29 December 2014

The Cyr wheel

The Cyr wheel (also known as the roue Cyr, mono wheel, or simple wheel) is an acrobatic device popularized in the early 21st century.

There are records of people using a similar apparatus as sports equipment during the 19th[citation needed] and 20th centuries. The cyr wheel was further popularized as a circus skill by numerous acrobats and circus artists during the 1990s and later by Daniel Cyr in 2003, who presented the first cyr wheel circus act at the 2003 Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris...

 Cyr wheels are typically made of aluminum tubing. Usually a 1.5” diameter tubing with 1/8” sidewall 6061 aluminum is used. Generally they are made in 3 or 5 individual pieces, and connect with inserts. The inserts can be made out of solid aluminum or steel (either tubing or solid). They are then painted, and covered with a plastic PVC covering to add friction, and protect the metal. Smaller wheels spin faster, work better for smaller spaces, and make "no hand" tricks easier than larger wheels. Larger wheels are more graceful and there is more room for suspensions.
In the video a young man documents his first 30 days using the wheel.  Via Neatorama.

4 comments:

  1. I had no idea cyr wheels were that new an art form, that is very cool. I hope to train on them some day. Have you seen their big brother, the german wheel? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5B9LbTX4us

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    Replies
    1. Hadn't seen that. Very cool. I could do that. Not.

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    2. I do aerials at a rather large circus school, we ended up sharing a room with a german wheel class at one point. Very fun to watch, a bit startling when you're hanging upside down from the trapeze and one of them goes wheeling by when you weren't expecting it.

      The beginning moves appeared to be much simpler than what's in that video - mostly the students were just getting inside the wheel and rocking back and forth to get used to how it moves. Going upside down comes later. If you're inclined to try it, do!

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  2. Want to learn, but sooo expensive. $800 range.

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