Sorry to all the other cities out there but there really is no better place to watch gymnastics than in the North East of the USA and the Boston area in particular. I had the great opportunity to watch the Kellogg’s Tour of Championships at the Boston Garden (Ok, it’s technically called the TD BANK NORTH GARDEN).
As my daughter pointed out this was our 4th “Tour of Champions” together and it may actually have been our 5th. I know I went to the Post Olympic Tour in 96 but she was only 1 year old. So I can’t remember if she was there. This was by far the Best SHOW I had been to see. With the Boston show being one of the last shows they did, it was hard to predict if people would show up. What the energy of the cast would be, If ANOTHER athlete injury would cancel the show.
In the end, BOSTON GARDEN SOLD OUT (16,000+)! It was the largest show on the tour and the energy of the gymnasts and cast rose to the occasion. From the pre show “Chalk Talk” to the post show “Meet and Greet” the energy was great! I really don’t know how they do it. I was tired watching them just sign autographs! With Ali Raisman and Alicia Sacramone from the Boston area I figured there would be decent turn out but this was really over the top.
Cirque du Soleil provides an obvious model for the current tour. With the gymnasts performing routines in beautiful costumes using rings, curtains and ropes with stage lighting, popular music, and comedy sketches to break up the program. You get to see the entire cast get their Party Rock Anthem on, dressed up in their neon t-shirts and animal print pants with big black glasses a la LMFAO. It’s admittedly fun to see the gymnasts cutting loose like normal teens, and this routine is one of the most successful in the show.
The gymnasts also perform limited routines on all of the apparatus: the uneven bars and balance beam for the women, high bar, rings and parallel bars for men, floor exercise for both. No vault or pommel horse in this show. It’s enjoyable to watch the men all performing on parallel bars in a choreographed routine together, but my personal favorites were watching 4 High Bar routines going on at the same time and when they had all (or at least most) of the gymnasts cross tumbling.
Tandem trampoline team members Steven Gluckstein and Savannah Vinsant, the four-time U.S. trampoline champions and 2012 Olympic competitors, are able to perform much of their competitive routines. They were spectacular, flying and spinning with impressive speed and precision.
This show was GREAT for the committed gymnasts or casual observer alike. Parents loved it, Kids loved it. Can’t wait for practice today to see how that energy carries over.
What the Parents are Saying.
Thanks for the opportunity. It was so great for the girls to enjoy this event together. They all loved it. And the brothers got to see guys doing gymnastics! That made a real impact. Thank you
Two words – fabulous, and thank you. Well, that’s 4 words. Anyway, I wanted to thank everybody for a great experience for myself and Sarah. Thank you for organizing the tickets (Dina) and the bus (Jacqui), letting us park at Atlantic (Tony). Sarah thought the show was awesome and was inspired by it. What a great experience for the girls to see their idols perform in person.
It is pretty exciting for The North East to have 2 shows this year. One in Boston and one in Hartford. Coming up later this spring will be AMERICAN CUP in Worcester, MA and then in the summer USA CHAMPIONSHIPS and USA National Congress. It is a great time to be involved in gymnastics and live in New England!
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Thank you Christine Bricket for the use of your photos!
