The following lesson activities are based on the article “U.C.L.A. Gymnast Slips In Hip-Hop Moves, and the Online Crowd Goes Wild.”
Before Reading
Watch the video above, which has been shared more than 400,000 times on Facebook. Why do you think it was so popular?
After Reading
Read the entire article and answer the questions, supporting your responses by citing evidence from the text.
1. What hip-hop dance steps did Sophina DeJesus add to her floor routine?
2. What question does her score raise?
3. Why are we not likely to see moves like these at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer?
4. Do you think adding moves like this to traditional routines is good for the sport of gymnastics in general? Why or why not?
Going Further
This piece was suggested by one of our Student Council members, Sabrina Conte. She writes:
According to the article, “DeJesus’s score for Saturday’s routine, a 9.925, tied for third on her team at the meet, trailing two excellent — if less popular online — performances and raising the question of how much colorful moves help or hinder scoring from traditional judges.”
Do you think that athletes should be rewarded for innovation, or do you think that their scores should depend on how well they execute traditional routines? Can innovation revolutionize a sport? How might it affect a sport’s traditional rules?
Athletes like football players often celebrate wins using popular dance moves, to the delight of their fans. However, they can get penalized for “excessive celebration.” Why do you think that people get excited by seeing athletes perform their favorite dance moves? Why do others criticize this celebration?
An NPR piece about the video noted the fact that the dance moves performed in this routine “are strongly rooted in blackness” and the author, Leah Donnella, believes that the routine “doesn’t show an athlete dominating at a traditionally white sport despite her race. It was an athlete celebrating her race in the context of a traditionally white sport. In under two minutes, DeJesus — blue hair, hip-hop beats and all — showed that black bodies and black culture belong in gymnastics.”
Do you agree? Why or why not? How do you think an athlete’s race affects the perception of them in their sport?
Related
Teenagers in The Times | Summer Olympics Edition