Reply to The little dancing during gymnastics floor is stupid

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Ha, my DH and I were just talking about this.

I understand PP's point about the athletes needing time to take a breath or recover from the intense tumbling passes or other skills. But I'm a former ballet dancer and simply wish these little moves didn't look as dumb. It's the stiff, splayed jazz hands and often hyper extended joints that bug me. [b]The Russians are often more ballet trained that gymnasts from other countries and it often shows in their dance moves, [/b]where they understand how to position their arms in particular to create unbroken lines that look more graceful. I really enjoy gymnastics and find it all amazing, but I've never gotten over how bad this looks to a dancer's eye. I am certain these athletes would be capable of better lines, but it is not emphasized in training and this is just what the aesthetics of gymnastics are which is unfortunate.

This is why uneven bars and vault are my favorite women events. No weird dance moves. And as a result they look much more graceful to me.[/quote]

I was actually just going to mention a couple of Russian gymnasts who were known to have great dance moves - and you're right about their ballet training. [/quote]

I miss the Russian gymnasts and the rest of the Eastern European gymnasts. [/quote]

Go read the articles and watch the interviews of the hell those girls had to endure. There’s nothing to miss about that dynasty. [/quote]

That is a separate issue from their gymnastics style. [/quote]

Don't bother, PP.  There is a contingent on here that associates balletic grace and polish only with the horrible training situation imposed on gymnasts of the 70s and 80s.  Apparently, no one can voluntarily incorporate ballet training into an athletic regimen now.

The unsupportable way gymnasts and other athletes were treated in the past is a totally separate issue from what is emphasized in gymnastics competition today.  An earlier PP explained the trajectory of the sport and the move away from innovation well.  It is the reason Biles is so special.  She continues to innovate.  But she also *chooses* not to focus on polish or grace.  If she cared about it more, I'm sure she could do so.  But she emphasizes speed and power.[/quote]

Today’s gymnasts do in fact incorporate grace and polish, it just looks different on a healthy, muscular 22 year old compared to a waif-like 80lb 15 year old. [/quote]

Any size can be graceful. However, the scoring system favors difficult skills so athletes in gymnastics, figure skating and synchro swimming are increasingly skipping grace and going for the high point tricks. Skating is now also triple-triple-jazz hands-quad-triple-jazz hands. Synchro has become throws in the air interspersed with violent leg splashing and no elegance.

Sometimes you just want to see a pretty routine, but that isn't going to be at the Olympics where the aim is to maximize points.
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