For local rope jumpers, Olympics invitation is the stuff of dreams
Print Edition
COMPETING in the Olympic Games is the ultimate dream of many athletes. For Dream Mix, a Shanghai-based rope-jumping team, that dream is about to become a reality.
Dream Mix, a nine-member rope-jumping team from the Shanghai Yuedong Rope Jumping Club, recently received an invitation from the organizing committee of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games to participate in both the Summer Games and the Paralympics in Brazil as entertainers.
According to Brazilian national Vivien Vajda Elisangela, one of only two foreigners on the team, Dream Mix is the only overseas entertainment act the Rio Olympic committee has invited this year.
While rope jumping is not an Olympic sport, it is an extremely challenging discipline that combines elements of gymnastics, dancing and various types of exercise.
“Based on previous experience, the team will give at least one or two performances every day in Brazil,” Elisangela told Shanghai Daily. “We have also applied to perform at the opening ceremony of the Rio Games, and are still waiting for feedback.”
The 21-year-old is a rope-jumping world champion, as well as the individual record holder of the speed and endurance competition at the European Championships (she lived and studied in Hungary for a while). Elisangela also entertained at the 2012 London Olympics organizers four years ago. Still studying in Brazil, she has visited Shanghai every year since 2013 to train with Dream Mix for one to three months.
“When the Rio organizers asked me to suggest entertainment performers, I immediately recommended the rope-jumping team of Shanghai Yuedong. After watching the team’s videos, the organizers were immediately impressed.”
New level of success
Li Shengxi, chairman of Dream Mix promoter Shanghai Yuedong Culture Communication Co, said Elisangela’s recommendation has helped the team to achieve a new level of success.
Li graduated from Shanghai University of Sport and was the captain of the school’s rope-jumping team, one of the first in China.
He started the company in 2009, and was introduced to Elisangela by a friend in Hong Kong. On Li’s invitation, Elisangela made her first visit to China and Shanghai two years later, and used her connections to support Li by introducing the Shanghai team to people running international competitions.
As the vice president of the Shanghai Rope Skipping Association, Li has co-organized international rope-jumping competitions in Shanghai since 2014, and Elisangela has helped him by inviting foreign teams to the country. This year’s event has been scheduled in November, and Li plans to invite about 50 teams from 10 foreign countries.
Dream Mix has seven regular members, both students and full-time jumpers who have graduated from Shanghai University of Sport. Together with Elisangela and another Japanese jumper invited by the club, the team has prepared several routines of various lengths to perform at the Rio Olympics.
“We also tried to add some Chinese elements to our program to highlight our own character,” said Wu Wangqiang, a Dream Mix team member who is in charge of choreography. Wu, who is a graduate of Shanghai University of Sport, has been with the team for five years.
“When designing the routines, we watch videos to borrow ideas or create our own moves during practise,” said Wu. In one of their new routines, the members weave kung fu moves into the action to give it a distinctly Chinese flavor.
Kung fu elements
“Unlike some other teams in the world, members of Dream Mix are like all-rounders who are good at individual skills, as well as teamwork-oriented acts like the Double Dutch (three or more participants using two ropes turned in opposite directions),” said Elisangela. “And the kung fu elements are very appealing to foreign audiences.”
During her stay in Shanghai, Elisangela usually acts as a part-time coach for Dream Mix.
“It’s more about communicating than coaching,” said Elisangela. “We exchange ideas and inspirations from our own cultures. The boys have been training hard. They are positive and willing to take on challenges. They take it seriously, but at the same time they are playful instead of stressed. What I do sometimes is push them to conquer a more difficult action and try to reach their limit.”
Elisangela said rope jumping originated in the US in the 1960s, but it is still a new sport in Brazil.
“It’s a fast-growing young sport — eye-catching and cheap — all you need is a rope and a pair of shoes and you can practise anywhere. At the same time, the creative aspect is especially attractive to young participants,” said Elisangela. “If you don’t want to reach the competition level, rope jumping is also a good daily exercise and even a good way to improve coordination.”
For Li, promoting rope jumping in China and elsewhere in Asia is his company’s main goal.
“Individual and long rope jumping have been popular exercises in China’s primary and middle schools for a long time. However, it is rarely practised as a team sport in colleges, not to mention being developed into a profession,” said Li, who added that he wants his company to be a pioneer in the area.
Apart from Dream Mix, the club has another four rope-jumping teams. They put on some 300 performances each year — both commercial and non-profit.
The club has 80 full-time and part-time rope-jumping coaches around the country, and provides courses for schools, PE teachers, organizations and individuals.
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