Soviet Gymnastics: 1980s Dance Montage

A montage featuring some of the greatest Soviet gymnasts from the 1980s and their exquisite floor exercise routines. Gymnasts included in the montage are: Svetlana Baitova, Irina Baraksanova, Olga Bicherova, Svetlana Boguinskaya, Olga Chudina, Elena Davydova, Olesya Dudnik, Natalia Frolova, Tatiana Godenko, Tatiana Groshkova, Natalia Ilienko, Vera Kolesnikova, Natalia Laschenova, Olga Mostepanova, Elena Naimushina, Oksana Omelianchik, Alevtina Pryakhina, Elena Sazonenkova, Elena Shevchenko, Albina Shishova, Elena Shushunova, Olga Strazheva, Tatiana Tuzhukova, Natalia Yurchenko, and Stella Zakharova.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• soviet
• gymnastics
• floor
• dance
• montage
• boguinskaya
• groshkova
• laschenova
• mostepanova
• omelianchik
• strazheva
• yurchenko

[SonyaNatalia]

I love them all - especially Oksana and Natalia!!

I love great tumbling, but I don't enjoy gymnastics as much these days. Apart from the lack of dance, there is no polish in the routines. There would be better execution if the gymnasts were more like dancers - like they used to be.

[espinaca79]

Chinese routines are not bad either. Last year's team had great choreo, Nan Zhang was great, so was Cheng Fei.

[tedsler]

Mid 80s to mid 90s I would call the true artistic era in gymnastics. The difficulty was on a rise but the women still had the grace and moves of dancers. I miss this type of gymnastics, trick OMG they blow me away but when there is a beautiful FX with good tumbling AND dance then it becomes magic. Sadly you can't judge good dance like you can degrees of difficulty, it is to subjective, and one gymnast's style might appeal to one judge and another to someone else. Nice montage! Thanks for posting

[afgymnast96]

can you please send this version of the music to me?

[bzach71]

Love it. The fall of Soviet Union bring untimely death to artistic gymnastic. Now is more power gymnastic - very rare to find lithe elegant gymnast now - Nastia Liukin is one example (she brings back the memory of gymnasts in the 80s)

[ballethoney]

A huge treat for me. So beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[ballethoney]

100% agree with everyone above about Shushunova. I loved all of her routines, and the last one reminded me of a musical play like Cats or something. :) It was very dramatic and intense. She worked well with the music, her rhythm was on point! So much fun to watch!

[antoninlove]

amazing video, where is the music from? please if anyone knows...

[yellowbianca]

These kids were taught to dance as Soviet gymnasts. Now, 17 years after the break up of the USSR is there a former republic there that can even support a ballet and dance culture, let alone gymnastics? Since many of these gymnasts are now coaches in the US and Canada, are they teaching their students ballet?

[KazachstanRussiaGirl]

Naschi Russki...;)

[whipback]

I'm with you guys. She may have been a power gymnast but she also was an artistic gymnast. And I don't think it was only her 1988 routine that was choreographed very well.