Rhythmic gymnastics is one of the youngest sports in the Olympic program. In a short time, it has gone from basic gymnastic and dance exercises to the most complex programs that require incredible preparation, coordination and mastery of elements from the gymnasts.
The first gymnastic elements appeared in ancient times, when the inhabitants of Ancient Greece did exercises to maintain physical fitness. However, the fundamental development of gymnastics began only in the 19th century, and the foundation for this was separate areas developed by European scientists and cultural figures.
The ideologist of dance gymnastics was the French inventor and enthusiast Georges Demeny, who presented a system of physical exercises with an emphasis on flexibility, dexterity and the smoothness of movements. He also introduced the use of gymnastic equipment, which later metamorphosed into the modern items gymnasts use today.
His compatriot, voice and theater teacher François Delsarte developed a system of body expressiveness. In the middle of the 19th century, he was one of the first to declare that each person has his own plastic language, and began to teach actors and speakers to express emotions through gestures, postures and facial expressions.
Later, the Swiss composer Emile Jacques-Dalcroze combined movement and music and became the founder of rhythmic gymnastics, a method of perceiving musical works through body movements by improving the functioning of the nervous and muscular systems. He also invented the principle of clapping out the rhythm, which is still used by coaches in rhythmic gymnastics.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a real revolution in the dance world was made by a contemporary of Emile Jacques-Dalcroze, American dancer Isadora Duncan. Rejecting the classical school of ballet, she was the first to take off her pointe shoes and start dancing barefoot. It was thanks to her work and her desire for natural expressiveness of movements that “free dance” was developed, which is considered the forefather of rhythmic gymnastics.
Aside from not wearing shoes, the key feature of Isadora Duncan's "free dance" were expressive, free movements, naturally merging with the musical accompaniment. This is exactly what the modern rules of rhythmic gymnastics require - fluid movements, purity of element execution, light and free of movement.
In 1934, the Higher School of the Art Movement was opened in the USSR at the P. Lesgaft State Institute of Physical Culture where they later developed a unified curriculum, a system of exercises, terminology, rules and criteria for musical accompaniment.
The masters of ballet played the most important role in the training of future athletes such as Bolshoi Theater ballet master-repetiteur Sergei Koren taught them character dance, andMariinsky Theater ballet master Rostislav Zakharov taught classical dance and choreography.
In 1963, in accordance with the rules developed in the USSR, the European Cup was held in Budapest, and it was the first international tournament in rhythmic gymnastics, which was later considered the first official world championship. Athletes from ten countries participated in it, and the winner was Lyudmila Savinkova from Moscow.
A real breakthrough in the world of rhythmic gymnastics took place in 1980, the decision was made to include it in the Olympic program. Four years later, the first rhythmic gymnastics competition was held in Los Angeles as part of the Summer Olympics. They competed for one set of medals in the individual program. Since 1996, group all-around events have been added to the Olympic program.