Acro dance is a style of dance that combines classical dance technique with precision acrobatic elements. It is defined by its athletic character, its unique choreography, which seamlessly blends dance and acrobatics, and its use of acrobatics in a dance context.^[1] It is a popular dance style in amateur competitive dance as well as in professional dance theater and contemporary circus productions such as those by Cirque du Soleil. This is in contrast to rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, which are sports that employ dance elements in a gymnastics context, with each being regulated by a governing gymnastics organization and Code of Points. Acro dance is known by various other names including acrobatic dance and gymnastic dance, though it is most commonly referred to simply as acro by dancers and dance professionals.

Acro is an especially challenging dance style for dancers as it requires them to be trained in both dance and acrobatic skills. Acro dancers must be in excellent physical condition as well, because acro is a physically demanding activity. Although acro is a popular dance style, many dance schools do not teach it, often due to lack of facilities or expertise needed for acrobatic training.

History[link]

Acrobatic dance emerged in the United States and Canada in the early 1900s as one of the types of acts performed in vaudeville. Although individual dance and acrobatic acts had been performed in vaudeville for several decades prior to 1900, it was not until the early 1900s that it became popular to perform acts that combined dance and acrobatic movements.

Acrobatic dance did not suddenly appear in vaudeville; rather, it appeared gradually over time in a variety of forms, and consequently no individual performer has been cited as its originator. Sherman Coates, who performed with the Watermelon Trust from 1900 to 1914, was recalled by fellow dancers as the first acrobatic dancer they had ever seen.^[2] Another of the earliest documented acrobatic dance performers was Tommy Woods, who became well known for his slow-motion acrobatic dance in Shuffle Along, in which he would execute acrobatic movements precisely in time with the music.^[3] In 1914, acrobat Lulu Coates formed the Crackerjacks, a popular vaudeville troupe that included acrobatic dance in their performance repertoire up until the group disbanded in 1952.^[4] Many other popular vaudeville companies combined acrobatics and dance in their shows, including the Gaines Brothers.

Since the decline of the vaudeville era, acrobatic dance has undergone a multi-faceted evolution to arrive at its present-day form. The most significant aspect of this evolution is the integration of ballet technique as the foundation for dance movements, thus bringing into acro dance a precision of form and movement that was absent in vaudeville acrobatic dance. Also, vaudeville acrobatic dances were often little more than acrobatics set to music, whereas modern acro dance is fundamentally dance, with its acrobatic movements performed in a dance context.

Characteristics[link]

A defining characteristic of acro is the smooth, graceful transitions between dance and acrobatic movements. Also, a dance must have a significant percentage of dance movement, with respect to its acrobatic content, in order for it to be categorized as acro. For example, a gymnastics floor exercise is not considered to be acro because it has little or no dance movement compared to its acrobatic content, and also because it lacks smooth transitions between dance and gymnastic movements.

Dance technique[link]

The dance movements in acro are founded in ballet, jazz, lyrical and modern dance styles. Acro dance movements are not restricted to these dance styles, but the complete absence of these styles will typically cause a dance to be categorized as something other than acro (e.g., breakdance).

Acrobatic elements[link]

The acrobatic movements performed in an acro dance are referred to as tricks. Numerous tricks are commonly performed in acro dances, varying widely in complexity and the skills required to perform them. Aside from the obvious requirement that dancers possess the requisite skills to perform tricks, the types of tricks that can be performed in an acro dance depends on the number of dancers.

Solo tricks can be performed by independent dancers in solo or group dances. Examples of this are:^[5]

Back layout Back tuck Back walkover Cartwheel Chest stand (chin stand) Elbow stand Front aerial Handspring Handstand Hand walking Kip up Roundoff Side aerial Valdez

Front aerial

Hand walking

Valdez

Double tricks—also known as partnering tricks—can only be performed by a pair of dancers. An example of this is the pitch tuck, in which one dancer forms a "saddle" with his hands. The second dancer steps onto the saddle and then the first dancer thrusts the saddle upward. The second dancer, who is propelled upward with back rotation, lands on her feet after a complete revolution in the air. Acro partners will sometimes execute lifts and adagio in addition to single and double tricks.

Double back walkover Double cartwheel Double plange Lawnmower Pitch tuck Swizzle Vault somersault

Lawnmower

File:PitchTuck.gif Pitch tuck

File:Acro swizzle.gif Swizzle

Group tricks generally require three or more dancers. Examples of this are:

• Bridge pyramid
• Triple cartwheel

Apparel[link]

Footwear[link]

A pair of acro shoes.

Acro dances are typically performed on hard stages with widely varying surfaces. Such floors differ substantially from a gymnastics floor, which is constructed by layering a standard surface over cushioning foam and spring floor. Whereas gymnasts perform barefoot and rely on the standard gymnastics floor for traction and cushioning, acro dancers seldom dance barefoot, instead depending on footwear such as acro shoes or foot thongs to provide the necessary traction and cushioning.

All of the most common types of acro footwear provide both traction and cushioning. In addition, acro performance surfaces are frequently rough, so acro footwear must protect the bottom of the foot from skin abrasion. Abrasion protection is particularly important on the ball of the foot, which is subjected to a great deal of friction during dance leaps and turns. Traction is essential to prevent lateral slipping that could result in dangerous falls to the hard floor. Cushioning serves to soften the impact when performing tricks such as tucks and layouts, in which a dancer's feet may strike the floor at high velocity. Cushioning is especially important when a Marley floor is unavailable, because uncovered performance surfaces have no cushioning whatsoever and thus may be extremely hard and unyielding.

Acro shoes[link]

Acro dancers most often wear jazz dance shoes, which are commonly referred to as acro shoes by acro dancers. Acro shoes are called jazz boots, jazz ankle boots, jazz booties and other names, by their various manufacturers. They are typically laceless, slip-on shoes, with tight-fitting leather uppers that are designed to prevent the dancer's feet from shifting inside the shoes. Because of their thin, pliable leather uppers and split soles, acro shoes have excellent flexibility, thus enabling dancers to attain both good dance form and acrobatic control. The sole is made of soft, composite rubber so as to provide both high traction and cushioning, and it provides excellent protection from skin abrasion as it covers the entire bottom of the foot.

Foot thongs[link]

Less commonly, acro dancers may wear foot thongs, which are variously called Dance Paws and FootUndeez, depending on the manufacturer. Foot thongs—which are slip-on, partial foot covers that protect only the ball of the foot—are sometimes preferred over acro shoes for aesthetic reasons. In particular, flesh colored foot thongs endow the wearer with the appearance of having bare feet, while retaining some degree of the traction, cushioning, and abrasion protection provided by acro shoes.

Clothing[link]

The skirt of this acro costume is short so it will not contact the headpiece when the dancer is inverted.

Acro dancers commonly wear flexible, form-fitting clothing for both safety and aesthetic reasons. Form-fitting clothing is preferred over loose clothing because the latter does not move synchronously with the body and thus may interfere with a dancer's ability to maintain control. This is especially important when a dancer is performing tricks, as loss of control can lead to serious injury. Aside from the safety aspect, form-fitting clothing also helps to expose a dancer's body lines, which can add significantly to the visual impact of an acro dance performance.

Competitive acro dancers frequently wear costumes when performing at dance competitions. Acro costumes often have loose fabric pieces such as short skirts, but the sizes and locations of these pieces are carefully calculated to ensure that they pose no safety risks. As an extra safety measure, skirts are sometimes pinned or stitched at the back below the waistline so that they will not hang at full length when the dancer is inverted, as in hand walking; this prevents the skirt—which might otherwise become entangled in the dancer's hair or costume headpiece—from contacting the dancer's head.

Competitive acro[link]

Acro dance is not uniformly defined within the competitive dance industry.^[1] Some dance competition companies require an acro routine to have a minimum of four or five tricks with at most fifty percent acrobatic content. Other companies require an acro routine to have exactly, or more than, fifty percent acrobatic content. Also, at some competitions an acro dance may fit into an explicitly defined "acro dance" performance category, while at others it may fall into a similar category such as "acro/gym," or an alternative category such as "open." Because of these differences, it may be necessary to enter a specific acro routine into different performance categories at different competitions.

References[link]

See also[link]

Dance portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Acro dance

Shawn Desman
Shawn Desman performing in July 2011
Background information
Birth name	Shawn Bosco Fernandes
Born	(1982-01-12) January 12, 1982 (age 30)
Origin	Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Pop, R&B, dance-pop
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, choreographer
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Universal Music Canada (2009-present) UOMO (2002-present) BMG Music Canada / Vik Recordings (2002-2007)
Website	www.shawndesman.com

Shawn Bosco Fernandes (born January 12, 1982) better known by his stage name Shawn Desman, is a Canadian pop/R&B singer of Portuguese descent. He is signed to Universal Music Canada.

Career[link]

Shawn attended St. Francis of Assisi Elementary School in Toronto where he took part in many talent shows and events. In 1998, Shawn Fernandes was in the Boomtang Boys video for their song "Squeezetoy" as a dancer. He had a few recordings in English and Portuguese under his real name Shawn Fernandes before adopting the name Desman. According to his own account, he adopted the name Desman because in his youth his friends referred to him as "Dez, man" - thus creating his artistic pseudonym Desman.

His self-titled breakthrough album in 2002 featured three top ten singles ("Shook", "Spread My Wings" and "Get Ready") on the Canadian charts. The album went on to achieve gold certification in Canada.^[1] The single, "Spread My Wings", is a cover of the unreleased male group, Vega, featuring Chilli of TLC.

His follow-up album, Back for More garnered a Juno Award for Best R&B Recording which featured the number one hit single "Let's Go".

His recent album Fresh garnered 3 gold singles, 1 platinum single, Video of the Year at the Much Music Video Awards, Canadian Dance/Pop Song of the year at the Stylus Awards, as well as SOCAN #1 Award for Electric/Night Like This.

Desman is also a producer and has worked with various artists producing hit singles for Nick Carter, Kreesha Turner, Keshia Chante, Danny Fernandes, as well as contestants on YTV's The Next Star where he produced the song (One More First Chance) for Brock Zanrosso in 2009 and "It Might Be You" for contestant Parker Schmidt in 2011.

Collaborations[link]

• Shawn Desman contributed "Spread my wings" to Jerry Bruckheimer's 'Kangaroo Jack' (on Warner).
• He has collaborated with some of the biggest producers in music including Tricky Stewart, Rodney Jerkins and The Dream.
• Collaborated with his brother Danny Fernandes on the single "Feel It" featured on Danny's album.

Awards[link]

• Shawn Desman has released three studio albums that have gone from gold to platinum in Canada.
• In 2006, won a Juno Award for "R&B/Soul Recording of the Year".
• In 2011, won "Video of the year" at the Much Music Video Awards for his video "Electric/Night like this".
• In 2011, won Canadian Dance/Pop Single of the Year at the Stylus Awards.
• In 2011, awarded SOCAN #1 Award for Electric/Night Like This reaching #1.

Personal Life[link]

Shawn Desman, is the oldest of three brothers, others being Canadian singer Danny Fernandes and another brother Jonathan Fernandes.

Canadian singer Tyler Medeiros is his cousin. Fernandes' brother Danny was part of his backup dancers from 2002-2004.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Features[link]

• 2003: "Movie Star (Remix)" Rascalz feat. Shawn Desman
• 2006: "All Eyes on Me" Puppet feat. Shawn Desman
• 2010: "Feel It" Danny Fernandes feat. Shawn Desman

Collaborations

• 2009: "One More First Chance" (as producer for Brock Zanrosso on YTV's The Next Star)

Selected Filmography[link]

• 2001: Get Over It as himself
• 2003: Honey as himself
• 2007: How She Move as Trey

References[link]

External links[link]

• Shawn Desman Official web site
• Shawn Desman Official Twitter page
• Shawn Desman MySpace page
• Shawn Desman at the Internet Movie Database
• Shawn Desman MuchMusic page
• Shawn Desman LastFM page

Jordan Clark (born 14 October 1990) is an English cricketer. Clark is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium pace and who occasionally fields as a wicket-keeper. He was born in Whitehaven, Cumbria and was educated at Sedbergh School.^[1]

Clark made his debut for Cumberland in the 2007 Minor Counties Championship against Norfolk. The following season he played two further matches in that competition, against Buckinghamshire and Cumberland.^[2] Clark joined Lancashire's Academy in 2008;^[3] after two years in the Academy, he was given a scholarship with Lancashire in January 2010.^[4] Having represented the Lancashire Second XI in since 2008,^[5] Clark made his debut for Lancashire in Lancashire's last List A match in the 2010 Clydesdale Bank 40 against Worcestershire.^[6][7] He scored 32 runs before being dismissed by Jack Shantry.^[8] In the winter of 2010/11 Clark suffered a stress fracture to the back.^[1]

At the start of the 2011 season, Clark's scholarship was renewed^[9] and in June he made his twenty20 debut. He scored 19 runs from 11 balls as Lancashire tied with Derbyshire.^[10] In October Clark signed his first full-time professional contract with Lancashire.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jordan Clark at ESPNcricinfo
• Jordan Clark at CricketArchive