Adagio
Adagio is the art of partner acrobatics mixing acrobatics and dance! Learn flows and transitions to connect poses and sequences. Adagio is great for students looking to give their partner acro moves a performance style quality and grace! Sequences include high acro with the base standing as well as low acro where the base is on the floor.
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Beginner: low standing and L-basing adagio, introduction to standing adagio, including assisted front walkover from L-base and front bird on shoulder
Intermediate: standing adagio (high lifts) and introduction to dynamics, including front bird, back bird, high side star, assisted standing walkovers
Advanced: standing adagio, dynamic movements including tosses, saltos, and spins, including toss to reverse buffet to front salto and deadlift to roll down
Traditional Dance Lifts
Dance lifts focus on traditional male/female dance lifts as seen in Dirty Dancing and So You Think You Think You Can Dance, such as high bird, swan, helicopter, back bird, and lifts that can be choreographed as transitions within jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and pop pieces.
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Beginner: dance lifts include entrances and exits into basic partner lifts, such as swan, toss ups, and hip hold swing
Intermediate: working with more dynamic movements that require additional strength such as high bird, jump to shoulder sit, and toss up to twist down
Advanced: movement is more dynamic in nature, such as helicopter, split jump, and layback exits
Non-Traditional Dance Lifts
Non-traditional dance lifts are great for male/male and female/female pieces as well as male/female pieces that want to veer away from traditional male base/female flyer. This is also great for male/female partnerships where both dancers are of similar size. Lifts include double cartwheels, backbends, jumps, leaps, as well as jumps and leaps that don't require touch but are choreographed together in unison (e.g., one dancer jumps while the second rolls underneath).
