How to Train the Macaco
The macaco is a dance style move used in martial arts, capoeira and gymnastics. I have seen a few pole dancers who have integrated the macaco trick into pole performances but they are still far enough between that the macaco remains an elusive move; both surprising and delightful when thrown on the stage (correctly)! Here’s how it looks in slomo:
When I started training the macaco, I was building a pole dance routine that called for a lot of jumps and leaps and dynamic movement. To prepare, I spent two months working with a circus artist named Chris Cortez. Chris is a Chinese Pole performer and he currently performs with Le Reve so he knows how to train big!
Fast forward to today, 9 months later and I still come back to this move for the pure enjoyment of it. The best part is that it doesn’t actually require that much of a back bend. What it does require is the ability to push hard through your feet in order to create the momentum to get your body up and over as well as the ability to move through your shoulders. What follows are videos of how to warm up to do the macaco, some progressions for getting into it, and then a slo mo of the final move. I hope you enjoy!
- Warming up.
It is important to warm up your body before trying any explosive movement. For macacao, your warm up should train shoulder flexibility, back bending and leg strength/flexibility. Specifically;
- 5 minutes of cardio
- Handstand holds for 60 seconds against a wall
- Backbend pushing into your shoulders. Here’s a video of a rainbow backbend (which pushes the stretch into your shoulders and upper back more) on 4x:
2. Progressions.
- Squat jumps. Practice jumping up from a deep squat. This is your power generator so make sure this feels strong. The side benefit is that it will make you really sweaty and ready to move your body!
- Macaco position practice. Here, you want to practice getting the arm to swing into the handstand position you’ll need to push through your shoulders. This is a good way to warm up the rotator cuff as well! You’re goal should be to get your hands in line with each other.
- Squat to cartwheel. Start in a squat with one arm on the floor, fingers and palm pushing firmly into the ground. From there, swing your other arm back behind you and let your eyes follow your hands as it swings backwards. Push the hips up so that the legs follow.
- Knees tucked macaco. To gain a bit more momentum, walk into your macaco and then jump into a squat. You can bend your knees to make the movement a little bit easier. Here’s how it looks:
- Straight leg macaco. After you feel comfortable doing the bent leg variation, try to straighten the legs little by little. The legs will feel heavier in this version because they are farther from the body so you will need more power to get into it. That means push even harder through your feet when you jump back from the squat!
3. How to spot the macaco.
It seems to go without saying but if you are spotting a friend in macaco, beware of their legs. They could kick you in the face if you don’t move out of the way quickly, especially at the beginning when their legs tend to go more diagonal. The spot for macaco is very similar to a spot for a back handspring or other flip like motions. Place one hand on their lower back and then one hand on the backs of their thighs below the mover’s butt.
4. Tips.
- I like to think about gazing at my fingers as if they are reaching for something directly behind me. If I don’t do that, I tend to move diagonally instead of straight back.
- Some people believe that you have to be really bendy for this movement. NOT TRUE! If you are using the explosiveness of the push through your legs, you do not need to be super bendy. In fact, the majority of people I see do this move are men, many who lack mobility through their shoulders and backs.
- If you aren’t getting enough momentum, think about your squat jumps that you already practiced and put that strength into your jump backs.
Thanks for watching. I hoped that you enjoyed this tutorial! ❤
