Spelbound

So are you "Spelbound?"  I certainly was.  This gymnastics group is unlike I've ever seen before in my entire life.  I can't even begin to imagine how much training these kids must do in order to do such amazing stunts.  What truly amazes me is that their artistry is always present, no matter how challenging the trick.

What you might be wondering, though, is why I would include a gymnastics routine on a blog about dance.  Anyone out there wonder that?  If the thought crossed your mind, I'm glad, because this does not seem like a logical post from the beginning.  Allow me to explain!

If you watch almost any video of competition dance, you'll see handstands, front walkovers, round-off back handsprings, and cartwheels.  While I wouldn't have thought of these moves as dance (they obviously belong to the gymnastics genre), they have increasingly integrated themselves with many forms.  And why not?  Dance and gymnastics connect well together and give a dancer a greater range of options when constructing a number.  Much of the athleticism required for dance is also required for gymnastics.  I've often wondered about dancers and gymnasts: that is, could a dancer (easily) become a gymnast and could a gymnast (easily) become a dancer?  My conclusion is that it's traditionally been easier for gymnasts to become dancers because gymnasts' already have all the obvious muscle while dancers usually have less-obvious muscle tone and different body types.  However, competition dance is blurring that distinction quite ferociously by the inclusion of gymnastics into dance routines.  Perhaps the two disciplines will merge in the future.