ladders

best act: 1985, 2006, 2008

Ladders joined Gymkana’s continuity during the 1947-48 season. The original act was performed entirely by women, including the troupers holding the ladders together, and the ladders themselves were only 10 feet tall. The next year, the act added a tenth woman and the ladders increased to 14 feet tall. Men entered the act in 1954, taking the inside positions and supporting the remaining 6 women. In 1960, the ladders grew again to their current 18-foot height. In 1966, the troupe performed with a second set of ladders for the first time, and in 2017, three sets of ladders were used for the first and only time in Gymkana’s history. The first male trouper performed on the outside of the ladders in the 2024-2025 season.

Widely regarded as Gymkana’s most unique act, yet to be recreated outside of the troupe, the ladders act has frightened audiences since its beginning. Troupers perform a choreographed dance on the outside of the ladders, demonstrating extremely precise timing, technical movements, flexibility, and grace. In an impressive display of strength and endurance, troupers on the outside of the ladder hang from a single strap around their ankle, and men perform levers, shoulderstands, and handstands from a death-defying height.