Rhythmic Gymnastics

The youngest competitors at the BC Winter Games in Cranbrook/Kimberley are the girls in rhythmic gymnastics, ages 10 -12. These young ladies perform routines best described as a combination of ballet, theatrical dance, gymnastics, and apparatus manipulation.

International competitions are split between juniors, under sixteen by their year of birth, and seniors, for girls 16 and over. Gymnasts typically start training at a very young age, and those at their peaks are usually in their late teens or early twenties. The largest events in this sport are the Olympic Games, World Championships, and Grand-Prix Tournaments.

The origins of rhythmic gymnastics are linked to the ideas of I.G. Noverre (1722-1810), Francois Delsart (1811-1871), and R.Bode (1881), all of whom believed in movement expressions, where one used dance to express oneself as well as exercise the body. Peter Henry Ling further developed this idea in his 19th century Swedish system of free exercise, which promoted 'aesthetic gymnastics.' Students expressed their feelings and emotions through bodily movement. Catherine E. Beecher, who founded the Western Female Institute in Ohio in 1837, described her program as 'grace without dancing.' The young women in her program exercised to music, moving from calisthenics to more strenuous activities.

Rhythmic gymnastics as a sport began in the 1940šs in the Soviet Union. It was there for the first time, the spirit of sports was combined with the sensuous art of classical ballet. The first World Championships for individual gymnasts took place in 1963 in Budapest. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, rhythmic gymnastics was added for the first time, with an Individual all-around competition. The games were marred by the absence of Eastern European countries, but Canadians were proud to see Lori Fung from Vancouver win the first Olympic gold medal awarded in this event. The group competition was added to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

In British Columbia, rhythmic gymnastics is a thriving sport, and it is not surprising, perhaps, that Lori Fung Methorst is President of the B.C. Rhythmic Sportive Gymnastics Federation, supported by an active executive from various zones throughout B.C. Forty-four rhythmic gymnasts will participate in the B.C. Kimberley/Cranbrook games, accompanied by 16 coaches and 13 officials. These skilled and highly trained young ladies will be performing and competing at Selkirk High School in Kimberley; spectators will be treated to some wonderful routines by potential future Olympians.

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