Gymnast Ellie Black on how her new floor routine depicts a challenging period
"The routine is basically about the past few years, which have been tough," Canadian gymnast Ellie Black told Olympics.com after performing her stand-out new floor exercise at last year's World Championships in Antwerp.
The story of the dance relates to a challenging period since Tokyo 2020, which took place in 2021, in which she lost her long-time coach, rehabbed a persistent ankle injury, and became a leading force in vocalising for a culture change for gymnasts in Canada.
"I've been battling through injuries, and up and downs, and so the routine is just about how those things try and break you down and you have to build yourself back up. You have to keep fighting and, at the end of the day you just have to focus on you. Shut out all the noise and just move forward."
The music entitled Rat D'Hotel by Maxime Rodriguez, starts with the sound of a storm brewing, movements throughout include her body crumpling inwards before rising up, and a single finger to her lips is repeatedly used in a shush gesture.
"It's the first time competing it on a big stage," Black continued, "so I really just wanted to showcase the routine.
The crowd's enthused reaction proved the innovative dance had been engaging and meaningful; exactly what the judges are keen to see this Olympic cycle.
"I've been working really hard with Julia, my choreographer, and just to share that story, make the audience hopefully really think about what the story is, and to connect with them and the judges. I was really happy with the artistry and the whole routine all together."
The Julia to whom she refers is Julia Spivak, a specialist in gymnastics choreography who has applied herself to helping gymnasts with the artistry on beam and floor, an art form in itself. So, on International Dance Day, Olympics.com takes a look at Black's routine and what it represents for her.
Personality is key in gymnastics floor routines
A rite of passage for female gymnasts each Olympic cycle, is to create new routines for the four pieces of apparatus on which they compete – vault, bars, beam, and floor – based on the new Code of Points for that cycle.
The COP is a rulebook that defines the scoring system for each level of competition in gymnastics, including the Olympic Games, and for floor exercise for the Paris 2024 cycle, "flexibility, strength, grace, expression, control, and confidence" are key, posted Spivak on Instagram.
First, new floor music is chosen to suit the gymnast, particularly as they will hear it a gazillion times a day in training, so they need to be happy with it.
Required tumble runs, dance moves and leaps must be incorporated, but other than that, a gymnast is free to showcase their personality, their artistry, in any way they choose.
"There's always a controversy of expectations 'combining difficult skills with challenging choreography is not possible'," wrote Spivak of the tricky balance between difficult tumbles and engaging choreography, cited by the Code of Points. But it is possible, especially with a gymnast who has an "open mind, readiness for trial and error, (and) hunger for growth (which) are all essential parts of a successful outcome," she posted.
All of that she had with the experienced Black, who made her senior international debut in 2012, the year of her first Olympic Games in London.
Gymnast Ellie Black in one of the striking moments from her new floor routine performed at the 2023 World Championships.
Back on the floor area at the Sportpaleis 11 years later and the three-time World medallist started her innovative dance routine bent at the hips, staring at the floor with one hand placed protectively over her stomach, the other hooked around her back. She was ready.
By exercise end, the crowd and fellow gymnasts knew they'd seen something special, and Black was pleased with the reaction to her routine's debut.
"I was really excited to come out and compete the new floor routine," said the Nova Scotia native. "Cardio-wise it takes a lot and I'm still working on that and then to upgrade the tumbling a bit, but I'm just getting some experience with that. Completing some of those tumbling passes that I haven't completed in a while, and yeah, just getting back on competing all four apparatus.
"It's the first time at a big major competition in a year, so just to get out there when it's stressful, when those nerves are hitting and when it counts, get some pressure training and just experience the whole World Championships, hopefully that will help into next year as we go into Paris and to know what to expect and how to handle it."
A clear-sighted value of looking after her wellbeing was the focus of a New Year post rolling into 2024, a year in which pressure ramps up irrecoverably toward the Olympic Games.
"This year, I will be focusing on self-care, taking more time for myself, reading, meditation, spending time with family, trying out journalling, and slowing down… because I feel like my life is a bullet train sometimes 😂 Oh, and preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics! 😉 But most of all, enjoying the journey."
A change of scene training in Australia with the likes of Georgia Godwin, and then heading to Texas, to train with 23-time world champion Simone Biles, has given Black a sense of togetherness with the few people who can understand the pressures incumbent on elite athletes, Biles more so than most.
The American inspired many when she opted to put her mental and physical health top of her agenda mid-competition in Tokyo, despite the pressure of being one of the faces of the Olympic Games, withdrawing from the team final when she didn't feel safe after suffering a case of the twisties.
"Thanks to @simonebiles for hosting me at your club," Black posted. "It was amazing to train with an athlete that breaks barriers for women in sport and inspires others through her gymnastics, her values, and prioritizing herself and her health. This is something I am striving to do more in 2024 and it was great to get some perspective from someone who can so closely relate."
By virtue of Canada qualifying a five-person team for Paris 2024, courtesy of claiming a first-ever women's team world medal at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool, with bronze, Black looks set to be selected by her National Olympic Committee for a fourth Olympic Games.
But this time out, she's making sure to also focus on things outside of training.
"This year, I will be focusing on self-care, taking more time for myself, reading, meditation, spending time with family, trying out journalling, and slowing down…because I feel like my life is a bullet train sometimes 😂 Oh, and preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics! 😉 But most of all, enjoying the journey," she posted.
Ultimately, the 28-year-old wants to keep things calm and serene, something she's learned from enjoying regular jaunts into the nature of her native province, which is entirely surrounded by water and is home to more than 13,000km of coastline, thousands of lakes, and valleys.
"With injuries, a lot of noise, a lot of chaos happening around, I'm really just trying to focus in, and shut out that noise around me, tell those things to just be quiet and focus on what I need to do."
Besides, the dance in her floor exercise will do the talking for her.
- As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
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