Cardinals 'Flipping The Switch' On Floor

BALL STATE GYMNASTICS

Ball State (8-4) at Kent State (9-1)
Sunday, Feb. 23 - 1 p.m. ET
Worthen Arena - Muncie, Ind.
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In the fall of 2017, the Ball State gymnastics coaching staff took a semester's worth of hip-hop dance classes at a nearby studio. Joanna Saleem and the other coaches at the time were so impressed with the dance instructor, they brought him on as a volunteer coach. Today, the Cards' relationship with Muncie dance artist Jacob Drummer has become an important one.

"He's an amazing dancer and he had a way of connecting with everyone in the class," Saleem said. "He was able to bring something out of everyone and he connected with everyone. His story is a cool story and it was something we thought the team would really enjoy."

Drummer, 25, taught a couple dances classes to the Cardinals in 2018 and last season came on in a consistent volunteer role. He helps the Cardinals with choreography and presentation in floor routines and, as he calls it, "hitting the switch."

"It's about getting them to keep that switch on," Drummer said. "It's when you're in your performance and you're in your moment. When you're performing, you need to tell your story and keep your audience engaged."

"As a coach, I focus on the technical parts of floor routine. There's all the science behind the tumbling and the jumps," Saleem said. "But the really good people at floor are telling a story and they pull the audience into their performance. A judge can get lost in a truly great performance, and they'll leave happy. and that's something that isn't technical. So we brought in Jacob to connect that with student-athletes to help with that and help them stay in that zone. Those are the moments that we strive for, when our student-athletes are present and put all of the passion and emotion out there."

Drummer went to Muncie Southside High School and was a successful track athlete there, setting the school record in the 300m hurdles. He ran track at Indiana Tech for a brief time but returned to Muncie to pursue his dream in performance dance, and helping the Cardinals is part of that mission. He enrolled in an entrepreneurial course through the Indiana Arts Commission, which led to him earning an arts grant to put on a dance show in Muncie. He's taken that experience to create his own dance shop, J. Dion Performance Academy.

"With my academy, I want to bring opportunities for artists to find their artist voice," Drummer said. "As dance artists, we don't always have the opportunity to take a simple class and work on ourselves. Art is really happening here, and it's starting to grow. But dance is not known yet. I want to be that voice of opportunity."

Drummer's approach is valuable for Ball State on the floor because his focus is on performative art. He isn't a classically-trained dancer and doesn't specialize in technique. He specializes in feel.

"My dance is about being one with my music, and that's what I try hold on to when talking to the girls about performance," he said. "It makes the performance more raw for people, that you need to be one with your song and people engage a lot better. And it's OK to be uncomfortable. That's the whole purpose behind it. Once you get comfortable being uncomfortable, that's when the performance comes out."

The approach is working for the Cardinals. Ball State set a school record with a 195.750 team score on Feb. 16 vs. Kent State, which included a 49.225 total on floor. All five counting scores were 9.800 or better in that meet, highlighted by a 9.900 by Claudia Goyco and a 9.875 from Marissa Nychyk. Through the first six meets of the year, the Cardinals have increased their total of standout floor routines. BSU owns 20 floor scores of 9.750 score or better, up from 18 last year and 19 during 2018.

From coaches taking a class on a whim, to an important part of Ball State's competition success, Drummer has taken the beat and made it work for him. And he credits Saleem for giving him the chance to contribute for BSU.

"It truly means a lot to me. I respect Joanna so much watching the way she works for her team," Drummer said. "It's so humbling. It teaches me a lot about being a better person and performer. She's always giving me new things to come up with and it challenges me. For her to give me this opportunity and trust really means a lot."

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Players Mentioned

Claudia Goyco

Marissa Nychyk