The teeterboard is an acrobatic apparatus that resembles a playground seesaw

Seesaw

A seesaw is a long, narrow board pivoted in the middle so that, as one end goes up, the other goes down.-Mechanics:Mechanically a seesaw is a lever and fulcrum....

. The strongest teeterboards are made of oak (usually 9 feet in length). The board is divided in the middle by a fulcrum made of welded steel. At each end of the board is a square padded area, where a performer stands on a 45-degree incline before being catapulted into the air. The well-trained flyer performs various aerial somersault

Somersault

A somersault is an acrobatic exercise in which a person does a full 360° flip, moving the feet over the head. A somersault can be performed either forwards, backwards, or sideways and can be executed in the air or on the ground...

s, landing on padded mats, a human pyramid, a specialized landing chair, stilts, or even a Russian bar

Russian Bar

The Russian bar is a circus act which combines the gymnastic skills of the balance beam, the rebound tempo skills of trampoline and the swing handstands skills of the uneven bars and the parallel bars...

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The teeterboard is manned by a team of flyers, catchers, spotters and pushers. Some members of the team perform more than one acrobatic role. In the early 1960s the finest teeterboard acts, trained in the Eastern Bloc

Eastern bloc

The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...

 countries, performed with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Korean-style teeterboard is a form of teeterboard where two performers jump vertically in place, landing back on the apparatus instead of dismounting onto a landing mat or human pyramid. Korean plank acts are featured in the Cirque du Soleil shows Corteo

Corteo

Corteo is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montreal, Canada on April 21, 2005. As of May 24, 2005, Cirque du Soleil had broken its record of spectators for the première location in Montreal; more than 200,000 people had viewed the production, far outpacing the prior record...

, Mystère

Mystère (Cirque du Soleil)

Mystère is a Cirque du Soleil show in permanent residence at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is one of seven resident Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, the others being O, Zumanity, Kà, Love, Criss Angel: Believe, and Viva Elvis...

, and Koozå

Koozå

Koozå is a touring circus production by Cirque du Soleil which premiered in Montréal, Canada, in 2007. The show was written and directed by David Shiner, who had previously worked as a clown in Cirque du Soleil's production of Nouvelle Expérience...

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