The Craft of Acrobatics
Acrobatic gymnastics is an exciting and challenging craft to master. The potential of the medium is limited only the rules of the game or your imagination for shows. We live in an era when athletes can continue now to perform professionally in their craft. Cirque du Solei opened the door for many performance companies to make a living. Gymnasts in the past, if they made it to the Olympics, reaped their dividends in product promotions. Some like Cathy Rigby went on to theatrical careers, but not many. However, in Acrobatics, we see many of our top athletes going on to professional careers today.
Unlike Artistic Gymnastics which has a limited lifespan for an athlete, Acrobatic Gymnastics can be performed with partners late in life. And such careers begin as small children. The competition program developed by the USAG is the very best ladder for climbing up to high level skills. We hope, however, that all coaches will see beyond competition, and develop exhibitional programs, as well. Performing theatrically is an aid to Artistry in competition, and is preparation for the athletes to enter professional careers.
This section of the website, therefore, has been set up to help in establishing competitive programs with all the needs of coaching, judging and competing being addressed, but not as an end to itself. We at Texas Acro want every program to go beyond competition with exhibitions. Exhibitions also provide an immediate benefit to the program in promoting your school and program.