Acrobatic Dance: What is it, is it safe, benefits & more! -

For years, audiences have been wowed by breathtaking performances that bring together graceful dancing and gravity-defying stunts. This challenging, beautiful dance form is known as acrobatic dance. If you’re considering diving into the world of acrobatic dance, we’ve got you covered with all the information you need before you take the first step.

What is acrobatic dance?

Acrobatic dance, dubbed “acro dance” or “acro” by dancers, is just as its name implies: a combination of dance and acrobatics. It incorporates tricks like handstands or back flips into dance forms such as ballet, jazz, and contemporary dance.

Acro dance simultaneously aims to express emotions and thrill audiences. Its key components are flexibility, strength, balancing, limbering, and tumbling. Dancers undergo rigorous training to ensure they have the foundation necessary to perform tricks safely and effortlessly. While the path to becoming a proficient acrobatic dancer might be long and challenging, acro dancing is an immensely rewarding dance style that can be very beneficial to dancers.

Here’s a stunning acrobatic dance routine performed by duo Alex and Felice:

How is acrobatic dance different from gymnastics?

Acrobatic Dance	Gymnastics
At least 50% dance	Main focus is on moves
Softer, more lyrical	Highly competitive, meticulous
Hard dance floor or stage used	Spring-floor used
Height in jumps achieved through lift from dancer’s bodies	Height in jumps achieved through bouncing off spring-floor
No equipment	Involves equipment like beams or bars
Tricks weaved into dance	Any use of dance is only for transitions
Lower impact stunts and contortion	High impact stunts
Grace is prioritized	Movement height and power are prioritized
Usually performed in groups	Usually performed solo
More room for creativity	More rigid (eg. points deducted for mistakes made)

Acro dance and gymnastics differ in lots of ways. However, they have quite a few similarities too. Both acro dance and gymnastics —

involve visually impressive stunts
hone a person’s strength, balance, and flexibility
include both dancing and stunts (although in different proportions and using different techniques)
require plenty of discipline to master

Is acrobatic dance a sport or an art form?

Because of its expressive quality and allowance for creativity, acro dance is normally considered an art form rather than a sport. While it involves challenging tricks, the emphasis of acro dance is on the dancing.

Is acrobatic dance safe?

As with any other form of dance or rigorous physical activity, there are risks that come with acro dance. The best way to keep yourself safe when learning acro dance is to ensure you choose a class with a certified instructor and to be patient with your progress.

A certified acro dance instructor will teach students the proper form for performing tricks. This is crucial to minimize the possibility of injury. Certified instructors will also know how to spot students, which means they can safely assist them in carrying out a trick.

Acro dance is a progressive skill, so being patient is of utmost importance. You won’t leave your first class doing back flips and this can be frustrating, especially for young children. Everyone wants to show off the tricks they’ve learned! However, taking things one step at a time is important to help you gain muscle memory and safely progress from one skill to the next.

Your acro dance teacher will start with the most foundational skills and slowly build on them. An example of progressive learning in an acro dance class is learning a cartwheel before moving on to a side aerial and then a front aerial. Rushing through the basics or skipping steps will lead to greater risk of injury down the road. Besides the risk of falling or pulling a muscle, you could also give yourself a chronic injury if you repeatedly perform tricks with the wrong technique.

How long does it take to be proficient at acro dance?

It can take a few years to build the foundation for acro dance.

Students who jump into acro dance lessons thinking they’ll get to do cool tricks immediately usually become discouraged and end up quitting long before they get to those tricks. Go into this amazing style of dance knowing that it might take a while to develop your skills.

Soreness, tiredness, bumps, and bruises are to be expected in the early days. But you’ll get stronger and more skilled with every practice session, and the results will be worth it!

Does a teacher need to be qualified to teach acro dance?

Yes, a teacher will need to be qualified to teach acro dance.

There are several companies that offer acro dance teacher certifications, including Acrobatic Arts, Acro Dance Teachers Association, and Acrotrix. Certified teachers will have undergone comprehensive training on how to safely and effectively instruct and spot students in acro dance.

When researching acro dance classes, ensure the dance school you choose only hires certified teachers.

What does a good acrobatic dance curriculum look like?

A good acro dance curriculum will teach the most basic, foundational skills first and gradually build on them. Students should be doing drills on every new skill to gain muscle memory.

Any curriculum that rushes students or jumps straight into “impressive” tricks is not a trustworthy one.

What are key movements in acrobatic dance?

Although acro dance is usually performed in groups, there are lots of key movements dancers can practice and perform on their own too. Some single tricks include:

Headstand

Headstands are one of the basics in acro dance. Once dancers can balance on their heads, they can progress by trying to balance on their elbows or hands. A headstand is done with the top of the dancer’s head balanced on the ground and their legs in the air. The position of the dancer’s legs can vary—there are straight headstands, tuck headstands, straddle headstands, stag headstands, and more.

Elbow stand

Once a dancer has mastered headstands, they can progress to elbow stands. As the name suggests, this involves balancing on one’s elbows. It’s an impressive-looking trick and helps dancers to build up the strength required to take on even harder tricks in the future. Like with headstands, the leg position for elbow stands can vary.

Handstand

Performing a handstand requires lots of strength in your shoulders and arms. Dancers usually attempt handstands against a wall before trying to do them without assistance. Plenty of practice goes into mastering handstands, and you will probably start off only holding a handstand for a couple of seconds until you gain more strength and improve your balance.

Cartwheel

Cartwheels are a fun acro dance trick that you might already be familiar with. Dancers start off standing upright with their arms in the air. Then, they put their hands on the ground and turn in a sideways movement with their legs extended. Knowing how to do a cartwheel will give you the necessary foundation for performing aerials or doing double cartwheels with a partner.

Front and back walkovers

A front walkover starts out the same way that a cartwheel does, with the dancer standing upright with their arms in the air. However, instead of inverting themselves sideways, the dancer plants their hands forwards on the ground and moves their legs through the air to propel themselves in a forward motion.

Back walkovers involve a dancer going into a bridge from the initial standing position and then moving their legs over their heads in a backward motion.

Valdez

After a dancer has mastered a back walkover, they can move on to learning to do a valdez. A valdez is essentially a back walkover, but starting from a seated position. Doing a valdez is a lot more difficult than doing a back walkover because you won’t have as much momentum and will have to rely on your body’s strength to push yourself through the movement.

Here’s a video that demonstrates all these tricks as well as 93 others:

Acro dancers also learn double tricks (stunts done in pairs) such as double cartwheels, pitch tucks, and shoulder stands, and group tricks (stunts done with three or more dancers) such as forming bridge pyramids.

What are the benefits of acrobatic dance?

Builds strength

Acro dance tricks make use of muscle groups from all over a dancer’s body. Doing acro dance will improve your upper body strength, lower body strength, and core strength. It’s an excellent form of exercise!

Improves balance

With great core strength comes great balance—and did you know that having good balance comes with a whole range of advantages? People with good balance have faster reflexes, better posture, and clearer minds, and they’re less prone to injury. Acro dancers stand on their heads, elbows, and hands as well as on the shoulders of other dancers, so their balancing skills can’t be beat!

Increases flexibility

Acro dance classes involve lots of stretching to help dancers become more flexible. This flexibility is required for many of the tricks acro dancers will learn. Being more flexible means your muscles are working more effectively, you’ll experience fewer aches and pains, and you’ll have a greater range of motion.

Boosts confidence

As you get stronger and master more tricks, you’ll find yourself becoming more confident. Acro dancing definitely isn’t easy, and your confidence will grow as you find yourself able to perform tricks you couldn’t do months or years ago. This confidence will shine through in all parts of your life!

What are the prerequisites for a beginner in acrobatic dance?

Usually, there are no prerequisites to attend a beginner acro dance class. You don’t need to have any experience in dance or gymnastics to join your first class. The instructors will guide you from the start and through the very basics, so don’t worry if you’re not very flexible or have never done a cartwheel before. Everyone has to start somewhere!

Acrobatic dance history

Acro dance is believed to have its roots in traditional Chinese dance. It became popular in the US in the 1900s when it was performed in vaudeville (a theatrical genre of variety entertainment) alongside other forms of entertainment such as magic shows and comedy acts. Several acro dance troupes were established at this time, such as Watermelon Trust, The Crackerjacks, and the Gaines Brothers.

Although vaudeville’s popularity decreased by the 1950s, acro dance didn’t disappear. It continued to evolve, and a few decades later, Cirque du Soleil was started in Quebec. The troupe is now one of the most famous examples of acro dance worldwide. Several other acro dance troupes have been founded since.

The future of acrobatic dance

Acro dance remains extremely popular today, especially with TV shows like Dance Moms, America’s Got Talent, and So You Think You Can Dance continueing to shine a spotlight on this remarkable art form. Many dance schools offer acro dance classes that range from beginner to advanced.

What is involved in an acrobatic dance class?

Most dance schools offer beginner, intermediate, and advanced acro dance classes. What’s covered in an acro dance class depends on the level of the class. Generally, an acro dance class will involve cardio movement, stretching, balancing, and strengthening. There may be a section of the class where you will work with a partner to help develop teamwork and allow dancers to practice double tricks.

What to wear to an acrobatic dance class

The attire for an acro dance class is usually a leotard with tight-fitting leggings or shorts. This is because loose clothing may pose a safety hazard. If your hair is longer, you will probably want to pull it back into a secure ponytail or bun. Acro dance is typically done barefoot, but some dance schools will request for students to wear slip-on shoes or foot thongs.

Acrobatic Dance: What is it, is it safe, benefits & more!