CHICAGO -- Some gymnasts jealously guard their new floor music until they assume their opening pose at some large meet. John Geddert has apparently not thought about this, even though his protege Jordyn Wieber did what looked like a dance through, sans music, during podium training at the CoverGirl Classic.
"I don't mind giving that away," Geddert said Saturday night when I asked him the title of Wieber's new piece. But then he couldn't remember it. He called over to his wife Kathryn -- "Kathryn, what's the title of Jo's new floor music?" -- and she didn't remember either.
So alas, no title. But Geddert described it this way: "It's kind of a Ciruqe du Soleil type thing. It has some vocals in it. It's got some drums, heavy beat. It's very dramatic. But it's still allows her to use her smile."
Is it a piece that we hear a lot in floor routines? "I've never heard it before," Geddert said.
So there you have it, sort of. Wieber's mysterious new music has some vocals, is Cirque-like and kind of heavy, but still fun enough that you can smile and it's appropriate.
When I asked Geddert about the difference between Wieber's new floor routine and the one she competed last year, he immediately said, "It's more mature. It's very dynamic. Anybody that's seen it has gone wild." That includes Geddert -- the first time choreographer Dominic Zito and Wieber showed Geddert a full run through, Geddert got goosebumps.
"That's my gauge of whether or not I like a floor routine," he said. "Every time I think about it, the same thing happens."
More floor stuff: In 2009, Alicia Sacramone had a new floor routine developed as she began training for her comeback. But that routine is not the same one she showed at CoverGirl this weekend. So, just to let it be known, there's a specially choreographed Alicia Sacramone floor routine floating out there that nobody's ever seen. Maybe she'll do it on the post-Olympic tour?
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