Gymnastics. I read an article about the return of Simone Biles, whose performance was described as so fabulous that I watched the video. Fortunately it was only two minutes.
Several times she runs across the mat and does flips through the air. I'm sure this is very hard to do, but I am too ignorant of gymnastics to be able to discern what makes her so much better than all the other gymnasts who do the same thing. The flips are too fast for me to follow anyway.
That's a problem for me with a lot of fields of artistic endeavor, including acting. I can't tell the difference between excellent work and merely good work. (In classical music, I can tell the difference. In fantasy literature, I really really can tell the difference.)
But that's not what really baffles me. In between runs across the mat, she prances around, waving all four limbs about. Is that part of the gymnastic routine or is it just posturing?
It's part of the gymnastics floor exercise routine for women. They call it "dance." Oddly, men's floor exercise has no such requirement.
ReplyDeleteShe can do things that currently no other gymnast can do.
ReplyDeleteI've been told that. But, as I said, I cannot discern what makes her so much better than all the other gymnasts.
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