15
Jan 2007
Esprit
Gymnasts picked by ‘Disney’ to perform at
London Landmarks.
Gymnasts
from the Stratton St Margaret based Esprit Gymnastics
Club, got a unique chance to show off their amazing abilities
recently, when they were invited by Walt Disney, to help
launch the DVD of the ‘teen’ film ‘Stick
It’.
The
5 girls, Hannah Wickens (17), Kirsty Dalrymple (18), April
Coombs (13), Scarlett Rolt (14) and Elise Hale (16), were
taken to London and spent the day with a Disney film crew
at famous landmarks such as Piccadilly Circus, The Houses
of Parliament and Debenham’s flagship department
store in Regent Street.
The
idea behind the project was to show how the films storyline
inspires young people to be creative and to enjoy the
sport of gymnastics anywhere and everywhere. Scenes from
the US film were re-enacted with the Esprit girls at the
famous London landmarks and members of the public were
encouraged to join in and have fun.
The
girls attracted a massive crowd everywhere they went,
as it seemed, even in London, where they are used to strange
events, they hadn’t seen anything quite like this.
“It
was such fun” said Hannah Wickens (17) of Westlea,
“I’ve competed for Great Britain in Gymnastics,
but this was completely different, hundreds of people
were watching and clapping and cheering us, we even stopped
the traffic quite a few times”. We all had such
a laugh said Elise Hale from Cricklade, the film crew
were great and made us all feel at ease.”
Scarlett,
April and Kirsty were equally impressed, saying “we
had do tumbles and flips up and down the aisles in Debenhams
and even handstands on the moving escalators. Things you
would never be allowed to do normally, we were treated
like stars and everyone made us feel really important
for the day”.
Since
they finished filming, the girls have also been filmed
by BBC Points West for their news bulletin and even Blue
Peter have asked about them, “but that’s a
story for another day” said club chairman Mark Hows,
“we’ll just wait and see what happens. But
no matter what, their day out in London will certainly
be one to remember and it really has put Swindon and Esprit
on the map as a town that produces some really talented
gymnasts”.
‘Stick
It’ launched in the UK on Monday 12th February,
tells the story of a young gymnasts journey as she is
forced to attend a regimented gymnastics academy only
to surprise herself by finding that loyalty, friendships
and individual athletes matter more than rules, judges
or scores.
Below you’ll find a website link, which shows Esprit’s
gymnasts performing their amazing stuff on the streets
of London. Just paste it in to your browser and enjoy!
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=2159649531412264537&hl=en-GB
