New Victory Arts Break: Partner Acro Adventure

Today we’re going on an adventure, and not just any adventure—an acrobatic adventure! We’ll be exploring different ways of stretching, balancing and holding some very exciting family acro tricks and poses. Follow along with New Victory Teaching Artist Gyana Mella as she guides us through the multiple legs of this journey across four videos!

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Before we begin, please keep in mind that, due to the physical nature of these activities, adult supervision is required. Please also respect your own limitations and the physical limitations of your friends and family doing these acrobatic tricks along with you. We want everyone to stay safe. Now, let’s join Gyana in this Family Acro Adventure!

Some of the videos in this Arts Break were filmed at the New Victory Theater. We acknowledge that New Victory resides on the seized homeland of the Lenape people and the intertribal territory of many First Nations. We celebrate and pay deep respect to all Indigenous peoples, past, present and future.

Before we dive into any serious acro tricks, it’s important to warm up our bodies and prepare ourselves to stretch, balance and hold! In this first stop in our Partner Acro Adventure, Gyana will guide us through a warmup and introduce some acro safety tips, with help from New 42 Youth Corps members Mana and Keyleen! Let’s get started.

Ready to warm up? Find an open space free of furniture or other objects, put on some comfy clothes that you can move around in, and let’s get started.

Standing Arm Circles

Step One: Stand with your legs shoulder-distance apart and both of your arms out to the side like wings. Don’t fly away!

Step Two: Straighten your arms and move them in little circles around and around. Keep the circles small and see how many you can do!

Lunges

Step One: It’s lunge time! Stand with your feet hip-distance apart. Take a step forward on one foot, but keep that other foot where it is.

Step Two: Bend your knees so your front leg and back leg are both bent.

Step Three: Come back up so both of your feet are together again, and then repeat with alternating legs!

Cat and Cow Stretches

Step One: This is a great stretch for your spine! Start on the floor on all fours with your arms directly under your shoulders and your knees in line with your hands (like a cat or a cow). Declare which animal you are with either a moo or a meow!

Step Two: If you’re starting as a cow, lift up your head and arch your back downward like the letter U. If you’re starting as a cat, lower your head and arch your back upward like… an upside-down U.

Step Three: Slowly switch back and forth between the two poses. Moo, meow, moo, meow!

Jumping Jacks

Step One: Let’s do some jumping jacks! Stand with your feet wide apart and your arms up in the air above your head. Then jump! your feet together and your arms down to your sides.

Step Two: Now jump! your feet apart and your arms up over your head. Keep going and see how many you can do!

Now that we’re all warmed up, there’s one more thing we need to cover. To keep everybody safe and secure while learning these acrobatic tricks, it’s important to practice the right way of holding onto each other. We don’t hold hands—we lock forearms. A circus grip!

Step One: Stand facing your partner. One partner extends their arms with palms facing up, and the other partner extends their arms on top of their partner’s arms with palms facing down.

Step Two: Both partners grab hold of each other’s forearms.

Now that we have a clear space in our home, understand circus grip, and are nice and warmed up, it’s time to continue our Partner Acro Adventure. Let’s follow Gyana to the next video!

For our next stop in this adventure, we will learn about counterbalancing, also known as weight-sharing. Gyana, Mana and Keyleen are back and ready to guide us through this first set of tricks. Let’s go!

Step One: Stand facing your partner, with your toes very close together, and lock your arms together in a circus grip.

Step Two: While maintaining your circus grip, signal each other with a “hup!” and slowly pull away from each other, straightening your arms to their full length. Voilà! You’ve made a V shape!

Step Three: To exit the trick safely, signal each other with a “hup!” and pull yourselves back to standing up straight.

Step One: Start from the counterbalanced position above: lock your arms together in a circus grip while standing toe to toe, and slowly pull away from your partner.

Step Two: Signal your partner with a “hup!” and slowly bend your knees while leaning back until you are in a seated position.

Step Three: When you feel ready, signal your partner again and stand back up while continuing to lean back. Go slowly and communicate with each other to find your balance.

Step Four: When you reach the original counterbalance V shape, exit the trick by pulling yourselves back to standing up straight.

Step One: This one also begins in a counterbalance V shape! Remember to lock your arms together in a circus grip, stand toe to toe and slowly pull away from your partner.

Step Two: Once you are in a comfortable counterbalance position, signal which arm you are going to release with a tap or squeeze on that forearm. With a “hup!” both partners release that grip and open up their arms, stretching out so they can wave up to the audience!

Step Three: In order to return back to standing, return both arms to a circus grip and slowly pull yourselves back to standing up straight.

You’ve done an amazing job communicating with your partner and counterbalancing! When you’re feeling ready to continue, check out where else Gyana is taking us in this acro adventure in the next video.

In this next part of our adventure, Gyana will guide us through some more impressive acro tricks that involve different roles for each partner—a base, a flyer and a spotter.

Step One: Establish who is the base, who is the flyer and who is the spotter.

Step Two: The base sits on the floor on their heels in a seated kneel. The flyer stands in front of the base. Lock your hands in a circus grip. The spotter can stand behind the flyer, or next to both partners.

Step Three: The flyer slowly places one foot on the base‘s upper or mid-thigh. Don’t place any weight near the base‘s knees.

Step Four: With a “hup!” the flyer can place their other foot on the base‘s other thigh so that the flyer is standing up straight. Then both partners can straighten their arms and slowly pull apart in a counterbalance!

Step Five: To exit the trick, pull back together slowly to standing upright. Then the flyer can step down.

Step One: Establish who is the base, who is the flyer and who is the spotter.

Step Two: The base and the flyer stand facing each other with arms locked in a circus grip. The spotter can stand behind the flyer or next to both partners.

Step Three: The base widens their stance and lowers into a squatting position. The flyer places one foot on the base‘s upper or mid-thigh.

Step Four: When both partners are ready, signal with a “hup!” Then the flyer can lift their other foot onto the base‘s other thigh.

Step Five: Both partners now straighten their arms and slowly lean back at the same time to counterbalance. Smile!

Step Six: In order to come back to standing, pull back together slowly. The flyer can then slowly step down, one foot at a time. Say thank you to your partner!

You just did some serious acro tricks! Give yourself a round of applause. If you’re feeling ready for a bigger challenge, let’s follow Gyana to the final video to see what else she has in store. C’mon!

It’s time for the final part of this Partner Acro Adventure! These tricks are more challenging, and one even incorporates movement. Adult supervision is required. It’s important to know your own limitations before attempting these tricks—they require greater physical strength and coordination and shouldn’t be attempted if past tricks gave you trouble. If you’re feeling ready to go, let’s join Gyana and learn two more awesome acro tricks.

Step One: Establish who is the base, who is the flyer and who is the spotter.

Step Two: The base lies on their back while the flyer stands facing the other way with their feet to either side of the base‘s head. The spotter should stand alongside both partners. The base bends their arms, grips the flyer‘s ankles, and then lifts their legs with bent knees until their feet reach just under the flyer‘s backside.

Step Three: With a “hup!” the flyer leans back onto the base‘s feet so that they’re sitting on the base‘s feet like a chair (going up on their tiptoes may help). Then the base slowly lifts the flyer up while straightening their legs and raising their arms. The flyer is now in a seated position!

Step Four: To complete the pose, the base can slowly move their hands under the flyer‘s feet, and the flyer can extend their arms out to the sides.

Step Five: To exit the trick safely, the base returns their hands to the flyer‘s ankles and signals for the flyer to slowly straighten their legs. The base slowly bends their knees and moves their legs back towards their head in order to place the flyer back in the starting position.

Step One: Establish who is the base, who is the flyer and who is the spotter.

Step Two: The base lies on their back with their legs up and knees bent at a 90° angle. The flyer stands with one foot to either side of the base‘s head, facing the base‘s feet. The spotter should stand alongside both partners.

Step Three: The flyer leans forward and places their hands on the base‘s shins right below the knee. The base reaches up for the flyer‘s shins and holds them on the same spot, right below the knees.

Step Four: The flyer fully leans forward into a crawling position, using the base‘s hands as the support for their knees as the base raises their arms. Arms should be straight, and knees and hips should all be at 90° angles. The base should let the flyer know if they need to shift their weight forward or backward to make the pose more comfortable.

Step Five: When both partners are ready, signal with a “hup!” and start moving your legs and arms back and forth in a crawling motion.

Step Six: To exit the trick safely, partners signal to stop the movement. Then, the base slowly lowers their arms to bring the flyer‘s feet back into contact with the ground, and the flyer slowly stands back up, releasing their weight from the base‘s shins.

Great work! Those were some very advanced partner acrobatic tricks. Have fun practicing and performing for your family and friends, and before you know it you’ll be ready to start your very own circus!

Congratulations on successfully completing this Partner Acro Adventure. We hope you had fun! Keep practicing these tricks, or chart your own acrobatic adventure with tricks and poses from past Arts Break activities below.

Warm up with some yoga poses with New Victory Teaching Artist Patrick Ferreri.

Do a headstand against the wall with New Victory Teaching Artist Hassiem Muhammad.

Fly like Superman (or base like a boss) with New Victory Teaching Artist Gyana Mella.

New Victory Arts Break Supporters

New Victory Arts Break is funded, in part, by the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.