Difficulty: Medium
Safety Warning: Make sure you warm up your whole body, especially your wrists, arms, neck and core.
Rae shows you how to transition between two classic acrobatics moves, the crow to headstand.
A crow stand is where you balance with your palms on the floor and your knees on your elbows for balance. A headstand is like a handstand, but you balance on your hands and head for support.
To get into your crow stand, crouch down and place your hands flat on the floor/mat. Place the inside of each knee against the back of each elbow or tricep and push into your knees, keeping your arms strong. As you lean forwards, stick your nose out – like you’re trying to sniff something far away. This will help you balance and you should then be able to lift your toes off the floor. Keep your knees bent to keep that contact with the elbows, and try to keep your back straight and strong.
When you’re balanced, tilt forwards until you can put the top of your head onto the mat. Lift your hips and legs up, balancing on your head and hands on the mat.
To come out of your headstand, bring your legs down in a straddle or star shape and lock your knees back into your elbow/tricep muscle. Work on making your feet heavy – this will tilt you back into your crow position. Lightly touch your feet back onto the mat and come up!
When you’ve got the hang of crow to headstand, you can add some flair. Why not make some shapes with your legs when you’re in your headstand?
You can see all of our acro videos by tagging ‘acro’ in our Youth Circus Home Edition library here.