The former Artistic Director of Cirque du Soleil, who has spent the better part of two decades helping create the spectacle of one of the world-renowned circus, has teamed with music specialist Lasse Nettum of the Norwegian College of Sports Science in Oslo to re-infuse artistry into Women’s Artistic Gymnastics.
Through a series of Artistry Workshops, given at FIG World Championship events beginning in 2013, Heward and Nettum have attempted to guide judges and coaches in the creation of original, artistic works, particularly on Balance Beam and Floor Exercise …
That’s an excellent read. I agree with Lyn Heward, of course.
And I’ve seen some of the material from those presentations. Very interesting. But I’ve not yet seen any of them posted online.
The problem is evaluating artistry in Artistic Gymnastics. I’m not convinced it’s possible. No panel of judges will be consistently able to arrive at the same “Artistry deductions” from meet-to-meet. 😦
Since it’s impossible, my proposal is not to include artistry in the Code of Points. Instead the judges or – better – a computer video program – deduct only those things that can be reliably evaluated: height, distance, line, leg position, elbows, etc.
Brenna Dowell can keep her feet stretched on Tkachevs. The great majority who cannot should be deducted.
related – The artistry question
Gymnastics Coaching.com 