This popular annual event held on the main stage of Salford's Lowry Theatre sees young gymnasts from all over the UK come together to not only perform their routines on the stage in front of a live audience, but to also learn from each other and gain invaluable insight into the sport from guest gymnasts. This year's star guests were the Olympic medalists twins, Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova.
Gymnastics, as indeed all team sports, promotes a wealth of positive factors including confidence-building, team-building, friendships, commitment, and health / fitness. I am in no way sporty, but instead I have a dance / theatrical background, and so see this sport of Rythmic Gymnastics as much more akin to contemporary dance than sport. Indeed, the boundaries between rhythmic gymnastics and the dance styles of our contemporary era are very blurred indeed.
This year the theme for the presentations was "Find Your Amazing" and each team or group prepared a short routine to perform on stage. There were two shows, but I was present only at the afternoon one at 2:30pm. Sadly, there were no programmes available, and so if I have any information wrong, apologies.
All the groups performing this afternoon were very good, and of course I am totally unable to comment on their technical skill. However, as a dancer and perfomer, I did look at their presentational skills, and so such things as use of space, timing, togetherness, focus, pictures, suitability, etc were things I was looking for in each group. There were several teams performing this afternoon to impress, but I cannot mention them all, but I would like to mention those teams / groups, who for me - coming from a theatical background - I found the most enjoyable / proficient in terms of presentation (not technique!).
Those groups who entered with the correct attitude in a professionally drilled manner were instantly far more interesting to watch than those who walked on willy-nilly to take their places. Those groups whose costumes (and in one case even hair styles) were all regimented and correct for the theme of their piece automatically made me want to watch them more. And those groups whose choreography was pertinent and clever, I obviously found more interesting than those who simply stuck to nothing but gymnastics. But these are personal preferences, and so it does not mean these groups are better gymnasts than the others, it is just my personal take on the performances. My favourites therefore were Epping Sports Centre Gym Club's "Believe In You", Erewash Valley Gym Club's "Lion King", Tolworth Gym Club's "In A Forest", Everton Park Junior Gym Club's "Madagascar", Birkenhead Academy Gymnastic Display Team's "Michael Jackson", South Essex Senior Gym Club's "Skyfall", Fusion Gymnastic And Cheer Team's "Unstoppable", and Leeds Junior Gym Club's "Leeds".
A few things this afternoon would have made the event far more aurally and visually pleasing too. First, the music levels were too loud throughout and the volume needed turning down several decibels. Second, there was a large screen to the rear of the stage, omnipresent, and continually showing images of gymnasts or places with the Gymfusion logo. This continued throughout the whole show, including the gym teams' performances. This was extremely distracting, extremely ill-fitting, and obfuscated our attention and focus. This should either have been turned off completely during this time or shown images pertinent to each group's individual theme. To make these routines a little more theatrical (they are performing on the stage of one of Europes' largest theatres afterall!), then perhaps also some attention to different effects which can be created by lighting and haze etc.
These gymnasts were all aged between 5 years to 18 years old, and some had come extremely long distances to be a part of this Gymfusion event. It is undoubtedly a highlight in these young gymnasts' calendar and the energy, enthusiasm, and dedication needed to perform such routines is astounding. Each one deserves the highest praise. A very enjoyable afternoon, and I look forward to seeing what 2025's Gymfusion has to offer.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 18.2.24
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