Kyla Ross on her New Artistry and Style for 2013

Aug 23, 2013 by Anne Phillips

Kyla Ross on beam at the 2013 P&G Championships

Just one year after being the youngest member of the gold medal winning 2012 U.S. Olympic team, Kyla Ross of Gym-Max has emerged as the confident veteran of Team USA. To kick off her summer season, Ross won the all around title at the 2013 Secret Classic. Next, she finished a close second all around at the 2013 P&G Championships and claimed event titles on bars and beam, her best events. Now more than ever, Ross looks like a lock for the 2013 USA World Team and will be a strong contender for the coveted World All Around title.

Like many elite gymnasts, Ross is a true perfectionist. With World Championships looming, her routines are set and her skills are consistent. Now, Ross is aiming to take her artistry to the next level. During a follow up visit with her new choreographer, Dominic Zito, the gold medalist turned her attention to the fine details like finger extension and eye contact. Zito helps this will further improve Ross's performance quality on floor and beam.

Watch Kyla Ross perform her new floor routine during the final night of the 2013 P&G Championships:

Earlier this week, we caught up with Zito to get the scoop on Ross's new routine. We also had the pleasure of talking with Kyla herself to get her side of the story and find out what it's been like working with Zito.

Gymnastike: Dominic is spending a few days at your gym right now. What are you guys focusing on this week?

Kyla Ross: Right now, he came back to work on some of the choreography in the routine. He's here to help clean up my routine, fix some of the parts, and make my routine even more artistic.

G: You recently performed the routine live on TV and in front of a big audience at P&G Championships. What kind of feedback have you gotten about your routine since Championships?

KR: A lot of people have really liked my new floor routine. They say that the style matches me and I'm able to show off a little more. So I think a lot of people enjoy the music more and it's a better performance than my old routine.

G: Tell us about selecting your floor music. It sounds like it was quite a long process.

KR: Yeah, it took me a while [laughing] to actually pick out the music that I liked, and even then [Dominic] had to edit it a bunch of times. He sent me almost 30 different music selections so I sort of had to weed it out. And then I picked one that I liked, but it still wasn't my favorite so he edited a bunch more times until he thought it was right and the music flowed better.

G: Right, he said that it was the slow part you weren't sure about. Why is that?

KR: I think at first I didn't totally love it, but after he choreographed all the dance to it I really liked the slow part and I think it flowed with the overall routine.

G: Do you have a favorite part or segment of your new floor routine?

Everyone says, and I think it's my favorite part too, after my second tumbling pass when I do like a whip [laughs], I don't know how to explain it... I flick my hand twice.

G: That's funny because that's actually my favorite part!

KR: Yeah, [laughing] I think he already had that in mind before he starting choreographing me, that that would be the part.

G: I hear Dominic even had a say in your leotard selection for Nationals, can you tell us about that?

KR: Yeah, I picked my two leos for Championships but I didn't know which day I would wear each, so he told me I should wear the pink one first and the red one second. Everyone liked the red one better. It stood out with the mesh sleeves and the rhinestones down the arm.

G: And you really made a statement with the matching red lipstick. But, I hear you had a bit of a lipstick crisis before the Finals…

KR: Yeah! I was getting ready and putting my leo on, but I didn't want to have the same pink lip gloss as I did the day before. I knew I wanted to wear red lipstick. But, I didn't have any. So I texted Aly [Raisman], and she had red, like, lip stainers, so that's what I wore for the competition.

Ross and Zito working together at Gym-Max

G: Overall, how has working with Dominic impacted you this year?

KR: It's been good working with Dominic. I know he has so much choreography in mind, and really I'm not the best dancer [laughs], so he's really helped me and choreographed me to my ability. I think it's shown and I'm able to perform better and dance the way that I feel comfortable.

G: He told me he's really working with eye contact, finger extension, and all the little details. Had you ever put much attention on things like that before?

KR: No, I would never really focus on that stuff too much! So I think that is a really big key that's helped. He always wants to you put your head a certain way like you said, or your arm in the perfect spot to make sure everything looks clean and the dance is exactly how he envisions it.

Related:
Watch Kyla Ross Videos
Read Dominic Zito's interview