FLOORING IT
FORGET STODGY MUSIC. COLLEGE GYMNASTS ARE INCORPORATING POP HITS (AND POLITICAL MESSAGES) INTO VIRAL, HIGH-SCORING ROUTINES
NOTHING IS too silly or ridiculous to put in a floor routine if it’s entertaining and fun.”
That’s UCLA choreographer Bijoya “BJ” Das’s philosophy, and it has produced some of the highestscoring, most-viewed routines in NCAA gymnastics. Das has collaborated with gymnasts such as former national team member Nia Dennis and current Bruins star Margzetta Frazier to create performances that not only garner millions of views but also convey messages, themes or identities that are significant to the athletes. “Whatever you do, commit to it,” Das says. “If you are the most awkward dancer on the team, cool! Go with that. Commit to being the most awkward dancer and people will love it. Nothing has to look perfectly polished all the time.”
By the time the Bruins, who were ranked No. 8 nationally in the preseason, hit the floor last month, their routines were clean and sharp, but that doesn’t mean the choreography and music lack edge and style. Frazier—who went viral last season and received a Facetime call from Janet Jackson after using her music and dance moves in a routine that earned a 9.925 in its debut—worked with Das this year to create a routine that she says is backed by “a mix of a bunch of really iconic voguing songs.” It features movements she learned from studying the Harlem ballroom scene, drag culture and voguers like Honey Balenciaga and Leiomy Maldonado.
Kevin Aviance’s “Din Da Da,” Rupaul’s “Call Me Mother” and Madonna’s “Vogue” are a few of the pieces Frazier picked for her seniorseason routine, and she says using Britney Spears’s “Work Bitch” was an absolute must because it “gets me out of bed in the morning.”
In listing all the songs in her mix, Frazier points out that her choreography and music choices starkly contrast the “very orchestral and proper” styles common in elite gymnastics. She then poses a rhetorical question: “Do you think anyone would ever do Britney Spears at the Olympics?”
As a former elite gymnast who represented the U.S. internationally, Frazier knows that side of the sport is a bit more buttoned up when it comes to floor routines due to a stricter scoring system and traditional ideas of which dance styles are deemed artistic. “There’s
definitely more electronic music getting put into elite gymnastics floor routines, but nothing compares to college floor when it’s done correctly and done well,” Frazier says. “It’s like you’re going to a concert.”
And gymnasts are just tapping into popular music. Florida star Trinity Thomas has a routine built around music from the Netflix show Squid Game. Michigan’s Gabby Wilson performs to a mix of the Fresh Prince and Everybody Hates Chris theme songs. Cami Weaver of Arkansas uses music from Trolls. And Minnesota’s Lexy Ramler, the NCAA all-around runner-up in 2019, borrows from the Fast and Furious franchise.
It’s tough to pinpoint exactly when collegiate floor routines started to veer away from classical instrumental pieces. Jeremy Miranda, Florida’s choreographer, says the trend of selecting more mainstream music seemed to coincide with growing fan bases and “big TV networks start[ing] to pick up gymnastics.” (In 2022, ABC will air regular-season gymnastics meets for the first time.) Michigan coach Bev Plocki points to recent social justice movements like #Metoo as forces that empowered athletes to “use their voices” when constructing their routines.
UCLA’S Dennis did exactly that last season through a routine that celebrated Black culture and was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, and gymnasts like Mya Hooten are following her lead in 2022.
Hooten, a sophomore at Minnesota who scored the program’s first perfect 10 on floor last season, is using Beyoncé’s “Freedom” for her music and says she wants to “shout out the little girls who look like me. I want them to not be afraid to just do their thing and not to hold back.”
Using songs or dance moves that are widely recognizable can result in videos of the gymnasts’ routines going viral, but Frazier says that isn’t a motivating factor. Especially this season, when she wants her voguing routine “to be seen more as an art form than just a floor routine” that conveys her respect and admiration for the ballroom culture.
“I have a goal of being respected in the sport, being an icon and making a legacy for myself. That’s so much better than being viral,” Frazier says. “That’s forever.”