Rhythmic gymnastics is a popular sport for women. It consists in performing combinations consisting of dance and sports exercises with any subject under musical accompaniment. Next, we consider how gymnastics (the history of its occurrence ) appeared in Russia.
Contribution to the development of rhythmic gymnastics
The scientific justification of the feasibility of active physical education of the beautiful half of humanity was dealt with by French teachers Francois Delsarte and Georges Demeny. Modern rhythmic gymnastics is very reminiscent of the improvised dances of Isadora Duncan, based on the principles developed by Delsarte.
Stages of rhythmic gymnastics
So, today we are interested in rhythmic gymnastics, the history of this sport. It is generally accepted that it appeared as a result of the merger of several sports areas:
- aesthetic gymnastics;
- rhythmic gymnastics;
- dance gymnastics;
- free dance.
Features of the directions of gymnastics
At the beginning of the XIX century, a vocal teacher Delsart made a huge contribution to gymnastics. He developed the principles of expressiveness of the body, outlined the relationship between movements and the emotional state of a person. It was this Frenchman who first stated that the body has its own unique language. The winged expression “body poetry” arose from his light hand. So there was aesthetic gymnastics.
Emil Jacques-Delcroze, a teacher of singing and music, suggested using rhythm as an improvement not only in mental but also in physical condition, as well as for the harmonious development of personality. Thanks to this teacher, a variety of sports such as rhythmic gymnastics has appeared.
Dance gymnastics was invented by the teacher Georges Demini. He justified the need to use dance exercises to develop flexibility, smoothness and proper posture. With such intensive steps, gymnastics developed, the history of which will be examined by us today.
The founder of theories of free dance was the legendary dancer Isadora Duncan. She managed to shake the dogma of traditional ballet. The girl’s movements combined both sport and the real art of dance. It was in the hands of Duncan during the dance that a beautiful scarf developed, so reminiscent of a ribbon in modern rhythmic gymnastics. Her movements included smooth walking, running. The dancer was the first who was not afraid to speak to the public barefoot and without a corset.
According to experts, it was the merger of these four areas that led to the emergence of modern rhythmic gymnastics. This insanely elegant and beautiful sport today still combines aesthetic, graceful dance and difficult gymnastic exercises.
Gymnastics: a history of origin in Russia
Women's rhythmic gymnastics became widespread in the USSR almost immediately. So, in 1941, the first large-scale championship was held in Leningrad.
After this event, the development of rhythmic gymnastics in the Union was suspended due to the outbreak of World War II.
But already in 1947 the First All-Union Competition was held. Three years later, Kiev held the first USSR championship.
In 1950, the Soviet gymnasts recognized the whole world. They began to be regularly sent abroad with demonstrations. In 1960, women's rhythmic gymnastics teams from the USSR, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria first met in Sofia.
The USSR Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation was established in the fall of 1963. In the same year, the International Gymnastics Federation officially recognized rhythmic gymnastics as a full-fledged independent sport. After that, the first world championship in the history of this sport was held.
Outstanding gymnasts
Considering the topic "The History of Gymnastics" briefly, one cannot help but mention the first gymnasts who went down in history with their high achievements. In 1963, L. Savenkova was titled the absolute world champion in rhythmic gymnastics. In 1969, at the world championship in Varna, G. Shugurova became the owner of two gold medals. The athlete four times became the absolute champion of the USSR.
In 1977, the whole world learned about the legendary gymnast I. Deryugina. The athlete five times held the high status of the absolute champion in the USSR, won the USSR Cup in rhythmic gymnastics, and also became the champion of Europe and the world in certain categories of exercises.
In 1985, G. Beloglazova became the absolute champion in the USSR.
Rhythmic gymnastics at the Olympics
For the first time at the Olympics, rhythmic gymnastics, the history of the emergence and development of which is considered by us today, was presented in 1984. At the Games in Los Angeles, the athlete from Canada L. Fang won. It should be noted that the main rivals of the gymnast were athletes from the USSR, however, due to the boycott of the Olympic Games by the Soviet leadership, they never took part in large-scale competitions.
In 1988, the Belarusian M. Lobach won the Olympics in Seoul. In 1992, in Barcelona, the title of champion was received by the Ukrainian T. Tymoshenko. In 1996, in Atlanta, the first in rhythmic gymnastics was the Ukrainian E. Serebryanskaya.
Rhythmic gymnastics, the history of which was discussed above, managed to win world love in a short period of time. It is difficult to find a country in which this wonderful sport does not exist at present. Meanwhile, in every corner of the planet you can find a large number of excellent gymnasts.