The Dancer’s Bag Gets Bigger as Acro Classes Take the Stage
Gwen Akers
The Ashland Beacon
Dance is perhaps one of the most beautiful forms of expression, a universal language. Ashland’s home for dance, the Ashland Regional Dance Theater, is bringing this expression to a whole new level with its newest addition: Acro Dance Classes.
Acro Dance is a cross between gymnastics and dance, where aspects of dance are added to tumbling. It first emerged in North America in the early 1900s where it was utilized in various theatrical performances. While it is often considered a modern dance style, it has a long history tracing back to traditional Chinese dance.
This gives a more flowing element to the usually rigid art form of tumbling. Stephens described this as a more “fluent” and thus “neat” performance compared to that of tumbling, where classical dance techniques are combined with precise acrobatic movements. This style of dance also gives students more creative freedom in the dance, as aspects of ballet, jazz, and even tap are sometimes added to give the performance both personality and flair.
“What we do is during the tumbling class, we take aspects of dance and add it to tumbling,” expressed Stacy Stephens, head of the Acro Dance Program. “It takes your acro skill and makes it more fluent.”
During her certification process, Stephens was part of a two-day intensive course taught by Canadian Acrobatic Arts. This certification coupled with her extensive experience in gymnastics and cheerleading through the Junior Olympics, her time as a cheerleading coach at Ashland Middle School, and her experience at Tumble World. Stephens has since been working for ARDT for nine years and is now head of the Acro Dance program.
Stephens capitalized on the importance of safety in her classes, as well as her teaching style of teaching with progression.
“I've always taught with progression. You know, you have to have this skill before I will teach you this skill, and this program kind of reiterates that,” commented Stephens.
Besides being a style of dance all on its own, Acro Dance is also a great stepping stone and enrichment class that helps students become better dancers overall. Stephens explained that yoga-type moves, focused on building and retaining flexibility, are fundamental in the class.
“A lot of the benefit from the class is to take an acro class before you take a dance class, so your body's already stretched and ready to go,” explained Stephens.
Stephens is also a pediatric nurse and expressed her excitement in getting to teach the class and being able to share her love of dance with her students. Being a dance instructor is all about the connection you make with students, and helping these students be successful in both dance and their lives. Dance, just like everything else is built on collaboration, and the connection you have with both your teacher and your students makes all the difference.
“I've always felt that my job is not to teach that cartwheel exactly or to teach that backbend or back handspring, my job is to make that impression on that child’s life,” expressed Stephens.
Students interested should check out the ARDT website or call for more information.