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We had a popping good time at the Icarian Workshop with Zion & Poppy during their visit to Sydney in March. The energetic duo absolutely wowed us all with their skills in the famous risley chair.
The workshop catered for a range of levels, including some who have only started acro this year, to some special guest pros, Zion & Poppy ensured to provide skills and progressions to suit everyones needs.
Some highlights for us were learning some new entries & exits, we drill so many skills in the bird & throne position, so changing up & challenging ourselves to get in & out makes it a lot more fun & gives us some variation to our routine training. We particularly enjoyed jumping into reverse throne (flyer starting at bases head) followed by the backwards walkover exit from reverse throne.
Participants worked on techniques, progressions & timings for 3 main skills that were covered in this workshop:
*Bird to Throne / Throne to Bird Pops
*Castaway (Bird 3/4 turn to Throne)
*Front Somersault (Throne to Throne)
Each partnership worked at their own pace practicing the drills depending on which skill they were working on. A popular one was the straight leg throne to tuck pops, there was certainly some incredible height in the room! Another fun drill was the forward roll along the crash mats, with the flyer landing & opening out on the bases feet, a fun surprise catch for both flyer & base – there were lots of laughs with this one!
During each round of exercises, every group had the opportunity to rotate through to use the Risley Chair, & on the final round each group got to work their chosen skill on the chair & using the lunge lines. We want to take this opportunity to thank every single participant for their value & contribution to the safety of themselves & the other participants in the workshop. It was great to see active spotting & a supportive environment from everyone, especially between participants who hadn’t even met prior to the day.
We appreciate & thank all of our participants for coming along (& travelling so far for some!), bringing their positive attitudes & giving it their all. And of course a big THANK YOU to the AMAZING ZION & POPPY for an epic workshop full of fun & POPS!
We were absolutely honoured to welcome Caitlin & Dane (DuoDie Acrobatics) to The Acro Studio for their Essentials of Foot to Hand & Hand to Hand Workshop on Sunday 17th February 2019. DuoDie are one of Sydney’s leading acrobatic duo’s, they have travelled the world teaching, training, learning & sharing. We have trained with DuoDie many times over the years at the local jams, private sessions & workshops at The Movement Academy, we can’t thank them enough for sharing their knowledge, skills & expertise with us at The Acro Studio.
Caitlin & Dane facilitated a FREE Communication & Safety session for the first hour, which consisted of group discussions addressing some important questions & allowing participants to share their feelings & experiences when it comes to communication in Acro. Our group was asked our perception of the role of the base & flyer in acro, to which we discussed the importance of teamwork on both parts. We agreed that the base & flyer have equally important parts to play during a skill, it’s more than just relying on the bases strength or the flyers shape. Caitlin & Dane promoted the importance of empowerment in acro & the need to speak up as a base/flyer/spotter before, during & after any skill. It was a great reminder to not make assumptions about what others think or know but speak & listen to ensure everyone involved in a particular skill is on the same page & comfortable to partake in their role.
Moving on to the physical side of things, we started with some partner warmups, including anticipating & responding to your partner & working together to calibrate & understand each-others tempos & timing. T&T – a really important aspect to work on, because you know what they say – timing is everything. After some fun activities the hard work began, Caitlin & Dane demonstrated some conditioning drills to work on with our partner, drills that are relevant for the skills that we would be getting to later. Breaking down skills into drills is one of Caitlin & Danes specialties, increasing body awareness, creating muscle memory & developing an understanding of each component of a skill is essential when it comes to tying it all together. The workshop included a range of low (L-Base) & high (standing) components, Caitlin & Dane did a great job catering to the various levels & experience of participants & we feel like everyone had the opportunity & ability to give everything a go. We worked in groups to be able to spot each-other & practice each move safely. The overall vibe was supportive, positive & fun throughout.
We encourage our readers to check out DuoDie via their website (click here) or social media pages (Facebook & Instagram). If you were a participant we would love to hear your feedback (post in the comments section below, jump on our facebook or shoot us an email). As always, we are taking requests for what you want to learn – let us know if there is a particular workshop or certain trainers that you would like to see at The Acro Studio & we will do our best to provide this for you!
Thank you again to the amazing CAITLIN & DANE – DUODIE ACROBATICS, The Yoga Slackers for coming along all the way from the US, & of course to all of our participants who came to share in all the learning & fun – we think everyone did a great job. See you all next time!
The most exciting Acro Event of the year… AUSTRALIAN PARTNER ACROBATIC CONVENTION & Spin Circus Festival took place at Sokil Arts Eco Reatreat (Wensleydale, Victoria) in January 2019.
APAC is an eye opening experience, a fun getaway with friends in our local Acro community, reuniting with our friends from other Acro communities & meeting new friends along the way. We are always excited to meet the international trainers & see what they have to offer, & of course train with some of our favourite Aussie coaches too.
As usual, an EPIC line-up of trainers with a variety of skills & expertise across different areas. APAC included 5 days of workshops (over 20 workshops offered each day, over 7 time slots/7areas). We learnt so much & want to thank the APAC organisers – especially Chris Carlos & Ciara Thorburn – for making the event happen, all of the trainers for sharing their knowledge & expertise, and of course all of the participants/our friends for all the fun, laughs, spots, catches, and all round good times.
View Full APAC Timetable here
Full list of trainers here
APAC Trainers & Highlights
Axel & Megan – Advanced H2H
This years headline trainers were USA Sports Acro Duo – Axel & Megan, we attended their Extended Hand to Hand workshop which I would certainly consider an advanced class (IT WAS HARD!!!) incorporating drills & progressions working towards Extended Hand to Hand, starting low in the L-Base position, progressing to standing with a jump to low & press to extension, & finally progressing to jumping standing jumping straight into extension.
Axel Osborne Instagram: axltheacrobat
Megan Vaughan Giesbrect Instagram: acromegan
AXEL & MEGAN Full Performance Video HERE
Duo Maddy & Liam – H2H / Dynamic Recatches / Cradle
Superstars Maddy & Liam ran a variety of workshops including Entries to Hand to Hand, Dynamic Recatches & Russian Cradle.
In Entries to Hand to Hand we focused on 3 main skills:
– Cartwheel entry to Extended H2H
– Inlocate to H2H
– Reverse H2H
In Dynamic Recatches we worked on the ever so important Tempos & Timing when in reverse standing in hands in order to drill for future skills including release & recatch, & backsault dismount.
Russian Cradle has to be our absolute favourite apparatus (maybe not for Chris’ legs though… it’s hard work) & this year we got harnessed in the lines to work on release & recatch on the swing (hands to feet / feet to hands).
Duo Maddy & Liam Facebook
Instagram: duo.maddy.and.liam
Zion & Poppy – Icarian/Risley
Another favourite Duo of ours Poppy & Zion, along with their coach Amy got everyone popping through the roof with their Icarian/Risley Workshop. In this style of acro, Chris is laying in the Icarian Chair which is elevated to raise his butt off the ground, creating more height, more power & more POP! We had so much fun trying some of our regular pops (bird pops, bird to throne) in the chair & then nailing some front summersaults (Mon in lines). Catch Zion & Poppy at The Acro Studio in March bringing their Icarian Workshop to Sydney!
Zion & Poppy Website
Instagram: zionandpoppy
Amy Nightingale Instagram: circus.nightingale
Annalise & Andre – Swing Toss
A new skill for us was having a go at Swing Toss – workshop hosted by Annalise Moore & Andre Augustus (recently performing in A Simple Space with Gravity & Other Myths & ROUGE). We enjoyed learning the basic swings & transitioning between limbs & even between bases! The most fun skill for us was the swing & release to spin & cradle catch, we were nailing solid double spins & even managed a triple (though it was a bit messy). Certainly a highlight for us this year.
GOM Circus
ROUGE
Annalise Instagram: annalisemooore
Andre Instagram: andre.augustus
Emma Goh – Adagio
Adagio… is the performance of partner acrobalance poses and associated movements that involve stationary balances by a pair of performers. Now, we are not dancers, but – we gave this a decent go AND WE LOVED IT. We had so much fun learning some new skills & variations to some we already knew, & then tying them all together to make some beautiful adagio flows. We will definitely be incorporating Adagio into classes at The Studio.
Emma Goh Website
Spencer, Sharon, Debra – A Good Catch Circus
Mon loves to Base as well as fly & we found the PERFECT workshop for this ‘Tips for Smaller Bases’ hosted by intergeneration women Spencer, Sharon & Debra. We learnt a range of skills & techniques of both L-Basing & Standing Skills, Chris played the very important role of spotter in this class (& moral support of course!)
A Good Catch CircusH
Highlight Reel
All in All, APAC was an amazing experience, we can’t recommend it enough, & we can’t wait to do it all again next year!
For more information:
APAC & Spin Fest
Chris Carlos (Founder, APAC & Spin Circus Festival)
Ciara Thorburn Instagram: ciarathorburn
Sokil Arts Eco Retreat
The Acro Studio hosted it’s first official workshop with Parter Acrobatics Duo – Maddy Burleigh & Liam DeJong. The pair started with a fun group warmup, encouraging creativity & creating laughs while breaking the ice amongst the 20+ participants. The first element of the workshop focused on the foundational techniques and calibration between base and flyer, including entering and maintaining foot to hand & hand to hand in the L-Base position. The duo then progressed the group to the standing element, of course starting from the standard entry into hand to hand from shoulders, progressing then to more dynamic entries (including drills & progressions) such as Cartwheel, and the famous ‘inlocate’ / cut through / bucket… After working on the various entries, Maddy & Liam then spent some time working on Reverse hand to hand, yet again stepping up the game of the group. After 3 solid hours it’s fair to say everyone worked HARD – yet gained invaluable knowledge & experience from exceptional acrobats & trainers – Duo Maddy & Liam. The feedback from our participants was positive & again we are grateful to Maddy & Liam for their time spent sharing their knowledge & expertise, & assisting our participants to get the most out of their training. We look forward to having these guys back soon. Check out their FB: https://www.facebook.com/DuoMaddyAndLiam/
See Gallery for workshop pics!