Dancing has a strong place in human life. They help to relax and have fun. In addition, dances are used in various commercials and videos to attract the audience. Many people like to move to the music, but even more enjoy the contemplation of professional dancers. Today, there are many types of dances. It is worth noting that now cheerleading is gaining popularity. Not everyone knows the meaning of the word. However, we often encounter it. Let's find out what the word “cheerleading” means, the history of this concept and what terms are associated with it.
Meaning of the word
People who are wondering: “What is cheerleading?” often they don’t know that this word came from the English language, because this dance style originated in the United States. The term appeared due to a combination of two English words: cheer - approve, support and lead - manage, lead.
Many people mistakenly believe that the concept of cheerleading, the origin of which we examined above, is not just a form of dance, but a sports direction. It combines the performance of dance, gymnastic elements and acrobatic stunts. As a rule, cheerleading is used to support athletes during team games, competitions and so on.
Origin history
Now that you know what cheerleading is, it will be useful to familiarize yourself with the history of the concept. Surely you will be surprised that this trend in sports appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century. Officially, the concept of "cheerleading" was registered in 1898. It is worth noting that earlier this sport was more common among men than among representatives of the beautiful half of humanity. The fact that the first cheerleader is Jack Campbell speaks eloquently about this.
Cheerleading (the meaning of the word we examined above) became less popular at the beginning of the twentieth century, but after the Second World War there was again a cheerleading boom. Only at this time, for the most part, girls began to engage in it: according to statistics, more than 90% of all cheerleaders were female.
In the 60s, in such large countries as the USA and Great Britain, cheerleading became an integral part of all sports competitions. This kind of sport is beginning to be treated not as entertainment, but as a necessity, because support is the key to winning.
Over time, thanks to women, gymnastic elements were added to the cheerleading. Also in 1985, a pompom was invented. The performances of the cheerleaders became more vivid and emotional, which contributed to the prosperity of this sport. To this day, cheerleading (which means supporting sports teams) has not lost ground.
Cheerleading Directions
This sport is divided into two main areas:
- Collaboration with sports teams to attract more fans, moral support for athletes, create a favorable atmosphere in the competition;
- Competitions between teams of cheerleaders, which demonstrate the dancing, gymnastic and acrobatic skills of athletes.
Thus, cheerleading has long ceased to be just an addition to such sports as football, basketball, hockey and so on. Today it has become an independent unit in the sports world.
International Cheerleading Federation
In the modern world, some people still wonder: “What is cheerleading?”, Whereas today there is even an international federation for this sport. It was founded in 1998, as a result of the increased interest of the European population in the dance and gymnastic elements that are performed before the matches and in between.
The International Cheerleading Federation includes countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, Australia, Great Britain, Slovenia, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Brazil and other countries members of the European Association. The world's first cheerleading championship was held in 2001 in Tokyo, Japan. Since then, the championship has been held annually. The competition is hosted by the winning country.
Cheerleading Terms
Now that you know what cheerleading means, you will probably be interested to know what terminology is associated with this sport:
- The Cheer is a team number that is not based on dancing, but on acrobatic and gymnastic elements. Sportswomen perform various ascents, restructures, pyramids, jumps, etc. When evaluating the number, the jury evaluates, first of all, the emotionality and synchronism of the show.
- Chir-mix - a number closely associated with the Chir nomination. The only difference: it involves not only women, but also men.
- Chir-dance - dance elements are welcome here, rather than acrobatics. Be sure to use pompons in the production. The use of chants and acrobatic elements is prohibited.
- Individual cheerleading is the performance of one person from a team, usually a leader. He can perform both gymnastic and dance numbers.
- Group stant - collective construction of a gymnastic pyramid. A group will be performed by several people from the team, most often by five people. Participants at the top of the pyramid are called flyers.
- The partner stant is a performance in which a man raises a woman, and she performs acrobatic and gymnastic elements at the top.
Any person who is somehow connected with cheerleading should freely use these terms.
Cheerleading Costumes
Cheerleader attire is one of the main elements of the production, because it depends on how emotional the number of athletes will be. Accordingly, the costumes should be bright and colorful. The fabric can be embroidered with shiny sequins or beads. Since cheerleading is a team sport, all dancers are dressed in the same clothes. The costumes are sewn from elastic fabric that fits snugly to the body and does not constrain movement.
It is worth noting that the cheerleader outfit should not open the intimate parts of the body or show underwear (even though the costumes are usually quite short and open).
As for shoes, it should be the same as clothes. For the convenience of dancers, you should choose sneakers or sneakers on a stable sole, preferably without laces.
Cheerleader code
- Do not drink alcohol, take drugs or substances for doping.
- It is forbidden to use swear words in your speech and swear.
- The cheerleader must respect his rivals, the coach, the jury and the fans.
- The cheerleader is forbidden to smoke, as bad habits discredit the honor of the team.
Now you not only know what cheerleading is, but also familiarized with all the subtleties of this sport.