Acro dance is a style of
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
that combines
classical dance technique with precision
acrobatic elements. It is defined by its athletic character, its unique
choreography
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...
, which seamlessly blends dance and acrobatics, and its use of acrobatics in a dance context.
It is a popular dance style in amateur
competitive dance as well as in professional dance theater and in
contemporary circus productions such as those by
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...
. This is in contrast to
acrobatic,
artistic and
rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...
, which are sports that employ dance elements in a gymnastics context under the auspices of a governing gymnastics organization (such as
FIG
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
) and subject to a
Code of Points. Acro dance is known by various other names including ''acrobatic dance'' and ''gymnastic dance'', though it is most commonly referred to simply as ''acro'' by dancers and dance professionals.
Acro is an especially challenging
dance style
This is a list of dance categories, different types, styles, or genres of dance.
For older and more region-oriented vernacular dance styles, see List of ethnic, regional, and folk dances by origin.''
African and American
*Bolojo
*Cakewalk
*Pa ...
for dancers as it requires them to be trained in both dance and acrobatic skills.
History
![La Sylphe02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/La_Sylphe02.JPG)
Acrobatic dance emerged in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
in the early 1900s, as one of the types of acts performed in
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
. Although individual dance and acrobatic acts had been performed in vaudeville for several decades prior to 1900, it was not until the early 1900s that it became popular to perform acts that combined dance and acrobatic movements.
Acrobatic dance did not suddenly appear in vaudeville; rather, it appeared gradually over time in a variety of forms, and consequently no individual performer has been cited as its originator. Sherman Coates (1872–1912),
who performed with the Watermelon Trust from 1900 to 1914, was recalled by fellow dancers as the first acrobatic dancer they had ever seen. Another of the earliest documented acrobatic dance performers was Tommy Woods, who became well known for his slow-motion acrobatic dance in ''
Shuffle Along
''Shuffle Along'' is a musical composed by Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle, and a book written by the comedy duo Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. One of the most notable all-Black hit Broadway shows, it was a landmark in African-America ...
'', in which he would execute acrobatic movements precisely in time with the music. In 1914, acrobat Lulu Coates formed the Crackerjacks, a popular vaudeville troupe that included acrobatic dance in their performance repertoire up until the group disbanded in 1952. Many other popular vaudeville companies combined acrobatics and dance in their shows, including the Gaines Brothers.
Since the decline of the vaudeville era, acrobatic dance has undergone a multi-faceted evolution to arrive at its present-day form. The most significant aspect of this evolution is the integration of
ballet technique
Ballet technique is the foundational principles of body movement and form used in ballet. It is an important aspect of ballet performance because ballet (especially classical ballet) puts great emphasis on the method and execution of movement., pp. ...
as the foundation for dance movements, thus bringing into acro dance a precision of form and movement that was absent in vaudeville acrobatic dance. Also, vaudeville acrobatic dances were often little more than acrobatics set to music, whereas modern acro dance is fundamentally dance, with its acrobatic movements performed in a dance context.
Characteristics
A defining characteristic of acro is the smooth, graceful transitions between dance and acrobatic movements. Also, a dance must have a significant percentage of dance movement, with respect to its acrobatic content, in order for it to be categorized as acro. For example, a gymnastics
floor exercise is not considered to be acro because it has little or no dance movement compared to its acrobatic content, and also because it lacks smooth transitions between dance and gymnastic movements. Also, acro does not employ supporting apparatus such as those used in acrobatic gymnastics.
Dance technique
The dance movements in acro are founded in
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
,
lyrical
Lyrical may refer to:
*Lyrics, or words in songs
*Lyrical dance, a style of dancing
*Emotional, expressing strong feelings
*Lyric poetry, poetry that expresses a subjective, personal point of view
*Lyric video
A music video is a video of variab ...
and
modern dance styles. Acro dance movements are not restricted to these dance styles, but the complete absence of these styles will typically cause a dance to be categorized as something other than acro (e.g.,
breakdance
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...
).
Acrobatic elements
The acrobatic movements and acts of balance performed in an acro dance are referred to as ''tricks''. A variety of tricks are commonly performed in acro dance, varying widely in complexity and the skills required to perform them. Aside from the obvious requirement that dancers possess the requisite skills to perform tricks, the types of tricks that can be performed in an acro dance depends on the number of dancers.
Solo tricks can be performed by independent dancers in
solo
Solo or SOLO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Comics
* ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series
* Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics
Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...
or group dances. Examples of this are:
[
]
Double tricks—also known as ''partnering tricks''—can only be performed by a pair of dancers. An example of this is the ''pitch tuck'', in which one dancer forms a "saddle" with his hands. The second dancer steps onto the saddle and then the first dancer thrusts the saddle upward. The second dancer, who is propelled upward with back rotation, lands on her feet after a complete revolution in the air. Acro partners will sometimes execute lifts and
adagio
Adagio (Italian for 'slowly', ) may refer to:
Music
* Adagio, a Tempo#Basic tempo markings, tempo marking, indicating that music is to be played slowly, or a composition intended to be played in this manner
* Adagio (band), a French progressive m ...
in addition to single and double tricks.
Group tricks generally require three or more dancers. Examples of this are:
*
Bridge pyramid
*Triple cartwheel
Apparel
Footwear
Acro dances are typically performed on hard stages with widely varying surfaces. Such floors differ substantially from a
gymnastics floor, which is constructed by layering a standard surface over cushioning foam and spring floor. Whereas gymnasts perform
barefoot and rely on the standard gymnastics floor for traction and cushioning, acro dancers seldom dance barefoot, instead depending on footwear such as acro shoes or foot thongs to provide the necessary traction and cushioning.
All of the most common types of acro footwear provide both traction and cushioning. In addition, acro performance surfaces are frequently rough, so acro footwear must protect the bottom of the foot from skin abrasion.
Abrasion protection is particularly important on the ball of the foot, which is subjected to a great deal of
friction
Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction:
*Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of t ...
during
dance turn
In dance and gymnastics, a turn is a rotation of the body about the vertical axis. It is usually a complete rotation of the body, although quarter (90°) and half (180°) turns are possible for some types of turns. Multiple, consecutive turns are ...
s and leaps.
Traction is essential to prevent lateral slipping that could result in dangerous falls to the hard floor.
Cushioning
Package cushioning is used to protect items during shipment. Vibration and impact shock during shipment and loading/unloading are controlled by cushioning to reduce the chance of product damage.
Cushioning is usually inside a shipping container s ...
serves to soften the impact when performing tricks such as tucks and layouts, in which a dancer's feet may strike the floor at high
velocity
Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity is a ...
. Cushioning is especially important when a
Marley floor A performance surface is a flooring suitable for dance or sport. Performance surfaces are normally laid on top of, or are part of, a sprung floor to produce a complete dance floor or sports floor.
Dance performance surfaces made of sheet vinyl ar ...
is unavailable, because uncovered performance surfaces have no cushioning whatsoever and thus may be extremely hard and unyielding.
Acro shoes
Acro dancers most often wear
jazz dance shoe
A jazz shoe is a type of shoe worn by dancers. They were popularized in jazz dance and other styles of dance including acro dance, acrobatic rock'n'roll, and in other activities, such as aerobics. Jazz dance can be done in any type of shoe, Jazz or ...
s, which are commonly referred to as ''acro shoes'' by acro dancers. Acro shoes are called ''jazz boots'', ''jazz ankle boots'', ''jazz booties'' and other names, by their various manufacturers. They are typically laceless, slip-on shoes, with tight-fitting leather uppers that are designed to prevent the dancer's feet from shifting inside the shoes. Because of their thin, pliable leather uppers and split soles, acro shoes have excellent flexibility, thus enabling dancers to attain both good dance form and acrobatic control. The sole is made of soft, composite rubber so as to provide both high traction and cushioning, and it provides excellent protection from skin abrasion as it covers the entire bottom of the foot.
Foot thongs
Less commonly, acro dancers may wear ''foot thongs'', which are variously called ''Dance Paws'' and ''FootUndeez'', depending on the manufacturer. Foot thongs—which are slip-on, partial foot covers that protect only the ball of the foot—are sometimes preferred over acro shoes for aesthetic reasons. In particular, flesh colored foot thongs endow the wearer with the appearance of having bare feet, while retaining some degree of the traction, cushioning, and abrasion protection provided by acro shoes.
Clothing
Acro dancers commonly wear flexible, form-fitting clothing for both
safety
Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Meanings
There are ...
and
aesthetic
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...
reasons. Form-fitting clothing is preferred over loose clothing because the latter does not move
synchronously with the body and thus may interfere with a dancer's ability to maintain control. This is especially important when a dancer is performing tricks, as loss of control can lead to serious injury. Aside from the safety aspect, form-fitting clothing also helps to expose a dancer's body lines, which can add significantly to the visual impact of an acro dance performance.
Competitive acro dancers frequently wear
costumes when performing at dance competitions. Acro costumes often have loose
fabric
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
pieces such as short
skirts, but the sizes and locations of these pieces are carefully calculated to ensure that they pose no safety risks. As an extra safety measure, skirts are sometimes pinned or stitched at the back below the waistline so that they will not hang at full length when the dancer is inverted, as in
hand walking; this prevents the skirt—which might otherwise become entangled in the dancer's hair or costume
headpiece—from contacting the dancer's head.
Competitive acro
Acro dance is not uniformly defined within the
competitive dance industry.
Some dance competition companies require an acro routine to have a minimum of four or five tricks with at most fifty percent acrobatic content. Other companies require an acro routine to have exactly, or more than, fifty percent acrobatic content. Also, at some competitions an acro dance may fit into an explicitly defined "acro dance" performance category, while at others it may fall into a similar category such as "acro/gym," or an alternative category such as "open." Because of these differences, it may be necessary to enter a specific acro routine into different performance categories at different competitions.
See also
*
Acro dance moves (category)
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acro Dance
Concert dance
Competitive dance
Circus skills
Dance terminology