Skip to main content

Leaps of faith

Image
By
I love to see a leap performed boldly and with finesse.  The flying type of leap that defies gravity.  Toe point and line come into it, but amplitude is what a leap is really all about; every muscle stretched to its optimum, grace balanced with energy and power, an invisible process of weightlessness propelled not only by the legs but also by the abdomen and, it sometimes seems, the sheer spirit of the gymnast. Ballet understands the forces of gravity and how strength is converted to elegance; a leap is not a bounce, something we all too often see in today's power gymnastics.  A leap hovers mid air.  Landing seems implausible. The gymnast is flighty, airborne.

A leap seems simple but is actually incredibly complex, drawing on countless hours of practice and body preparation.  Its execution is a matter of huge skill and courage.   Only the best can make such leaps of faith with artistry.  Coming down to land on the narrow beam, the gymnast often launches herself once more into inconceivable flight.  

Compare the pictures below to those of some legends of the sport : Mostepanova, Ilienko.  You won't be disappointed.  Bondareva, and especially Melnikova, are true to the Russian classical tradition.  Mustafina and Tutkhalyan embrace a more athletic genre; Tutkhalyan is a new style of gymnast for the Russians, at once strong and balletic; I see echoes of Mukhamedov as she explodes off the beam; in Mustafina's dynamic, supple and almighty work are shadows of the great Tourischeva.  In more ways than one.

Maria Bondareva, classic lines, but she was beam spotting at the moment this shot was taken 


Angelina Melnikova's trajectory in this leap gives an impression of flight, power and speed


Daria Skrypnik



The powerful Seda Tutkhalyan

Maria Kharenkova

My favourite leap from Mustafina - power, agility, classical line and amplitude.  A photographers dream.


Ludmilla Tourischeva - amplitude, in the Russian tradition













Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous15 May 2014 at 12:52

    Oh ... Melnikova is just gorgeous

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gláucia Sousa15 May 2014 at 21:53

      All team is gorgeous. Angelina, Maria Bondareva, Seda Tutkhllyan, Maria Kharenkova, Alla,.... I think you will have a big surprise in Olympic Games.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

30 years in elite sport: Oksana Chusovitina

By
You've been competing internationally for over 30 years. How has gymnastics changed over that time? Is there anything about your sport that has remained the same for decades? First of all, the age has changed. More mature athletes are competing now, which makes me happy. Secondly, the apparatuses. They've become more comfortable and sophisticated. Gymnastics in general has become more challenging, but in my youth, people performed mostly the same elements as they do now. Back then, this was par for the course, but now it surprises many. It's a bit amusing. Has the nature of the training itself changed? For me personally, absolutely. Now, my life isn't just about my athletic career. I'm involved with the Oksana Chusovitina Academy, which was personally opened by the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev. It has 155 students, both girls and boys. I used to train three times a day, but now I train once. The entire afternoon is taken up with the academy and organi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Viktoria Komova - Happy Birthday!

By
Viktoria Komova, born 30th January 1995, celebrates her birthday today.  Happy Birthday, Viktoria! Have a lovely day. Time to revisit a picture gallery posted last year ... and to hope for a good year for Viktoria and her fans. I was doing something far more important, researching an article, when these pictures of Viktoria Komova  caught my eye. They are far from the standard gymnastics pictures of gymnasts celebrating, commiserating, or caught in the midst of their most graceful pose.  Not the best, most aesthetic images to view.  When looking at pictures of gymnasts I am often conscious of selecting the ones taken from the most flattering angle, avoiding the shot with the bent legs, the out of control arms. I took a different viewpoint here, choosing Komova at the most stressed, the least stagey point of her work.  These pictures capture Komova in flight, in the height of motion and effort.  There is no contrivance to them, no trained pose or pause...
5 comments
Read more

‘My daughter likes gymnastics. For us, this is the big success’. Aliya Mustafina talks to Match TV

By
Via VK.com.  Google translate A big interview with Aliya Mustafina was published on MATCH!. We provide a small excerpt below, and the full version is available on the website at the link below  ❓ Aliya, you are now the head coach of the junior artistic gymnastics team. What does your typical day look like? 💜 My current life is similar to what it was when I was competing. In the morning, I have breakfast and go to work by 9:00, we train for four hours, have lunch, rest and train for another three hours. During the training camp, the athletes live at the base. They live and train on the same territory. ❓ Do you manage the gymnasts' personal trainers or do you evenly distribute the responsibilities? 💜 We work in contact with the personal trainers, I listen to their opinions. For example, if the trainer believes that their athlete needs to be given a little rest or do fewer repetitions of a particular exercise, we do so. ❓ Describe the current generation of children. Do they nee...
3 comments
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more