January 21, 2004
Bibaud shares joys of jumping
World jump rope champ visits area elementary schools
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
A fistful of adjectives - dynamic, energetic, committed, inspiring - does not begin to describe Rene Bibaud.
The Seattle resident is a five-time world champion of jump rope and has made a career out of what could never be termed child's play after watching her routine.
"I have been jumping for 24 years performing, competing and coaching," she told students at Oak Park Elementary School on Wednesday morning. "This is my job, I travel to hundreds of schools every year performing and teaching."
"Rope jumping is a great way to stay in shape and have fun," added Bibaud, also making sure to address the 'cool' factor of her sport: "A lot of professional athletes jump rope to keep in shape, basketball players, swimmers, volleyball players and skiers."
Bibaud hit town last week to amaze and inspire hundreds of area students, including those at four Traverse City Area Public Schools elementary schools. During her hour-long presentations at Eastern, Oak Park, Willow Hill and Old Mission Elementary Schools, she jumped and taught other students to jump in front of the whole school. Each school's Parent Teacher Organization sponsored her visit.
After introducing herself, Bibaud showed a short video of her work with the renowned Cirque Du Soliel, where she served as both a choreographer of and performer in a jump rope routine for four years. She then demonstrated her competitive freestyle routine, morphing into a blur of action and gravity-defying moves with her jump rope.
Bibaud then got down to her mission: use jump rope to convey messages of self-esteem and personal empowerment to children. Traveling to schools nationwide, Bibaud shares her personal journey with the jump rope.
When she was in the fifth grade, a demonstration team visited her school and a teacher was inspired to start a jump rope team, called the Hot Dogs.
"I wanted to be on that team, but I wasn't good enough," Bibaud shared with the students at Oak Park.
The next year, she tried out again and this time listened carefully to the coach's three mantras: try you best, work at your own level and be willing to make mistakes but continue trying. She internalized these concepts and now shares them to others as a means to create their own success.
"I made the team that year but I still wasn't the best jumper," recalled Bibaud. "But I got to where I am today, a five time world champion and four years with Cirque Du Soliel, because of those three things that I learned in sixth grade."
Bibaud brought students out on the gym floor to try their hand at basic jumps. Then she had them try a trickier, one-legged jump and next brought another crew out to demonstrate paired jumping. Double Dutch jumping rounded out her program, as she had students and a teacher try their hands and navigating two ropes at once.
"I jump rope in gym and am actually working on a routine with other sixth graders for an assembly at the end of the month," said Madelaine Mitchell-Ward, a sixth grade student at Oak Park Elementary and a volunteer jumper with Bibaud. "I really like jump roping and I think it was really fun."
Mitchell-Ward left the assembly inspired to try harder and jump rope more often. She said she has struggle in the past learning to jump Double Dutch, never really getting it. But after watching a kindergarten student master the footwork and timing, she is now determined to master it.
"She showed that little kid learning it and now I'm going to try it more because I've never been able to do it," she said.