If you’ve watched the floor exercise at any gymnastics competition—from the six-year-olds competing for the first time to the NCAA National Championship—you’ll notice that the gymnasts do a combination of acrobatic tumbling passes, choreography, and a dance pass.
The requirements for a dance pass in NCAA gymnastics are relatively simple. Gymnasts must complete a dance pass with at least two different skills, one must be a leap off of one foot, and at least one has to show a full (180 degree) split, either to the front or side. The skills don’t have to be directly connected to fulfill the requirement but the athlete has to keep moving from one to the next.
There is also a compositional requirement (which is a flat one tenth deduction if it’s missing), that requires a gymnast to do a dance pass with enough difficulty to earn a one tenth bonus to their score, either by doing a D/E difficulty skill, or by directly connecting two C level skills.
Gymnasts have to earn at least six tenths total in bonus on floor, and this requirement makes sure that the bonus comes from both acrobatic and dance skills. In NCAA, gymnasts receive one tenth bonus for completing two C dance elements or a D and a B dance element back-to-back. If the gymnast opts for the D+B…
