advice for rope jumping and living

March 20, 2009

Rebecca Denison does an amazing job of selecting and booking guests for our weekly All School Assemblies. She gets a wide range of talent, from Chinese acrobats, to wild cats, to Caribbean musicians. I have come to completely trust her judgment and timing in bookings. But this week, when she handed me the agenda and it said “René Bibaud, Professional Rope Jumper,” I had my doubts…. I should have known better.

René is a five-time world champion, ESPN commentator, and former artist and coach of Cirque du Soleil. She began the assembly by showing the audience a video of one of her performances with Cirque du Soleil—she later performed part of that routine for all of us. But her message was not about her success as a performer or rope jumper, it was about the path to success, in any endeavor.

In between her rope jumping display and her working with RDS student volunteers on their nascent rope jumping abilities, she shared three tips she learned from her long time coach, Bob Melson: “1) Don’t compare yourself to others – just work at your own level; 2) Don’t worry about mistakes; 3) Always give it your best.”

It all began for René in elementary school, when her PE teacher started a jump rope team, “The Hot Dogs.” She tried out and was cut. She did not, however, quit. Instead, she applied herself and practiced hard, eventually turning herself into the champion she is today. With this as background, and through the use of our student volunteers, she was able to again and again reinforce the three pieces of advice coach Melson shared.

With 8th graders Alex, Jared, and Ruby, she began by asking each if they would do their best. They agreed. She asked if it was okay if they made mistakes, especially considering that none of them is a professional rope jumper. They agreed. Finally, she asked if they would only focus on themselves. They agreed. Five minutes later, with smiles on their faces, each was well on the way to learning “The Pretzel,” which is even more difficult than it sounds. (Ask your children more about that.)

When Desmond, Nadia, Parker, Darius and Samantha came up and jumped up and down to the rhythm of audience clapping, René jumped behind each, matched their individual rhythm, and encircled each in her twirling rope - she again stressed coach Melson’s teachings.

Finally, Leila (1st grade) and Parker (K) joined her, and she pulled it all together in an RDS Magical Moment: Leila held two ropes at her side while René grabbed the other end. Emphasizing the same three points, she asked Parker if he had ever Double-Dutched before. He had not. In fact, he had no idea what it meant. Rene didn’t hesitate. “Would you like to learn?” He agreed. With Leila holding the ropes, she instructed Parker to begin jumping up and down. René in turn slowly twirled the ropes such that Parker was doing the basic Double-Dutch. Then somehow René, Leila, and Parker fell into synch, and the ropes became a blur as Parker jumped, spun around, danced, and waved to the crowd all while Double-Dutching! It was Cirque du Soleil a la Redwood Day School.

Focus on yourself and your own work; mistakes are to be expected and are okay; and give your best. Good advice for rope jumping and living.

Have a great weekend.

Mike