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| Irina Baraksanova on her best piece, beam, in 1985. Photocredit : Tom Theobald |
The gymnasts you will see in the following videos are all astonishingly athletic and powerful. They are innovative. They aren't performing on the most up to date sprung floors, and they don't have to rely on muscle to perform their difficult acrobatics. They have outstanding line and choreography (in the fullest sense of the word). They are individuals, each performing routines with a unique style. Their work goes beyond difficulty + execution, embracing the principles of risk, originality and virtuosity. They don't rely on rushing from skill to skill to blind the judges to the odd unbalanced landing, imperfections in their technique, or ragged performance. They haven't picked their skills from a catalogue of moves (the Code) or assembled requisite combinations so as to maximise their D value.
What they do is pretty impressive, ahead of its time. The way they do it is as important. They aren't ballerinas. They aren't modern dancers. They are artistic gymnasts.
It was a different time, and a different Code. A different sport. A better sport, don't you think?
Irina Baraksanova, 1985
Tatiana Tuzhikova, 1987 (full twisting double layout)
There is no rationale to my selection of these particular floor routines; there are many, many more I could choose that would arguably be superior artistically, technically, gymnastically, acrobatically, choreographically. This random selection is history; some of you might say that to detract from its importance. Gymnastics is different now; it's more exciting to see the girl next door in winning style, to be able to add up the scores for yourself, to see how the acrobats bounce and fly.
But to me, these videos are history, and to me they are a source of both learning and delight. They show a point in time in our sport's development, a sourcebook from which we have drawn to develop the gymnastics we have today. The sport has gained some things and lost others. What has been lost? What can we add back in to make our gymnastics better?
What can we learn from this past?