Beautiful Acro: What is Acro Gymastics and Why is it So Popular?

Although most Americans know what acrobatics are, the term acro gymnastics may be less familiar. However, it is just a short form of acrobatic gymnastics, a particular type of gymnastics that is growing in popularity.

Acrobatics has been considered a sport since the 19th century, but it was most popular in Europe. By the 1930s, competitions were organized in the Soviet Union, but American acro gymnasts did not compete until the 1970s. Since then, the sport has been slowly becoming more well known, helped along by the Cirque du Soleil since the late 1980s. However, when the AcroArmy appeared on America’s Got Talent in 2014, ending in third place, acro gymnastics exploded in popularity.

What exactly is acro gymnastics? And why do so many kids love it?

Defining the Sport

Acro gymnastics involves performing routines that focus on balance, stamina, and grace. Acro gymnasts work in pairs—men, women, or mixed—or teams of three or four men or women to perform complex routines featuring acrobatics. Each routine must include three elements: balance, dynamic and combined.

• Balance calls for strength, flexibility and stamina as one gymnast holds another team member in the air, who may in turn support yet another gymnast in static poses.
• Dynamic sections of a routine involve movement, such as somersaults and flips, similar to floor exercise in artistic gymnastics.
• Combined movements involve both balance and dynamics, such as a supported team member performing somersaults during a dismount.                                                                            

Why Kids Like It

If you ask 20 kids why they like being involved in acro gymnastics, you’ll probably get 20 different answers. They like flying through the air. They enjoy the challenge of finding their center of balance. They like giving their body a workout.

But one secret to the sport’s success may be that gymnasts don’t have to go it alone. It’s a lot easier to get out on the floor with the support of a partner or team members. And working in a team builds that spirit of comraderie, a useful skill for kids to develop early that will come back again and again through their school years and beyond. There is a lot of social interaction that goes on between team members who must be closely attuned to each other while learning and performing the moves of an acro routine.

If your child is interested, why not give it a try?