Sophina DeJesus, a senior at UCLA and a member of the gymnastics team, has set the Internet on fire with her recent floor routine. Her perfect floor routine not only impressed the judges and audience because of her impressive tumbling and flipping but for other reasons as well.
Naturally talented and athletically gifted, DeJesus pulls off a highly impressive routine. She tumbles and somersaults with the perfect combination of elegance and power. Her balance and poise while tumbling and flipping is nothing short of extraordinary. But that’s not what sent the entire crowd and the Internet into a craze…
It’s the little excess movements and dance moves that Sophina incorporated into her routine. A natural hip-hop dancer who performed on the TV show “Hip Hop Harry” when she was younger, Sophina slipped in popular hip-hop dance moves into her routine. It’s an unorthodox decision, especially in gymnastics when personal flair and color isn’t typical of the sport. In gymnastics, sometimes people can even get penalized for adding too much of their own style – there can be certain deductions that cause gymnasts to lose points.
But Sophina’s incorporation of dance moves like “the quan,” “the nae nae,” and “the whip” have opened the floor for discussion. Her innovation was a huge crowd-pleaser, and in the video below, you can see the entire crowd roar with applause when she pulls off her hip-hop moves. Some even join in on the fun! They bust out their own dance moves – it is truly a heartwarming sight to see everyone dancing to their own beat.
While Sophina did not earn a perfect “10” for her performance, she did receive a high score of 9.925, which tied her for third. But Sophina won first in our hearts, and the hearts of the millions who have shared her routine online.
We wish Sophina the best of luck in the future as she continues to compete as a gymnast and continues to dance “the nae nae” better than anyone else we have seen before. Keep on dancing, Sophina. You’re an inspiration to us all!
Let us know in the comments what you think about gymnasts performing their own dance moves and adding their own flare to their floor routines. Do you think this is acceptable? Do you think more people should do this? It would be great to hear your perspective!
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