(Floor) Artistry in Nanning: The "Other" Top Routines

Plenty of routines which have been major buzzes in the gymternet and from top gymnasts didn't make event finals, but still deserve a mention.

Roxana Popa
Won't embed, sorry. I love this one SO much more than last years. The composition was fine last year, but she's just not the super-bubbly performer you have to be in order to pull that one off. This dramatic flair is more for her. I love how Roxana incorporates the Spanish-style guitar! This routine can get just a bit dull in the middle at around 0:53 when she's obviously resting and keeps hitting poses with the accents of the music, but it isn't really ugly, just fairly uninteresting. My favorite part is the low-to-floor interpreting the slow music. Some really cool shapes and flowing movements. I also love how she ends it with a flourish of her wrist! The choreography isn't super intricate, but it is nice to watch. A good effort. And on another note, THAT MEMMEL!!!

Giulia Steingruber

Gorgeous dynamic routine. I especially love how varied her wrist and hand positions are. They really create a flowing impression and add to the intensity. A unique and slightly innovative routine, one which suits gymnastics in 2014. This routine had elegance, power, strong expression, and an assertive aura. Can you tell I love it? Too bad about that double back.... This proves you can combine power and beauty, and I really think this kind of routine should be more encouraged. I love her switch from slow choreography to quick movements after the DLO. Giulia does a great job of combining flowing and staccato movements to create a really dynamic routine with great forward motion.

Alla Sosnitskaya

I'm not feeling this one for Alla. To me, she just looks a bit gangly and awkward out there. This music and choreography require a gymnast who can go out there and own the arena, and Alla really isn't doing that here. She is just ever so slightly stiff and really doesn't connect with the performance or the audience. At parts she even looks like she isn't really trying to sell it. And this is the kind of routine you really have to sell. The short bit at 0:43 is always the best part of the routine- she has a little slinkyness which I think Russia should try to capitalize on in the future. I think this routine could be fabulous, but it really, well, isn't right now. They either need to work her on performance quality or work a different angle for her when they compose her floor routines.

Marta Pihan-Kulesza

I can't figure out if I love this or hate this. More to the point, I can't figure out if I love it in spite of the fact that I hate it. It's definitely a Marta-only routine! The music change is kind of bizarre. I have some very unfavorable opinions about the music change requirement. Surely there was something more jazzy they could have used? It's not an especially intricate choreography, but it works fine with the music. The ending is definitely the highlight of the routine, and where she does the best job of reflecting the Pink Panther music. I think this one just about works, and for her performance quality alone. I prefer her 2012 routine.





So, how do these routines stack up? Giulia's was definitely on of the best so far, I'd say. Roxana also did a lovely job. Marta and Alla are sort of in the same situation music and choreography-wise, but with very different approaches to their performance. Alla had decent choreography but moved without real presence while Marta had somewhat uninspired choreography and was only really able to pull of her routine because of the personality she infused into it. If you took Alla's routine and had Marta perform it, I think it would be something fabulous. Aside from Giulia, I'd say these ones were all fairly average.