One of Alberta’s top tier college level acrobatics and tumbling teams will strut their athletic prowess in St. Albert this coming Saturday.
The Acronaires, a group of high school and college students from the Canadian University College (CUC) in Lacombe, will take to the air at Servus Credit Union Place for a 90-minute show combining acrobatics, tumbling, stunting and a dash of comedy for good-humoured fun.
“We have a more European style of acrobatics,” says coach Toby Asante, who first joined the team in Grade 11 as an acrobat before moving up the ladder to a coaching position.
The 23-member group, with the majority ranging from 18 to 24 years, has performed acrobatics for audiences across North and Central America. They will be in St. Albert as part of a five-day mini-tour of the Edmonton area.
“Lately we’ve stuck closer to Canada. It’s the cost. We have so much equipment,” Asante explains. The team will be arriving with a five-ton equipment van packed with 40-foot mats, mini-trampolines, blocks, chairs, tower vaults and sound equipment.
They are being billeted at Red Willow Community Church and are showing their appreciation to area residents with a free public performance.
The CUC, supported by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, runs the team as a campus program. Landon Ritchie, from the Gymnics team at Andrews University in Michigan, founded the team in 1973 as Olympico.
When he left in 1980, Ron Schafer was named coach and he renamed the team Acronaires. A visionary coach, he raised the bar for excellence and heightened their profile internationally.
Just a quick glance at a couple of Acronaires YouTube videos displays their fast-moving energy, strength, agility, flexibility and trust within each other, qualities that are slowly built over time.
Their vertical three-tiered pyramids are stunning. One five-level pyramid is built all on the athletes in back bend positions. The one-hand balances, cartwheels, flips, shoulder stands and pyramid tosses all defy gravity.
“Everyone is expected to lift within 80 per cent of their body weight. If someone is 100 lbs., they should be able to lift someone that is 80 lbs. The great thing is that we take all sizes and body weights and incorporate a whole spread of flexibility and strength into the team.”
For instance the three-high butterfly is one of the more difficult routines to achieve. In it one man supports three women by balancing one on his shoulders and supporting two at his sides. “He’s holding 450 lbs. and it takes a great deal of skill and practice.”
In contrast the full group pyramid shares the weight. “But if one comes down, it takes the others down.”
Asante hopes to see a big turnout. “It’s family entertainment packed with fun, fast paced acrobatics, mini-tramp and vaulting.”
The performance runs from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Although there is no charge, donations to cover the cost of transportation will be gratefully accepted.
