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Favorite Routines: A Two-Fer

For this installment of Favorite Routines, I am featuring two floor routines from some awesome juniors on the US Elite scene.

Sydney Johnson Scharpf and Laurie Hernandez.


These routines are amazing and they're the most artistic floor routines I've seen in a long time. They're both different, but the spirit of artistry is alive and well in both of them. It's wonderful to see gymnasts learning to "sell" their routines instead of just going through the motions, which a lot of elites do.

 Sydney's routine is Broadway Baby all the way. She performs to "Whatever Lola Wants" from "Damn Yankees", and she looks as if she's studied old videos of Gwen Verdon in the 1960's movie version. It's not just the dance, it's the way she flicks her wrist or turns and gives a sly look to the judges. I've also posted a clip from the show to illustrate what I am talking about.





If Sydney is the golden age of Broadway, then Laurie is the Queen of Pop (on the floor exercise). This is the routine to which Tim Daggett said "Gym dads, she's thirteen and she dances like that"  because it's somehow suggestive in some way? Ummm, no. Laurie's dance is like watching a mini Michael Jackson or a mini Shakira.



Maybe Tom Beregeron should book these two for Dancing With The Stars in 2017.


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