The transition from bird to star is one half of the high barrel roll washing machine.
With a hand-to-hand grip, the flyer rotates outward into side star, almost “offering” their shoulder to the base, who steps in with their free foot toward the flyer’s shoulder. It’s important that the flyer shifts their weight onto the base’s foot and rotates into the star position.
High Barrel Roll tutorial video with Jacob Brown and Debbie Collis
Used poses
Reverse inside star is used as a transitional position — it’s not held statically, the transition just flows through it.
Front plank, bird – the first step
Before you start practicing, it’s worth looking at what you need to pay attention to when taking the plank pose. The photos, descriptions and videos …
Reverse Inside Star
Base and flyer are in a perpendicular position, the flyer’s upper body is facing the base’s free leg, her face is with her back to …
Star with hand holds
Shoulderstand on feet, but we just call it “star” for short, so it’s shorter and more compact. This is the basic position, it can have …
Used Transitions
When we transition from bird to star, the side star is just a passing point — there’s no pause, the flyer simply moves through the pose. But in some cases, reverse inside star is the starting position, and from there we go up to star. That’s why this can be broken down into two separate transitions: first from bird to reverse inside star, and then from reverse inside star to star.
From Bird to Reverse inside star
This is a common transition that appears in many sequences, especially when moving from one side star to the other through bird. We demonstrate the …
From Reverse Inside Star to Star
There are two possible directions to move from Reverse Inside Star. From the flyer’s perspective, one option is to go forward—the upper body leans forward …
Referenced videos
High Barrel Roll
The high barrel roll is a continuous movement between two poses: front bird and star. The transitional pose is the …
Linking transition
Using this transition, we can return to bird. Combined with the earlier transition from bird to star, these two movements form the Barrel Roll washing machine.
From Star to Front Bird
This is a very exciting transition that can be performed in two different ways, depending on the position of the …
Similar transition
The two transitions are very similar.
One starts from folded leaf, the other from bird. From the moment the base places their foot near the flyer’s shoulders and the flyer rotates onto it, the two transitions become identical.
That’s why it’s useful to practice both transitions—starting from different positions builds versatility, and recognizing the common pattern helps improve control and flow.
From Folded Leaf to Star
The Folded Leaf to Star transition is half of the Corkscrew washing machine. The flyer moves upward with a vertical …
