UCLA gymnastics team begins new era with same flair on floor
5 years ago

UCLA gymnastics team begins new era with same flair on floor

LA Times  

Chris Waller was hoping to take over one of the most successful and popular teams at UCLA. The Bruins performed eight floor routines that counted for the meet and three additional exhibitions, displaying Das’ wide range of choreography skills from Hano’s salsa-inspired routine to Flatley’s “Black Swan” ballet piece to Tratz’s 1980s electronic song. “The big question is ‘What are UCLA’s floor routines going to look like now that Miss Val’s gone 29 years?’ … I can’t say enough about what BJ has done her work ethic and commitment to making this to a breakout, huge year.” The Bruins displayed Das’ work with a pumped-up version of one of Kondos Field’s original ideas. “It made our floor routines even 10 times better, I feel like, because each is individualized for us.” Teammates shout support during Felicia Hano’s floor exercise. It would have blown her mind to see that as a young gymnast because it would have been “everything wanted and more.” She’s hoping to have the same effect on the fans heading to Pauley Pavilion this season to see the new era of UCLA gymnastics’ floor routines.

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History of this topic

Meet UCLA’s favorite gymnastics fan. How Josh Lim became the team’s best backup dancer
1 year, 9 months ago

Meet UCLA’s favorite gymnastics fan. How Josh Lim became the team’s best backup dancer

LA Times  

Almost no one in the world can match Brooklyn Moors’ artistry. “He nails it almost better than me.” Devoted fan Josh Lim, 21, center, and friend Laura DeFalco, 20, dance during UCLA’s meet against Iowa State on March 11 at Pauley Pavilion. He should get an award for the hypest man out there.” It’s dedicated students such as Lim who …

Choreographer helps UCLA gymnasts showcase their break-the-internet individuality
2 years, 11 months ago

Choreographer helps UCLA gymnasts showcase their break-the-internet individuality

LA Times  

Bijoya “BJ” Das, the floor choreographer for UCLA’s gymnastics team, tries to showcase each gymnast’s individuality when it comes to their floor routines. In her first two years as UCLA’s choreographer, Bijoya “BJ” Das has set the internet aflame with three viral floor routines. “When it just feels like play again, I feel like I’m at my best.” Released from …

For UCLA gymnastics team, exhibition before a crowd feels like ‘back to normal’
3 years ago

For UCLA gymnastics team, exhibition before a crowd feels like ‘back to normal’

LA Times  

Compared with sellouts of past seasons, the crowd of about 1,000 at Pauley Pavilion for UCLA’s Meet the Bruins exhibition Friday night was minuscule. “After all this crazy COVID stuff, it just gives you a sense of normalcy.” Flatley’s Gold team, which also included senior Margzetta Frazier, Washington transfer Katie McNamara and freshman Alexis Jeffrey, won 8-7 in a head-to-head …

UCLA is bringing joy back to gymnastics — on the mat and in ... aura photos?
3 years, 1 month ago

UCLA is bringing joy back to gymnastics — on the mat and in ... aura photos?

LA Times  

This story is part of Image issue 6, “Energy,” an exploration what sports style feels like in the City of Champions. The gymnasts I saw on television projected a total trust of one’s own body — trust that it would propel them through the air, up and over the bars, the beam, the vault, and then deliver them home, safely …

UCLA gymnastics captivates fans both young and old
3 years, 10 months ago

UCLA gymnastics captivates fans both young and old

LA Times  

UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis competes in the floor exercise, scoring a 9.850 against Oregon State at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday. What a waste, Nia Dennis finally sticking her landing on the vault and Margzetta Frazier nearly perfect on the uneven bars while UCLA thumped Oregon State on Saturday, only for virtually every seat in Pauley Pavilion to be empty because …

Viral gymnastics routines gain steam with UCLA’s Katelyn Ohashi, Nia Dennis
3 years, 10 months ago

Viral gymnastics routines gain steam with UCLA’s Katelyn Ohashi, Nia Dennis

LA Times  

From the concourse level of Pauley Pavilion, where JaNay Honest was perched for UCLA’s season-opening meet against Arizona State on Jan. 23, the former Bruins gymnast and current Pac-12 Networks broadcaster knew almost immediately after Nia Dennis flipped her head back and settled into the finishing pose of her floor routine that Dennis was going to do it again. She …

‘Got back to my roots’: Nia Dennis and the groundbreaking genius of #BlackExcellence
3 years, 10 months ago

‘Got back to my roots’: Nia Dennis and the groundbreaking genius of #BlackExcellence

LA Times  

Nia Dennis placed her hands on her hips as she sashayed onto the floor. “You’re a star!” With her second viral floor routine in as many years, Dennis made another appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and did interviews via Zoom on “The Today Show” and NBC. A place for expression “I aspire to inspire.” — Nia Dennis BJ Das …

UCLA gymnastics leaves even opponents in dance mode in latest win
3 years, 10 months ago

UCLA gymnastics leaves even opponents in dance mode in latest win

LA Times  

UCLA’s Pauline Tratz competes on the floor during competition against BYU at Pauley Pavilion Wednesday. From Tratz’s electronic dance number to Dennis’ hip hop routine that took over the internet, UCLA brought what head coach Chris Waller called “that extra Bruin shine out there” as the team gets more comfortable competing after a long offseason. UCLA’s Nia Dennis competes on …

UCLA Gymnast Nia Dennis' Viral Floor Routine Was An Ode To Black Culture
3 years, 11 months ago

UCLA Gymnast Nia Dennis' Viral Floor Routine Was An Ode To Black Culture

Huff Post  

UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis celebrated Black culture in a floor routine performance over the weekend that has the internet doing flips. Dennis’ electric floor exercise and dance, which earned her a score of 9.950 out of a possible 10, also included nods to California Black culture and to historically Black Greek-lettered sororities and fraternities. Clips of Dennis’ performance have drawn …

UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis goes viral again with #BlackExcellence routine
3 years, 11 months ago

UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis goes viral again with #BlackExcellence routine

LA Times  

UCLA’s Nia Dennis competes on the floor during a gymnastics meet against Arizona State on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. The UCLA senior whose Beyoncé-inspired floor routine went viral last year returned with a dynamic hip-hop routine that gained more than 2 million views on Twitter in less than 24 hours after the Bruins won their season opener against Arizona State …

UCLA gymnastics determined to ‘celebrate every moment’ amid unusual season
3 years, 11 months ago

UCLA gymnastics determined to ‘celebrate every moment’ amid unusual season

LA Times  

Nia Dennis was on her way to practice when a text message stopped the UCLA gymnast in her tracks. “It was kind of like a what’s-going-on moment,” the senior said as teammates grappled with whether it was safe to return home to their families and what it meant with the team’s season opener just weeks away. “We’re going to be …

Nia Dennis became UCLA’s latest internet sensation with Beyoncé-inspired floor routine
4 years, 9 months ago

Nia Dennis became UCLA’s latest internet sensation with Beyoncé-inspired floor routine

LA Times  

UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis leaps into the air during her floor routine at the Collegiate Challenge meet at the Anaheim Convention center in January. The junior celebrated her 21st birthday Feb. 23 by performing a Beyoncé-inspired floor routine that would make her UCLA gymnastics’ latest internet sensation. × UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis’ Beyoncé-inspired floor routine. “It’s crazy that I’ve been …

People Are Crazy In Love With This UCLA Gymnast’s All-Beyoncé Floor Routine
4 years, 10 months ago

People Are Crazy In Love With This UCLA Gymnast’s All-Beyoncé Floor Routine

Huff Post  

This will make you flip out. Just a year after Katelyn Ohashi took the internet by storm, UCLA gymnast Nia Dennis is going viral with a jaw-dropping, all-Beyoncé floor routine. In the clip, the college junior mashed up several of Queen B’s classics like “Lose My Breath” and “Crazy in Love” all while channeling the musician’s unapologetic confidence — complete …

UCLA gymnastics team finishes third at NCAA championships
5 years, 8 months ago

UCLA gymnastics team finishes third at NCAA championships

LA Times  

Felicia Hano celebrates with assistant coach Chris Waller after competing on the bars at the semifinals of the NCAA Gymnastics Championship at the Ft. Worth Convention Center. Coach Valorie Kondos Field, second from right, with, from left, Gracie Kramer, Anna Glenn, Margzetta Frazier and team manager Lila Waller after finishing third in the NCAA Gymnastics Championship at the Ft. Worth …

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