Springfield College: Gymnastics Homeshow

One

In 1891 an informal gymnastic team at Springfield College

which included faculty members Amos Alonzo Stagg, James Naismith, Frank Seerley, and Luther Gulick traveled to New York City for a gymnastics exhibition meet with the 23rd street YMCA. When the 1891 informal gymnastic team competed, it became the first competitive group to represent Springfield College.
Two

In 1900, nine years after the first gymnastic meet, four experienced gymnasts from Cleveland, Ohio, T. Clark, J. Thompson, J.T. Copley, and V.V. Roseboro, entered as freshman and were invited to perform at “Open Nights” which were exhibitions given by seniors as part of a gymnastics course. A second group of experienced gymnasts led by J. H. Scott followed the four in 1901 and formed a talented group that continued to perform at “open nights” exhibitions on campus and at various YMCAs off campus.
Three

The years 1904–05 marked the appearance of the first organized Springfield College gymnastic exhibition team led by J.H. Scott, elected captain. They continued to perform in open nights and scheduled six exhibitions at local YMCAs. Scott was the one to organize, schedule, and manage the formal gymnastics team. His organizational policies were to continue until a faculty coach was appointed in 1915.
Four

In the early nineteen hundreds teams practiced in the East Gym in the winter. In the spring and fall the team tumbled and built pyramids on the sawdust filled floor in the empty icehouse that once stood on the parking lot between Gulick Hall and the president's home.
Five

In the early years the gymnastic exhibition team was composed of 10 men who performed apparatus numbers of parallel bars, side horse, horizontal bar, vaulting, and flying rings. In addition there were team drills, dance, clowning, pyramids and fencing.
Six

The 1907 schedule included a meet with Amherst

College as well as six exhibitions. This was the first gymnastic competition since 1891. Indian club swinging was a competitive gymnastics event.
Seven

The addition of a pianist, Fred Gale '11 in 1909 moved

exhibitions from strict cadence counting to a more rhythmic pattern of work. A musical background for the entire exhibition and specific music for each number greatly enhanced the popularity of the program.
Eight

Under the leadership of captain Louis C. Schroeder, 16 exhibitions and two exhibition meets, with Amherst College and Yale University, were scheduled in 1911.
Nine

The gymnastic exhibition team became a major sport and members were awarded varsity letters, T.S. (Training School) for the first time in 1912. It was in 1912 that the program showed “home exhibition” in place of the former title of “open nights” held in the east gym.
Ten

The annual exhibition on campus was called “The Home Exhibition” until the fifties when it was shortened to “Home Show” to reflect a more popular term of the times. The term Home Show wasn’t officially used in print in the program until 1969.
Eleven

In 1914 the 10-man gymnastic exhibition team performed 28 exhibitions and traveled 3,500 miles by car in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maine, and Pennsylvania, including the spring trip.
Twelve

During a home exhibition in 1914, Erastes Pennock ’14 was doing a mixed grip giant swing during his high bar routine. He missed the bar with one hand and caught his wrist instead while performing the giant swing. Completing a giant swing with one hand on the bar and the other on his wrist made him famous throughout the years on campus for being the only one in his day to do a one arm giant swing, to be named the “The Pennock Giant.” Later in 1926, Pennock was interim coach for Leslie Judd '20who was obtaining a master's degree from New York University.
Thirteen

The 1915 yearbook reported that the gymnastic team requirements were that “one must be an all around man, must be able to perform on all apparatus and be in all dance, drills, and pyramids and in order to make the team his personality was considered."
Fourteen

Team pianist, C.F. Dahlgram '17, was famous for joining the team at the end of the show in the last pyramid to do a shoulder stand on the parallel bars to give the team an 11th man. It wasn't until 1921 that the team would increase to 11 members.
Fifteen

The gymnasts acquired their first faculty coach in 1915 when former team captain, Louis. H. Schroeder was selected for the position. Prior to 1915 the team captain was responsible for both coaching and scheduling.
Sixteen

The team uniform consisted of neat blue trousers with white stripes down each side, a white jersey with a maroon “S” and a white sweater with a maroon “S” and white gym pumps.
Seventeen

In both the 1917 and 1920 seasons, Leslie Judd was elected the captain of the SC gymnastics team. There were no gymnastic exhibitions in 1918-1919 when the College was closed during World War I. During the war years Judd served in the Australian Forces in France.
Eighteen

When Coach Schroeder left the College in 1920, Leslie J. Judd '20 succeeded him as coach of the gymnastic exhibition team. A position he remained in until 1955, with one year off for study and three more for World War II, to total 31 years! Judd was married three months before graduation in 1920 to Muriel Norman in the home of College President Lawrence L. Doggett.
Ninteen

The year 1920 marked the first time there were two teams, Varsity and JV. The teams practiced in the new West Gym the whole year, a step up from the icehouse practices in early fall and spring.
Twenty

Team members would be expected to speak either before or after exhibitions to church groups, boys' clubs, YMCA leader corps, and men's clubs. In 1921, a freshman team was added to the Varsity and JV schedules and the traveling team increased from 11 to 14 in number.
Twenty One

By 1922 Coach Judd had greatly expanded the exhibition program by adding international folk dances from Russia, Spain, England, the Philippines, and Hungary. Also added were a variety of routines and drills of Indian Club swinging, glittering wands, balance trios, and clowning.
Twenty Two

In the early 1920s pyramid building on the parallel bars progressed from swinging shoulder stands to press handstands. Pictures of these shoulder stands show that at least one group of gymnasts was able to get nine men into a handstand on parallel bars at the same time.
Twenty Three

In 1925 the team went on an international tour through the southern part of our country and Mexico. The team boarded a train and traveled from Dec. 11 to Jan. 26. During this time, the team performed 26 exhibitions in the United States and 10 in Mexico. The presidents from both countries honored the team with personal receptions.
Twenty Four

From 1931 to 1933, the Springfield Gymnastic team was a member of the Eastern League which was comprised of Dartmouth, Princeton, MIT, Navy, and Temple. Because of objection from a few alumni, President Doggett suggested that the gymnastic exhibition team withdraw from competitive dual meets and the Eastern League. It would be 1964 before the team was allowed to demonstrate that it was possible to accomplish both a competitive and exhibition program.
Twenty Five

Tableaux, a living statuary of youth concept, was conceived by Coach Judd from an artistic production of Greek scenes in marble he once saw while living in his native country, Australia. In the spring of 1934, when Coach Judd directed the College's annual canoe carnival, he presented tableaux for the first time in our country.
Twenty Six

The canoes in the carnival had platforms where small groups of men posed as statues in a white alabastrine make-up that looked like marble. Spotlights were shone on the tableaux statues in the canoes from Rally Hill.
Twenty Seven

At the request of President Doggett, tableaux were presented at the 1935 Winter Homecoming Gymnastics Exhibition. Judd chose to close the show with tableaux rather than pyramids because of the need for make-up removal. It became the highlight of the exhibition and remains so today.
Twenty Eight

For a better lighting effect, in 1937 tableaux were refined when the mixture was changed from marble to bronze by Judd and his assistant Chick Weckworth. These were called “Men in Bronze.” Still later the make-up mixture was changed from bronze to silver to enhance the colored lighting reflecting off the silver in combinations of gold, red, green, and blue.
Twenty Nine

In February 1937 the gymnastic exhibition team performed at Madison Square Garden between a doubleheader basketball event. The newspapers in New York reported rave reviews about the exhibition and couldn't believe that the clown act wasn't a professional group hired from an agency.
Thirty

Springfield College tableaux added to the College's international recognition in January 1939 when Life Magazine published a five page feature story, seen around the world, on Springfield College and tableaux.
Thirty One

In 1939 the gymnastic exhibition team was invited to present its living statuary as a finale to the International YMCA Gymnastic Championships in Detroit at the Olympic Stadium.
Thirty Two

In 1942 three men, Abe Friedman, Roger Burke, and Jack Farquhar, began a tradition of show–stopping triple balance numbers. The most famous was three men standing high on each other's shoulders that would fall into a forward roll landing togeth. They then would roll up backward together and end in three high as a finale.
Thirty Three

The first gymnastics book known to be published in the United States was “The Gymnast Manual” written by Wilber D. West ‘26. It was dedicated to Coach Judd and published in 1942. West was an accomplished gymnast and a four-year member of Judd’s team.
Thirty Four

One of the famous films from “The March of Time,” a series from Time Magazine produced prior to World War II, features Springfield College’s gymnastic exhibition team and tableaux.
Thirty Five

Beginning in 1944, as a result of World War II, the College suspended all faculty contracts. During this time, Coach Judd was a fitness instructor to various armed service groups that trained on the Springfield campus. Judd also trained 48 Ice Capets, of the famous touring Ice Capades, to swing Indian Clubs and glittering wands.
Thirty Six

After the war, summer courses were offered in designing and producing physical education – gymnastic exhibitions with the purpose of training educators to showcase physical education programs to their communities. Participants engaged in workshops on the art of applying make-up, clown routines, tableaux design, drills with Indian clubs and wands, and dance routines.
Thirty Seven

In 1948 the travel squad for the gymnastic exhibition team increased from 14 men to 25 men. The travel squad would sleep in rooms at YMCAs or on cots in the local gymnasiums during the early years. Later they stayed with host families from the neighboring community.
Thirty Eight

In 1950, on a high school stage a gymnast, was performing on high bar and flew off into the wall. The curtain was closed. When his teammates went to assist him Judd said, “Lift him up, now open the curtain just a little.” Judd wanted to show the audience the gymnast wasn’t hurt. The curtain was then closed but inadvertently opened. The teammates dropped the gymnast and he fell into the orchestra pit. The teammates were then told to pretended it was a clown act. The gymnast was lifted overhead and carried away to the applause of the crowd.
Thirty Nine

Following World War II the triple balance trios
of Joe Louder, Ray Chin, and Ray Brown, as well as
Jim O'Brien, Bob James, and Frank Wolcott, added to
the rich tradition of a Judd exhibition. Wolcott went on
to captain the team in 1952 in his senior year.
Forty

From 1948–1958, the annual Home Show was performed at Symphony Hall in downtown Springfield on a large stage. Tableaux make-up was applied in the showers of the police station across the street. The men would have to run back and forth across the street toward the end of the exhibition to put on make-up and shower.
Forty One

Although skill level was set high by the clowns of the thirties, it was exceeded by popular student team members Dean Rippon, Tom Dunkley, Ray Chin, and Walter Johnson in the fifties. All were show stoppers. In the auditorium in downtown Springfield while doing a 'Chin-Johnson" clown number, Johnson walked the length of the balcony while banging symbols and was suppose to fall 12 feet to the aisle floor but, made errors in judgment and instead fell into a seat. Luckily that person had left their seat to get a drink of water.
Forty Two

When women entered the College in 1952 Coach Judd would occasionally invite one or two with prior gymnastic experience to perform as guests in the Home Show. Two years later in 1954, Dr. Ruth Evans, director of women's PE, cooperated again with Coach Judd's request to include women performing on parallel bars and the trampoline.
Forty Three

Springfield College honored Leslie J. Judd '20 by naming the West Gymnasium building for him in 1953 then; in 1962 Judd
received an honorary doctorate from Springfield College.
Forty Four

Coach Leslie Judd, with Thomas De Carlo and Rene Kern, wrote a book called "Exhibition Gymnastics," published in 1969. A wonderful book to guide one in teaching and directing a gymnastic exhibition team program.
Forty Five

In 1955 Frank Wolcott '52, after serving in the Marine Corps during the Korean War for two years, returned and was appointed coach and director of the men's gymnastics exhibition team upon Judd's retirement. Frank wanted a revival of membership in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference gymnastic league. However, only two dual meets were added to the exhibition schedule at this time. More dual meets were gradually scheduled. Then nine years later (1964) his dream of a full competition and exhibition schedule would be realized.
Forty Six

In 1956 the new women's gym club under the direction of faculty member Betty Wiesner performed their own show using balls, tap, wands, Indian clubs, skip ropes, and various apparatus. They also performed one number in the Home Show this year. The women's gym club performed numerous numbers in the 1958 Home Show, however, they still weren't permitted to tour with the men's gymnastics exhibition team.
Forty Seven

The men's 1956 20-show exhibition schedule finished with a seven day spring trip to Canada. The team performed on National Canadian television in Montreal with Springfield
College alumnus Vic Obeck '42 as TV director and MC.
Forty Eight

The 1958 team celebrated the 50th Golden Jubilee of the gymnastic exhibition team with a 25 city exhibition schedule. In Orange, N.J., two of the men stayed with a family that had hosted President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife in their home; they were amazed to find a cord hanging from the wall
between twin beds to pull for 24 hour maid service. What fun!
Forty Nine

The first Home Show in the new Memorial Field House followed a 22 city exhibition tour in 1959. The Field House sold out annually and continued to be the site of the Gymnastic Homeshow until 1974.
Fifty

In 1961 the team made a seven day mid-west trip to Michigan and the Niagra Falls area. In Niagra Falls they had a full
motorcycle escort and received a key to the city.
Fifty One

One of the strangest accommodations for the team occurred in 1961 when 12 men stayed in the house of Wills Funeral Parlor in Clevland, Ohio. They were escorted in four pink Cadillacs to the site. The owner also owned a night club and at his request members of the team performed some numbers from the show at the club that evening.
Fifty Two

While a student at Springfield, Jeff Cardinali '61 was a member of the 1960 Olympic squad. His accomplishments were a big draw for both spectators and gymnasts.
Fifty Three

In 1963 Diane Potter was appointed the first coach of the women's gymnastics team. During her four years she became a popular and enthusiastic pioneer of women's gymnastics.
Fifty Four

Under Coach Potter's skilled leadership in 1963, the women's gymnastics team became an equal and integral part of the SC Gymnastic exhibition team performing in all exhibitions both home and away. At this time many old traditions were changed and new ones created. Katie Wallace Tetreault was the first captain of the women's gymnastics team.
Fifty Five

Seeking a way to safely include the women in pyramid building, Coach Wolcott conceived the idea of using a silk parachute.

Wolcott got the idea from a 90 year old German gymnast that remembered seeing a silk in the air and gymnasts doing cartwheels under it at a World Turnfest at the turn of the century when he was eight years old. The women gymnasts brought their sewing machines to the gym to sew the yards of silk together to make create the first parachute.
Fifty Six

The task of using the parachute took months of practice to figure out how raise it from the floor to a height of 20 feet or more and build human pyramids beneath it. It became so popular it was used to end the first half of the show for the next 20 years. Ten years after it's invention, at the request of physical education alumni, a smaller model of the parachute was created by the Jayfro Company. It is used in elementary school physical education programs throughout the country.
Fifty Seven

Kathy Corrigan '66, a member of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and the Pan American games, drew female gymnasts to the College and fans to the shows.
Fifty Eight

In the Dec. 2, 1963 issue of Sports Illustrated was a 10 page story of Springfield College with a two page feature of Coach Wolcott's tableaux of eight silver guilded men supporting a women gymnast in a white leotard representing the year 1952 when Springfield College became coed.
Fifty Nine

A major improvement in the music for gymnastics exhibitions occurred when Jeannie Franklin became a staple from 1964-1979, as she traveled with her organ to all shows both home and away. Many a spectator will never forget her emotionally beautiful accompaniments for team numbers, pyramids under the silk parachute and tableaux.
Sixty

The gymnastics exhibition show appeared in the United States Pavilion at the 1965 World's Fair in New York City. The gymnasts drew the largest crowds in the pavilion's history. A special videotape was made and shown at the fair for the remainder of the year.
Sixty One

While in New York at the World's Fair the gymnasts also did a show at Shea Stadium before 50,000 baseball fans between a doubleheader. Shea Stadium told the coaches that they wouldn't be invited to return because between the doubleheader when the fans watched the exhibition their sales of food and drink dropped to almost zero!
Sixty Two

Springfield gymnasts through their gymnastic exhibition team tours nationally and internationally, magazine articles, newspaper articles, film features, and staying in private host homes are known as the College's first ambassadors of good will.
Sixty Three

The gymnastic exhibition team loaded all their equipment on a bus along with the teams to travel to performance sights across the Eastern part of our country from Maine to Florida. The balance beam was loaded through a window in the front door and then tied to the luggage racks. All the gymnastic apparatus, show equipment along with the organ were packed in the cargo hold and racks above the seats.
Sixty Four

In 1966 the gymnastic exhibition team traveled by bus with two drivers, all their equipment, and 30 team members on a 10 day pre Christmas trip to Florida and Georgia. They had five successful sell out shows. The trip was a tanning success.
Sixty Five

In 1968 the gymnastic exhibition team flew to Puerto Rico for a successful nine day tour. This was the first gymnastics seen on the island. At the first site in San Juan they found the gym floor covered with 5x8 plywood sheets because they were concerned that the horse's hoofs in the Pommel Horse number would ruin the floor.
Sixty Six

A change in coaches in 1968-1969 brought recognition to the

women's program. Former assistant coach Mimi Murray was appointed head coach of the women's team. During her initial year, the team hosted and won the first DGWS National Collegiate Women's Championship. The gymnastic exhibition team also performed at the National AAHPERD Convention in Boston this year.
Sixty Seven

The first gymnastic reunion took place in 1969 organized by a committee chaired by former captain Emerson Dunton ’56. For this reunion former Alumni Director Harold G. Lynch wrote, “The Joy of Effort” a story of gymnastics at Springfield College from 1905-1970.The reunion was a huge success and established a reunion tradition that has been repeated a number of times.
Sixty Eight

On the return trip of a weekend scheduled exhibition trip to Long Island, N.Y., the bus was stuck on the snow covered highway for hours. A scouting party of gymnasts had to be sent out for food which was confiscated from trucks buried in the snow.
Sixty Nine

In 1973 the gymnastic exhibition team flew to Bermuda at

the invitation of alumnus Dr. Zack Marshall '53, headmaster of Warwick Academy Bermuda. This is the first time gymnastics was introduced to the island. All the apparatus had to be sent ahead of time by boat. The exhibitions were scheduled in an outdoor horse riding club arena. Team members had to dodge horse paddies around the equipment. In later years gymnastics alumni from the 1973 shows returned to give clinics.
Seventy

The gymnastic exhibiton team dancers, directed by Lou Ampollo from 1975 to 1980, traveled with the team

continuing the tradition of performing a variety of dances during the show. Ampollo brought to the exhibition program experience as a performer and teacher from the famous Jacob Pillow University of the Dance.
Seventy One

Four different women assumed leadership of the women's gymnastics team from 1974 - 1980. This era began with Inez

Rovengo '72, coaching in 1974-75, followed by Carolynn Cross in 1975-76, then Leslie Henry '75 coached in 1977 and 1978, finally Terry Pasqua '77 coached in 1979 and 80.
Seventy Two

For five years, from 1975-1979, the Home Show performed in front sellout crowds at the Springfield Civic Center. Art Linkletter was master of ceremonies for all four of these shows, Rollie Jacobs of TV Channel 22 was MC in 1978. The 1977 Home Show (70th year) performance was videotaped and aired in Springfield on WGBY-TV and in Boston on WBGH-TV.
Seventy Three

The gymnastic exhibition team performed for the Tom Colton Show, “Western Mass. Highlights” on WWLP Channel 22 regularly during the late seventies. The 71st year of the exhibition show, 1978-1979, was the last year the gymnastic exhibition team had a travel schedule. It was also the year the Memorial Fieldhouse was condemned and torn down.
Seventy Four

Robert Cargill '69 was assistant coach for seven years and the men's interim coach during the 1981-1982 season. Wolcott played a key role directing the exhibition gymnastic team performance of pyramids and tableaux at the Hines Center in Boston for the national AAHPERD Convention in 1981.
Seventy Five

In 1980-1981, Cheryl Raymond took on the challenge of coaching the women's gymnastics team with no exhibition travel team and no competitive gym for meets. These conditions didn't last long. In 1982-1983, when the Physical Education Complex was completed, the Exhibition Home Show returned to perform the 72nd Home Show in Blake Arena. This has been the site for all but one of the last 27 performances.
Seventy Six

The following Springfield College gymnastics exhibition and

competitive team alumni are inductees into the U.S. Gymnastic Hall of Fame: Leslie J. Judd, Ralph Piper, Harley Price, Rene Kern, Lyle Welser, Fredrick Steeves, Frank Wolcott, Richard Aronson, Delene Darst, Pat Yeager, Gerald George, and Kathy Corrigan-Ekas.
Seventy Seven

Dr. Steven Posner joined the Springfield faculty in 1982 when he was appointed head coach for the men's gymnastics team. Together, Posner and Raymond began shaping the future of the Springfield College Gymnastics Exhibition Show with two nights of performances in Blake Arena during Homecoming weekend.
Seventy Eight

In 1983, to add flair to the show, the women's gymnastics team began doing a rhythmic gymnastics performance lit by spotlights just prior to tableaux. This was the only time possible because it took so long to bring the house lights on once they were shut off.
Seventy Nine

Celebrating the 100th birthday of Springfield College and 75 years of the gymnastic exhibition team in 1984, the exhibition show returned to the Springfield Civic Center performing to a sellout crowd of 10,000. Featured guests were gold medal Olympians Jeff Baltnick '82 (wrestling) and Tim Daggett (gymnastics) and master of ceremonies Art Linkletter. This was Frank Wolcott's 30th and final year as director of the Home Show.
Eighty

In 1985 coaches Posner and Raymond began co-directing the exhibition show. To address the fact that TV and movies were providing more entertainment and audiences expected more spectacular effects, the exhibition show began using a theme for each show. The introduction of special themes led to more elaborate use of music, lighting, choreography, costumes, and props.
Eighty One

The 1987 show was a dedicated to the deceased coach Leslie Judd, who lived to be 99 (1886-1987). The MCs for the show were two of coach Judd's biggest fans, Frank Wolcott '52 and Kathy Corrigan Ekas '64. In tribute to Judd, the gymnastic exhibition team performed the old favorites of Indian Club swinging, tiger pile leaping, clowns, and of course, tableaux.
Eighty Two

The 79th Home Show celebrated “25 years of Women’s Athletics” at Springfield College. During this 1988 show, a special salute to women’s athletics was made where women performed tableaux dressed in silver leotards. The men were in the traditional silver paint for tableaux.
Eighty Three

The appearance of the show took on a major transformation when Steve Lafever, director of facilities, became the technical director; overseeing lighting and sound for the show in 1989. Tableaux were now lit with 27 fixed overhead theatrical lights and two professional follow spots rather than only three follow spotlights.
Eighty Four

In 1990 the show saluted the 100th year of football, the captains from many of the alumni football teams marched in and received a video tribute. The gymnasts also recognized former athletics director, Dr. Edward Steitz, for his contributions to NCAA basketball and Springfield College.
Eighty Five

Since the eighties, tableaux has maintained its traditional appearance. Many of the Judd and Wolcott tableaux designs continue to be used. Frequently a new formation is created to express the tableau theme. Recent designs include the demolition of the Berlin Wall, man walking on the moon, the 9/11 disaster, and the Statue of Liberty with fireworks.
Eighty Six

The year 1991 was a salute to the 100th year of the birth of basketball by former Springfield College faculty member Dr. James Naismith. In keeping with the theme the gymnasts performed the first slam dunk number; using a mini tramp the gymnasts soared, twisted, and flipped as they dunked balls through the hoop.
Eighty Seven

The year 1992 is the first time women were included in tableaux with silver metallic paint covering their bodies. Women were placed in a couple of tableaux donned in sports bras, lycra gymnastic briefs, and bathing caps. For these women it was an honor to be part of the show's highlight number.
Eighty Eight

After hosting the 1992 coed National Gymnastics Championships sponsored by USA-Gymnastics, the Springfield gymnasts entertained the visiting gymnasts with a performance of a few of their Home Show routines.
Eighty Nine

Lighting took another dramatic change in 1933 when the entire

shown was done with special lighting. Steve

LaFever had his electricians place lights above each event so that each number in the show could be spotlighted separately. The Gymnastics Exhibition Show is performed with 90 theatrical light fixtures hung in the ceiling in Blake Arena. A lighting board is used to program the exact sequencing of the lights.
Ninety

The Gymnastics Exhibition Show now has a truly professional appearance and sound. During the last 15 years, spectators have seen special effect lighting which includes black light, disco lighting, mirror ball, strobe lights, and special concert lighting. Sound is produced with a state-of-the-art sound board, 20 speakers spread over the entire arena as well as subwoofers under the bleachers.
Ninety One

During the summer of 1996 a group of team members and recent alumni performed tableaux during the gymnastic Olympic trials at the Fleet Center in Boston. Then, after the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, the Springfield gymnasts were invited to perform with the USA Olympic gymnasts on their national tour stop at the Springfield Civic Center. Former Olympian Tim Daggett directed the show that evening.
Ninety Two

Taking advantage of popular activities of the times, recent Gymnastics Exhibition Shows have include step aerobics, exercise balls, repelling from the rafters, anti gravity stilts, lycra body bags, break dance, military style training, and free running.
Ninety Three

In 1999, the SC gymnasts were once again invited to perform tableaux at the annual AAPHERD Convention in Boston. Dr. Murray, former women's coach, was president of the association this year. The focus of the tableaux was to honor the work of R.Tait McKenzie.
Ninety Four

Music videos and motion pictures have influenced show numbers since the nineties. Opening numbers have been done to Thriller, Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Matrix, Mission Impossible, and Batman.
Ninety Five

Tableaux have been performed at the inaugurations of Springfield College presidents Dr. Bromery and Dr. Flynn; the dedication of the newest Basketball Hall of Fame; and the NCAA Women's Division III Basketball Finals in 2006 celebrating 25 years of women in the NCAA.
Ninety Six

Professional shows such as Cirque de Soleil have inspired the current acts of silk scarves, rope and hoop acrobatics, tumbling while jumping rope, and tumble track. These acts demonstrate new and exciting ways to showcase gymnastic skills.
Ninety Seven

Throughout it’s years unique acts have been performed in the exhibition show by individuals, such as Bob Pataky ‘57, amazing the audience by performing a one finger handstand and Rico Portalatin ‘94, climbing up and down a step ladder in a handstand.
Ninety Eight

International Gymnast Magazine profiled the gymnastic

exhibition team in the December 2004 issue with a two page article titled, “Springfield Tradition.”
Ninety Nine

In 2005 when NCAA Divison III rules changed to reduce the amount of time athletes could train as a team, the gymnastic exhibition team again underwent change. Participants in the show are now enrolled in one of four academic courses designed to engage them in various aspects of the show's production; performance, marketing, technical staging, and costuming/choreography.
One Hundred

“The Wonderful World of Gymnastics,” the 100th gymnastics

exhibition show proudly celebrated the traditions established by the Springfield College gymnastic alumni. This gymnastics exhibition show melds the past with the present.
One Hundred One

Gymnastics 101: Basics Taken to the Extreme.

In 2010, the Gymnastics Exhibition Show showed how gymnastics has found its way into other sports, such as skateboarding, BMX bicycling, and freestyle snowboarding. The show also showed the influence of the sport on shows like Dancing with the Stars and performances such as Cirque du Soleil.
One Hundred Two

Annual Celebration – The 102^nd Gymnastics Exhibition Show

The year 2011 celebrated 12 months in one show. Gymnasts performed spectacular routines based on seasons and holidays that delighted, and as always, impressed audiences.