About one minute into her floor exercise, freshman all-arounder Jessica Savona lifts herself off the mat and moonwalks into the corner to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal,” usually eliciting a roar from the crowd.
The signature shuffle of the late pop idol is easily recognizable but falls into what might be one of the most overlooked aspects of gymnastics: choreography. Moves have to be judge-friendly, crowd-pleasing and perfectly executed in order to produce the highest score possible.
“I’ve been practicing [the moonwalk] as much as possible,” Savona said. “It took me a little while to get used to it, but [my former choreographer] thought it would be kind of cool, and so did I. It took me a little while to get it in my routine, but after that, everyone seemed to like it.”
While each gymnast chooses her own music, the task of choreography for the Tigers’ routines falls on the shoulders of volunteer coach Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, a former two-time national champion for LSU.
Clare-Kearney joined the LSU staff to be around the program and coaching staff she held so dear in her competing days. Though she only participated in dancing through high school and never received any professional choreography training, Clare-Kearney said she has a knack for choreography.
“[Choreographing] was something [LSU coach D-D Breaux] asked me to do,” Clare-Kearney said. “But when I was on the team, I helped the girls tweak their routines. … I started kind of taking over and helping people adjust their routines as they saw fit. Naturally, I just moved into that position because that’s where I felt comfortable.”
Clare-Kearney acknowledged the diversity of personalities on the team and the necessity of arranging routines that highlight the strengths of each gymnast.
Clare-Kearney referenced the flexibility of sophomore all-arounder Rheagan Courville, whose floor exercise music includes “Sail” by Awolnation. Though Courville was worried she would grow sick of the piece, she said she is pleased with her choice and plans to keep it next year.
“I have a really dancy, flexible kind of style, and I wanted that [song] to be put in,” Courville said. “I like flowy, sharp and dramatic music. That’s just always the style that I liked, and I just stuck with it in college, too.”
Sophomore all-arounder Lloimincia Hall said she wanted to utilize the power of her wildly popular floor routine to deliver a message. The pairing of Hall’s high-energy routine with upbeat gospel music is meant to reveal how important Christ is in her life.
“Maybe I can touch someone else’s heart to maybe bring them to Christ,” Hall said. “I’m all about bringing an upbeat situation and trying to get a message over to someone.”
Breaux, who must approve all music and routines, praised Clare-Kearney’s ability to match music to personalities. Breaux tweaks the choreography if needed, and she echoed the importance of the routine fitting the gymnast.
“I want them to like their music,” Breaux said. “I want it to fit them and fit their personality. But it also has to be something that I think will be pleasing to the crowd and pleasing to the judges.”
When Savona arrived at LSU, she wanted to change her floor routine. However, Breaux and Clare-Kearney convinced Savona to keep the moonwalk, and they’ve also added Jackson’s “Beat It” to the mix.
“I kept my old dance that did go with the music,” Savona said. “So it didn’t take that much time to put together, but when it did, I had fun with it.”
