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College Floor Routines Stole It All
Flashdance didn't inspire a generation of floor routines. It got robbed.
Watch the audition scene at the end of the movie and you will recognize choreography that judges still reward with a ten.
For the entire conversation, listen to this week's episode: GymCastic Movie Club: Flashdance
🎧 GymCastic.com
#gymnastics #flashdance #ncaagymnastics
The Gymnast Behind That Dive Roll
That dive roll in Flashdance was thrown by a real national champion.
Sharon Shapiro was the U.S. elite vault champion, and in 1980 she became the first collegiate woman to sweep all four events. It has never been done before or since.
For the entire conversation, listen to this week's episode: GymCastic Movie Club: Flashdance
🎧 GymCastic.com
#gymnastics #flashdance #ncaagymnastics
Flashdance Commission: Welding, Wigs and The Gayest Welding
🎬 The GymCastic Movie Club takes on FLASHDANCE—the runaway 1983 hit that is essentially a collection of MTV music videos held together by sparks, leg warmers and vibes.
We discuss the stunt wigs, the film’s gymnastics influence, gayest welder’s burlesque bar,
Alex’s complete lack of ballet training and the legendary final audition featuring a dive roll performed by collegiate gymnastics history-maker Sharon Shapiro. Jessica also brings us firsthand stories from Sharon about filming the scene. Commissioned by Rose https://gymcastic.com/product/full-commission-raffle/
🎟️ WIN A FULL-EPISODE COMMISSION
Enter the raffle for the chance to choose the subject of an entire GymCastic episode—as long as it is tangentially gymnastics-related! The raffle helps fund our on-site coverage of the 2026 World Championships in Rotterdam
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🔥 IN THIS EPISODE
• Which one is Flashdance again?
• The true story that inspired the movie
• Jennifer Beals and Pittsburgh Ballet Versailles
• How Flashdance influenced gymnastics floor routines
• Sharon Shapiro’s iconic audition dive roll
• The stunt doubles and constantly changing wigs
• The gayest welder’s burlesque of all time
• Tina Tech’s “Manhunt” routine
• Jeanie’s disastrous skating audition
• Everything wrong with Alex’s boss-turned-boyfriend
• The “What a Feeling” finale
• Casting a gymnastics remake
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 – Welcome to the Flashdance Movie Club
02:51 – The True Story and 1983 Phenomenon
07:05 – Why Flashdance Is Gymnastics-Related
11:37 – The Plot, Such as It Is
21:06 – The Gayest Welder’s Burlesque Bar
40:49 – Montage-a-Palooza
49:25 – Jeanie’s Skating Was A Quitters Try!
59:20 – Who Is Hannah?
1:02:53 – Lobster and the Horrible Boss Romance
1:14:23 – The “What a Feeling” Audition
1:18:52 – Sharon Shapiro’s Stories from the Set
1:25:08 – Casting the Flashdance Remake
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Simone Never Needed A Mic
"That routine was a piece of sh&!." Simone never needed a microphone — she just said it loud enough for everyone to hear.
Now give us the LA28 alt-cast: Simone and Zoe Miller, unfiltered. We would pay.
Want the rest of the stories? Join Club Gym Nerd: GymCastic.com/Club
🎧 GymCastic.com
Featuring @simonebiles @_.zoemiller
#gymnastics #SimoneBiles #LA28
I Respond With My Performance
People are body-shaming Manila Esposito. Her answer: "I don't like to respond to the comments. I like to respond with my performance."
Or, as Jessica puts it — did you see how safely her body landed those double pikes?
Want the rest of the stories? Join Club Gym Nerd: GymCastic.com/Club
🎧 GymCastic.com
Featuring @_manilaesposito_
#gymnastics #ManilaEsposito
The Wall Fell And We Threw It All Out
When the Wall came down and the Soviet coaches arrived, American gymnastics threw out everything it thought it knew.
By the early 90s every handstand had changed. Here's what a hollow position is. Here's a tight arch. Everything comes from that.
Want the rest of the stories? Join Club Gym Nerd: GymCastic.com/Club
🎧 GymCastic.com
#gymnastics #gymnasticshistory
The U.S. Can't Staff Its Own Olympics
The U.S. does not have a single Category One judge — and not enough brevets, period, to staff the judging requirement for its own Olympics.
"They're going to have to change this."
Want the rest of the stories? Join Club Gym Nerd: GymCastic.com/Club
🎧 GymCastic.com
#gymnastics #judging #LA28
Why Did The U.S. Suck Before Béla?
Why did the U.S. suck before Béla, and why were the Europeans better? The research was better.
Australia and East Germany both started building sports science around hosting an Olympics in the 50s. To this day Australia trains some of the best exercise scientists on earth.
Want the rest of the stories? Join Club Gym Nerd: GymCastic.com/Club
🎧 GymCastic.com
#gymnastics #sportscience
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That dive roll in Flashdance was thrown by a real national champion.
Sharon Shapiro was the U.S. elite vault champion, and in 1980 she became the first collegiate woman to sweep all four events. It has never been done before or since.
For the entire conversation, listen to this week`s episode: GymCastic Movie Club: Flashdance
🎧 GymCastic.com
#gymnastics #flashdance #ncaagymnastics
New Episode 🎙🔥
Jessica & Spencer review Flashdance! 😂
* The gymnastics — Jessica spoke with the stunt double
* The wigs
* The montages
* The 80s!
* The episode you didn’t know you needed!
"That routine was a piece of shit." Simone never needed a microphone — she just said it loud enough for everyone to hear.
Now give us the LA28 alt-cast: Simone and Zoe Miller, unfiltered. We would pay.
Want the rest of the stories? Join Club Gym Nerd: GymCastic.com/Club
🎧 GymCastic.com
Featuring @simonebiles @_.zoemiller
#gymnastics #SimoneBiles #LA28
People are body-shaming Manila Esposito. Her answer: "I don`t like to respond to the comments. I like to respond with my performance."
Or, as Jessica puts it — did you see how safely her body landed those double pikes?
Want the rest of the stories? Join Club Gym Nerd: GymCastic.com/Club
🎧 GymCastic.com
Featuring @_manilaesposito_
#gymnastics #ManilaEsposito
When the Wall came down and the Soviet coaches arrived, American gymnastics threw out everything it thought it knew.
By the early 90s every handstand had changed. Here`s what a hollow position is. Here`s a tight arch. Everything comes from that.
Want the rest of the stories? Join Club Gym Nerd: GymCastic.com/Club
🎧 GymCastic.com
#gymnastics #gymnasticshistory
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Flashdance Invented The 1988 East Germans
3 hours ago
You cannot understand the 1988 East German team until you have watched Manhunt.
Tina Tech's catcher's-mask number is where Ulrike Klotz and Dagmar Kersten come from. All it needed was a suspenders-inspired leotard.
For the entire conversation, listen to this week's episode: GymCastic Movie Club: Flashdance
🎧 GymCastic.com
#gymnastics #flashdance #movieclub ...