ORGANIZATION OF COLLECTIVE WORK IN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS GROUPS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BRAZILIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS OF 2011 AND 2021

Rhythmic Gymnastics, since its sportification in the 1970s, has rules that are constantly being revised and restructured, seeking to follow the evolution of the technical level of the athletes and also to guide the choreographies to what is expected of this sport manifestation (COSTA PEREIRA & MEDEIROS, 2016). In this process of consolidate its sporting character there was a greater appreciation of the technical aspects and in recent years the Code of Points (CoP) has undergone changes that seek to rescue and promote the artistic aspects (TOLEDO & ANTUALPA, 2016). For Lourenço (2015), the gymnasts' participations in a homogeneous collective work in a spirit of cooperation are important characteristics of the groups because they require the routine to go beyond the exchanges between the apparatus. Given this, this research aim to analyze the choreographic compositions of groups in order to identify how the organization of the collective work (OTC) manifests itself, comparing the routines from 2011 and 2021 and the respective rules in force. In this documentary research, videos of the 2011 and 2021 Ilona Peuker Brazilian Championships were used, made available by the official website of the Paraense Gymnastics Federation and the official YouTube page of the Brazilian Gymnastics Confederation. Both routines (single and mixed apparatus) of all the senior participating teams in the qualifying competition were analyzed, totaling seven groups from 2011 and ten from 2021. The definition presented by the CoP referring to the possibilities of OTC (synchrony, rapid succession, canon, contrast, choral and collaboration) was used to count the frequency of the different types presented in the routines, with recording on a sheet. Data analysis was done by descriptive statistics. The results showed in 2011 in both types of groups, the synchronized organization had the highest frequency, followed by the collaboration and the contrast, while in the 2021 edition, the collaboration shoots up in number of times it was performed in the routines, followed by the contrast and the choral. The rapid succession and canon, non-existent in the 2011 ball routines, became part of some 2021 ball routines. These differences may be reflecting the artistic requirements of each CoP on the use of OTC, with higher and more specific penalities in the 2017-2020 version for each type of organization absent. On the other hand, there was an valorization of collaborations in the 2017-2020 version, which became part of the framework of mandatory elements with a requirement of at least four appearances, with new ways to tie the gaining of points, encouraging an increase in their use, which became important for the final score. Thus, despite the intention to promote the artistic aspect, collaborations became the focus of compositions and the OTC showed few changes in ten years. It was concluded that the rules of CoP 2017-2020 generated a discrete promotion of the artistic character through OTC and that it still proved necessary to seek balance between the requirements of difficulty elements with the artistic ones. CoP 2022-2024 brought some changes in this regard, which may contribute to further changes in the current routines.