It's a terrifying thought: You race to your partner, heart thump-thump-thumping as his (or her) hands hug your hip and lift you to the sky, all before -- suddenly -- gravity yanks you face-first back down to the pavement.
More often than not, this is what happens when what's lacking is not necessarily physical strength, but trust.
"Trust is the basic building block of all human relationships," says Marsha Weinraub, chair of the Temple University Department of Psychology. "In a dancing situation, the person expects that when I move this way, the other person will move that way as an appropriate reaction. And when I signal to be lifted, they'll adjust. ...We learn from our partners how to communicate and what to expect in response."
Mind you, Philly's acroyoga pros (pictured) managed to execute the lift -- not
a lift, but
the lift, glorified courtesy of "
Dirty Dancing" -- without a hitch. But, a crash to the ground could easily happen with any duo who's neglected the necessary mental prep work or lacks those key communication skills.
The psychological theory goes a little something like this: A person's ability to navigate complicated dance techniques like the lift could be a testament to the strength of our relationships as children -- babies, even. Weinraub says our ability to trust someone as adults depends on the same secure sense of trust instilled in us by the early age of 8 months old. Example: When Dad tosses our infant selves into the air, we smile and giggle, because we trust that he'll catch us based on the legwork he's put in beforehand. The same idea translates to dance.
Still, no matter how strong the relationship, that momentary mid-air feeling of "not-sureness," she says, is also where the adrenaline-rush fun comes from -- it's not unlike boarding a roller coaster, when you're scared but excited to see if you'll get all the way through without going off-rails.
As for what's chemically happening in our brains with this "basic building block," the answer's a little less satisfying.
"There's something going on in the brain," she says, "but we haven't mapped out an exact sequence yet."
To be sure, endorphin releases are occurring, and increased release of oxytocin has been proven to boost responsiveness during activities like lift sessions. Though, she says it's important to note: "[Chemical reactions] don't explain trust any better than behavior does."
The lift in action -- Philly style
Proof that the lift isn't a Patrick Swayze-and-Jennifer Grey-exclusive, we sought out Philly's acroyoga elite -- the folks who are in tip-top shape and willing to take that leap of flying faith with their partners.
"The lift can be just as nerve-wracking to watch, because if you're a base or a flyer, you know your potential -- you've already built that trust and practiced many times. As a bystander? You don't know what they practiced," says Thom Carroll, who captured the lifts and also practices acroyoga. "Trust, concentration, alignment, strength -- those are all really important to have going into it, and I don't think they could have done this without having those four things established."
"Which," he adds, "I think they did."
Stefano Picker, left, lifts Micki Mooney. Thom Carroll / PhillyVoice.com
"There's a reason this took so much practice in the movie: You don't want someone flinging you onto concrete," laughs Micki Mooney, the flyer in the above photo. "It takes a lot of trust to take someone up that high and swing them around, so we do a lot of work on the ground first."
Mooney, whose local group is
AcroEverywhere, says she was hooked on acroyoga (read: a hybrid of acrobatics and yoga) after spontaneously taking a
Lex Peters workshop two years ago. Now, she's organizing the
Philly Phlight Festival, intended to showcase the performance art with more than 100 acrobats.
Mooney emphasizes that she personally chooses her partners wisely, and that she typically has spotters nearby when she's less trusting of her base. The most difficult part of the lift's physical execution (other than the actual lifting part), she says, is determining where the flyer's "base" is -- the center point of balance.
Stefano Picker, left, lifts Katari Brown. Thom Carroll / PhillyVoice.com
"The beauty of acroyoga in general is that it's about establishing a partnership -- relying on each other physically, but also believing the other person is going to have fun with you and push limits along the way," says Stefano Picker, the base in the above photo. "And, at the same time, it's about keeping your safety in mind. It's a fine balance."
Picker started doing acroyoga in San Francisco six months ago as a hobby. When he moved here, he found community through the exercise.
"Being part of the acroyoga community can bring you together pretty quickly -- you know each other and your bodies and what you can and can't do," he says.
The intimacy of the activity expedites the relationship-building process, he says.
"It brings you back to being natural and enjoying your time in a playful way. And yes, trust is a key component, but at the same time, you just want to let go of the usual restrictions of how you talk with people," he says. "You get so close with people this way, and it's amazing."
Candace Cihocki, left, lifts Micki Mooney. Thom Carroll / PhillyVoice.com
The takeaway, perhaps, is that co-dependent forms of dance like acroyoga hold potential to resolve -- or at least bring to light -- deep-rooted trust issues.
"I'm actually not a very trusting person, and I started doing acroyoga because I had these trust issues and wanted to be able to confront them and ask 'Why?' -- especially with people I don't know," says Candace Cihocki, who co-manages AcroEverywhere and is a yoga instructor at Dhyana Yoga. "You go in having to trust strangers sometimes with what could be your life, and if someone has trust issues and the time to learn why and come to terms with it, I think this is a great place to start."
She says she's learned to communicate with her partners, both with her body and with verbal signals like "Down," universally used to notify when to abandon a pose. As a base, she says she also has her own reliance on a flyer to both trust her and tighten their body when she attempts the lift.
"These relationships, they take time to cultivate," she says. "So maybe don't run into the High Bird pose at first, but start small. A person has to be willing to work on it."
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
