Academy holds seminar on the new system of artistic evaluation according to the FIG rules

A seminar on the new system of artistic evaluation according to the rules of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) was held at the Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy. 

Coach Olesya Kovaleva explained to the gymnasts the basic requirements for the artistic component of the exercises. After the lesson, she told how understanding the evaluation of programs according to the new rules will help the gymnasts. 

"Seminar for the children of our Academy, for the coaches and choreographers was held. Artistry requirements have currently become more stringent and the children sometimes do not even have understanding of what we require from them. We reviewed in detail, what criteria will be used to evaluate all that, what artistry penalties will be. We tried using a video with gymnasts from different competitions as an example to figure out what artistry means and how we need to approach our exercises," Olesya said.

The seminar was also attended by rhythm teacher Anna Pukhova and accompanist Ilona Prokhorova. Olesya also explained why it is important for athletes to pay attention to working with music.

"Rhythmic gymnastics and music is always a common notion. However, we need to deal in more detail with our musical pieces that we take as a basis for an exercise in this Olympic cycle. Our specialists are proactively helping with that. The children will be oriented with their help, what is the genre of the musical piece, with what character they should perform, and what they should portray by their faces and bodies," she said.

Earlier, at one of the training sessions, Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva emphasized how important it is to teach gymnasts artistic skills and to discuss with them the emotional and musical aspects of the exercises.