What’s changing in acro and what actually matters most right now? In this episode, Mandy Yip joins Loren and the Acrobatic Arts podcast community to share what she’s seeing across studios worldwide as we head into 2026.

Mandy talks foundations, safe progressions, shifting student and parent expectations, and why clear curriculum is no longer optional. From time-strapped teachers to dancers craving clarity and autonomy, this conversation cuts straight to what works and what needs to change. If you teach acro and want safer training, stronger technique, and more confident dancers, this episode is a must-listen. Listen now and start 2026 with clarity.

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Mandy Yip, Acrobatic Arts Founder 
With over 350,000 dancers participating in Acrobatic Arts classes every week, Mandy Yip manages the delivery of training programs and the Acrobatic Arts syllabus in over 65hundred dance studios around the world. She also created the most comprehensive and researched Acrobatic Arts Curriculum, as well as innovative apps such as the AcroDance Resource Center. Mandy is a highly sought-after industry expert, known for her engaging workshops and clinics across North America, Europe, and Australia.

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Loren  0:00  
Hey everyone, welcome to the acrobatic arts Podcast. I'm Loren, and I will be interviewing some of the top leaders and innovators from the dance and acrobatic industry. If you are a teacher, performer, student, or a lifelong learner like myself, you are sure to find these episodes intriguing and full of inspiration. Acrobatic Arts is passionate about providing current and relevant information for everyone, so please sit back and enjoy as we share our passion with you and the world.

Loren  0:38  
I am beyond excited to kick off 2026 with a powerhouse episode this year promises big shifts for dancers teachers and studios around the world. And who better to help us look ahead than the woman who helped shape the way we teach acro today. Joining me is Mandy Yip, founder of acrobatic arts and president of B 2b at ensemble. Mandy has spent years working closely with studios teachers and dancers across the globe. She has incredible insight to where our industry is heading. Today, we're talking about the future of acro, the trends, the tools, the teaching shifts and what the resources of the future might look like. Before we begin, a quick reminder for anyone looking for professional acro training, acrobatic arts trains and certifies 1000s of teachers around the globe. You can learn more about our programs and upcoming courses at acrobatic arts.com

Loren  1:46  
now let's welcome our guest for today,

Loren  1:51  
Mandy, Happy New Year and welcome back to the podcast. 

Mandy  1:55  
Happy New Year. Miss Loren! It's so great to be back. 

Loren  1:59  
It's always so fun having you on the show and catching up. But for anyone who might be newer to acrobatic arts, can you share a little bit about your role now, and what working so closely with the dance community taught you in 2025 Absolutely.

Mandy  2:16  
So I now serve as the President of Business to Business at ensemble performing arts, and that means that I'm managing several businesses, but acrobatic arts continues to be one of the brands that's closest to my heart. My role today is really about helping teachers and studio owners bring strong, safe, scalable programs, whether it's through acro certification, curriculum and training events like accelerate or the digital tools that we've developed here at acrobatic arts, or some of the other coaching programs that live within ensemble Performing Arts. I think in working closely with the dance community in 2025 it reminded me of something really powerful, that teachers are incredibly resilient. They are stretched thinner than ever before, and we saw this deep desire for tools that save time and reduce overwhelm, and that helps studios deliver real results that their dancers can see and that parents understand, which is not necessarily a new thing for dance, but it's definitely more prevalent that the parents are very, very involved. And I think that's really reinforced how essential clear curriculum and supportive trainings like what's offered at acrobatic arts are for the students and also for the educators who carry so much of that weight every week.

Loren  3:31  
I absolutely love all of that. It really shows how much the industry evolved last year and how closely you stayed connected to what teachers and the studio's need, which actually brings me right into where I want to go as we step into 2026 What do you see happening in acro training that really stands out to you? I think this

Mandy  3:53  
has been a shift that's been coming for a little while now, but we're seeing much more structured programs and structured progressions, a real understanding for why foundations are so very important, some more expectation for evidence based teaching and objective assessments that the teachers, students and parents can all reliable, something that's more technical and measurable. And this departure from, let's just try it mentality, to a more technical way of doing and teaching the skills. I also think that we're seeing acro no longer as a specialty or add on or sitting outside of the scope of their regular dance training, but rather as a foundational part of the dancers overall trainings. It influences their flexibility, their strength, their conditioning, their coordination, and it is even having a big effect on musicality and choreography, as we're seeing it in nearly every genre that dance is involved in today.

Loren  4:56  
That makes total sense, and I think teachers. Are already starting to feel those shifts in their weekly classes. So let's keep going with that. What changes or trends do you think dance teachers should be paying attention to this year?

Mandy  5:13  
I think student motivation is shifting. So the dancer of today wants to know why they're doing something, and they crave autonomy over their own training. So that is kind of different than it was a few years ago, when dancers were just happy to do whatever their teacher told them to do. And I think that's why having a clear curriculum that supports that and gives them a road map is so important, so that they can see where they're headed and have a feeling of control over their training in a way that maybe they didn't care about previously. I think parents are also more educated and a little bit more anxious than they used to be. So they want to see progressions and safety prioritized. They don't necessarily want to see risk prioritize, and they have this real need for teachers to communicate with them throughout everything that's happening. So they they want clear expectations set at the beginning of any session or any classes that they're taking, and then they want to see how their dancer is being measured against that clear expectation. And again, this is another, you know, really strong check mark for needing curriculum in the in the classroom, because it helps parents and dancers have a road map for where they're headed.

Loren  6:33  
Definitely so important, and it can feel overwhelming, because there's always something new being introduced. If you had to narrow it down, what should acro teachers be focusing on the most in 2026

Mandy  6:50  
Well, I mean, this answer is never going to change for me, but it's foundations. You know, we want these dancers to be forming these high level skills, but in order for that to happen, they have to have exceptional basics. They have to have alignment and active flexibility and clean bridges and core strength and shoulder flexibility and stability. And if they don't have those things, then they're not going to have these big tricks that are the expectation for dancers as they get into more advanced levels, when students do master foundations, everything becomes safer, faster and far more artistically usable, and I think that isn't going to change ever technique never goes out of style, and foundations are what make technique so possible.

Loren  7:36  
So nothing really new, but I think you framed it in a really helpful way. And every teacher listening is probably thinking, Okay, but what about the challenges we're facing right now? So let's go there. What kinds of challenges are you noticing in studios right now, and How can teachers navigate those?

Mandy  7:57  
Okay, so I think time restraints is always going to be a problem. The schedules are packed. The teachers feel this pressure to do so much more in less time. So I think one of the things that you need to be really aware of in order to navigate that efficiently is planning your lessons really well in advance, knowing exactly what you're going to teach so that you're not wasting class time by producing, you know, different kinds of activities and different kinds of exercises that aren't necessarily going to get you to the end goal. So, you know, taking the time ahead of the classes to determine how you're going to use your time in the class really efficiently. You want to really make sure you understand what your students readiness is. So I think that there's a wide variation now in what the student readiness is as they come into the classroom, both as a beginner, but then also in their more advanced classes. So using progressions and using stations, and trying to split up the class into ways where the dancers are all working on something that's appropriate for their own level is going to individualize safety and make sure that the dancers are, you know, doing what they should be doing, and so that you don't feel so much challenge in the different variations of the levels of the kids in every class. And then I think one other challenge that we're seeing is burnout, just for students and for teachers. So you need to build the wins into your class structure, assessments and small milestones and, you know, little prizes, they matter more now than they ever have before, and they've always mattered. So building that into your classroom and making sure that your kids are feeling like they are successful often is a really important part of teaching.

Loren  9:45  
I hear those same concerns from teachers everywhere, and you're totally right. There's always a path forward when we shift our approach. And speaking of shifting, students aren't the same as they were even a few years ago. So from your perspective, how have students changed, and what do you think they need most from their acro training today?

Mandy  10:08  
I think students today are incredibly creative. They're visual learners. They want to feel success quickly. They struggle with patience. They struggle with any kind of long term skill development, and so what they really need is clarity. They need clear expectations, clear steps, clear progress. They need to understand exactly what they're working towards and why each foundational step matters. And as they become more consistent and more coachable, they will become more safe and they will become better students of understanding what they have to do in order to achieve what their ultimate goals are. I think one other thing that's really important to navigate as teachers is that students really need connection. These days more than ever, there's this need to have in real life. IRL experiences for our dancers that I think are so much more prevalent than they've ever been before. They are living this online life, and with the advent of AI coming into the picture of that too, it's hard to know what's real and what isn't real unless you're actually there, but dance class provides this unique space where you get to actually be there and actually experience and have connection with your teacher and your classmates and your own body and your own space, in a way that I think dancers are lacking in the rest of their lives. So it's another really important challenge that is an opportunity for us as studio owners and teachers to provide a safe place for dancers to get that.

Loren  11:42  
Do you think there are any misconceptions around student readiness or safe progression that you hope teachers will leave behind this year?

Mandy  11:52  
Um, yeah, I think, I think teachers often think that if they're strong in another style, that they'll be fine with acro, or they have the opposite limiting belief that they have these really great dancers, but they've never done acro, so it's not possible for them, and I hope that they leave both of those things behind. I would love to see every dancer come into the studio as a fresh page with no preconceived ideas about what is or is not possible for that dancer, and allow them to experience the class in that manner. I think that that is just a better place for everyone to start from. I also have noticed this trend that if they can do it once they're ready to move on. And you know, one successful attempt is good enough. But I just would like to reinforce that that is not mastery, and if we really want to be able to use our instrument, our body, as a creative outlet, we have to have mastery over the skills. And so that means being able to do that skill every time your body wants to do it, not just once, and then consider it, you know, good enough. It will help with control and the ability to perform the skill safely under fatigue and distraction as well, which is really important for safety.

Loren  13:05  
Mandy, that's such an important reminder for teachers, and honestly, it's something we can all take into every class. Now, you travel so much with work with teachers all around the world. What similarities or differences are you noticing across the world as we head into 2026

Mandy  13:26  
great question, and it is a really cool position that I'm in where I get to see things kind of from a bird's eye view, because I see so many studios and so many teachers from all over the world. I think there's been this really interesting shift in the United States, which I said on a podcast I did earlier today, that it's been kind of late to the party when it comes to curriculum, but I've noticed over the last couple of years that it's starting to be embraced there in a way that it always was in places like Canada and the UK and Australia and Asian countries as well. So that's been kind of neat to watch that take place. And the idea that having a strong curriculum that's built by a organization like acrobatic arts that has so many contributors and not just a few brilliant minds at your own studio, can have a massive advantage for your dancers and for your teachers as well, has been really cool to watch that change and that shift take place. I'm seeing this sort of divide in the studio. On one side, we have parents who really want an experience for their dancer that is short, low commitment, low cost, no costume, no competition, no recital, no pressure. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have these dancers and parents who are looking for everything. They want lots of training hours, they want intensity. They want travel opportunities, they want convention. They want high level competition. And it's sort of interesting to me, culturally that we're seeing. Seeing this divide between the two, and very little in the middle. There seems to be less that are sort of moderates, that that are coming to class and want some of everything, and they seem to be on either one side or the other side of that spectrum, which I think is an interesting cultural shift that is recent

Loren  15:19  
Mandy, that's super fascinating. But you know what? I heard, you did another podcast. What is that about?

Mandy  15:29  
We did podcasts all day. Miss Loren.

Loren  15:31  
Oh no, but which one do you love the most?

Mandy  15:35  
This one, of course!

Loren  15:39  
okay, so with all of that in mind and your other podcasts, how is acrobatic arts adapting or evolving based on what you are seeing globally?

Mandy  15:53  
Well, we just have a lot of support for teachers. So it's not just the curriculum that acrobatic Arts has developed, but it's a whole bunch of other training that I think teachers need. So a great example of that is the brilliant piece of work that you worked on last season, and that is acro flex. So watching that come through and how teachers are utilizing the material and the education that they're getting from that program has been such a cool experience, and I'm seeing teachers very excited about participating in that course in 2026 that they can learn more about how to adequately prepare their dancers flexibility for the demands of what is required of them. Today, I think that there's a greater emphasis on strength and injury prevention, and acrobatic Arts is at the forefront of that. Acroflex, again, is a great example of that. But there are a lot of other programs that we've developed and that we've refined so that we are on the cutting edge of all of the science that is now available to us as dance educators. And we've also expanded our global training opportunities so events like accelerator helping dancers and teachers experience training that's hands on and community based, and that has been really amazing to watch. As well, we had studios and teachers from I believe it was 10 different countries attend an accelerate event this year, and seeing them come together as a global community to learn and to be in connection with each other through the love of acro was was a really cool and rewarding experience.

Loren  17:27  
I love hearing that, and it's exciting to know that development is happening with teachers actual needs in mind. What's exciting you the most about where acro training is headed

Mandy  17:43  
honestly, I think it's the artistry. So a few years ago, maybe 10 years ago, and this started, acroba was just really about the tricks, and there was this need to get strong foundations in there so that dancers could do those tricks safely and consistently. But now that they are, now that so many studios have really amazing foundations, we're seeing how they can integrate acro into their choreography with intention and musicality, and taking the beautiful work they have in their foundations and technique and breaking the rules, as you Say, to build something that's unique for that particular dancer or for that particular piece. So watching how it's become more artistic has been really cool, and watching what the body is capable and how it can express anything through acro is just such a neat thing to witness.

Loren  18:38  
It definitely feels like such an energizing time for our industry and our genre, but it can also feel overwhelming. So for teachers who want to stay ahead of it all, where should teachers be putting their energy this year?

Mandy  18:53  
I think it's always in continuing education. Stay curious, stay updated. The best teachers in 2026 won't be the ones that are doing the most tricks. They'll be the ones who understand progressions deeply and can articulate it clearly and have clear, trackable assessment systems for their students, and have really great understanding of how technique works. So you know, it's really about staying up to date and not getting stale in your in your education. That also helps with burnout as well. So you know, you kind of kill two birds with one stone when you stay informed and when you stay in a place where you're getting continuing education.

Loren  19:37  
I think that's a doable and actionable direction to take. And speaking of doable, if a teacher wanted to make one small change this week, what would make a real difference in their acro program? What would you suggest?

Mandy  19:54  
I mean, I'm going to plug acro flex one more time, because I just think it's so brilliant. So, you know, there's core. That are coming up in 2026 they sell out super fast. So if you're going to do one actionable thing today, I would go on to acrobatic arts.com and see if you can get into one of those courses. It will revolutionize the way that you teach, not just acro, but everything in terms of flexibility. So I think that that is one small change that you could make. I think if there's one other actionable item, I would say, if you don't already have some kind of progress, charting, you know, checklisting, something like that that both students and parents can get an understanding of what their training is supposed to look like, and clearer expectations about what you're teaching. I would definitely incorporate something like that into your into your classrooms,

Loren  20:44  
simple but powerful. I love it. Before we wrap up, I want to make sure all the teachers know where to find support and resources this year. So where can teachers go if they want to keep learning or stay connected with acrobatic arts in 2026

Mandy  21:02  
great question. We have so many resources available. So if you're looking for the quick free option, check us out on social media, we have a ton of free resources there, both Instagram, Tiktok, if you're not already following us, make sure that you do get on our Facebook page. Check us out on YouTube, there's tons of free resources there to get you involved. As a first step, when you're ready to take a little bit more action, I would say certification should be the next thing on your list. So if you are not already a certified teacher, and you are looking to up your game and become a little bit more credible in the world, both for yourself and your own education, but also for parents and students and studio owners who are looking for more value out of the people who they're employing, I would say certification is the next most important step. If you don't already have access to our app and digital resources, I highly recommend the acro dance Resource Center is updated almost daily, and every month, there is a new section in that that is curated by Ms Loren right here on this podcast. And it's brilliant. So again, it just helps you to stay up to date, stay educated and fresh with your ideas, so that you're not getting burnt out or stale in your teaching if you haven't already looked at accelerate acro convention for 2026 I highly recommend we had the best time putting on those events this year and next year, we will be back in Phoenix, back in Lakeland, Florida, and have a brand new city in Boston where we will be offering accelerate and it's going to be an incredible time of learning community. So I highly recommend that as well. And then there are all kinds of other resources that acrobatic arts offers, including workshops like the acro flex workshop. I already referenced, our webinars, our podcast. There's just so many different ways that you can stay involved and connected to acrobatic arts to make sure that your dancers are getting the very best experience possible.

Loren  23:05  
Woo hoo. Cheers to 2026 so many amazing resources, and I think it's going to be wonderful for everyone. Start setting your goals, and let's really level up

Mandy  23:20  
exactly, exactly. Let's level up. Let's do better. I'm I am just feeling like that in every aspect of my life right now. So, you know, what can we do to be better, to be better educators, to be better mentors to our students? You know, how can we help them better? And I think 2026, a great time to do that. Let's go.

Loren  23:40  
Mandy, thank you so much for sharing your time, your expertise and your vision for where acro is headed.

Mandy  23:46  
Thanks for having me Miss Loren and I always love doing the acrobatic arts podcast.

Loren  23:57  
If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe and follow so you never miss an episode. And if you know a dance teacher, student or parent who would love to hear this discussion, send it their way. Sharing the show is one of the best ways to support the podcast. Until next time, find power in your strength, freedom in your flexibility, and know that we are here to support you on your acro journey.

Loren  24:27  
Thanks for listening everyone, and have a great day!