A witch cloaked in dark magic prowls before a crowd of thousands.
Harnessing the power of the screams around her to levitate high into the air, the witch twists, turns and falls back to earth with supernatural grace. She swirls her hand, entrancing the masses before finally channeling enough energy to thrust her arm into the air in a final display of strength.
And with a quick salute to the judges, Katelyn Rosen breaks free from the frightening act and returns to the bright lights and flashing cameras of Pauley Pavilion.
The freshman is UCLA gymnastics’ newest surge of light and energy – despite the dark and creepy floor routine that embodies Rosen to a T.
Few gymnasts have dared to take on the bone-chilling and jerky dance style last seen in earnest by alumnus Gracie Kramer, who graduated in 2020, but Rosen grew up watching Kramer’s routines in awe.
“She was super creepy. I loved it,” Rosen said. “It was like I was watching a horror movie.”
Kramer witnessed Rosen’s routine for the first time at UCLA’s home meet against Washington. The alumnus said current Bruin gymnasts came up to her before the matchup and told her that her 2020 routine, which earned a perfect 10, was inspiration for Rosen, but Kramer did not know what to expect.
“She didn’t just try to be like me. I felt like she really made it her own,” Kramer said. “The fact that she put her own little spin on it and made it more graceful and elegant and gorgeous – to me, I’m like, ‘That’s Katelyn.’ That’s not me. I was not that gorgeous, elegant, girly.”
Although the hair-raising routine may seem an obvious choice now as a fan favorite, hip-hop and salsa also sashayed through Rosen’s mind the summer before her freshman year as she plotted her soon-to-be-defining floor routine.
Rosen couldn’t decide on a theme until choreographer and assistant coach BJ Das presented a song that struck a chord with Rosen.
The pair worked together, devising hand gestures and tics to the music – and all of a sudden, an EDM track evolved into a backdrop of a powerful, magic-wielding witch inspired by one of Rosen’s favorite comic book characters – the Scarlet Witch.
“I grew up watching every superhero movie like gospel,” Rosen said. “I think I’ve seen every Marvel movie at least three times. I’m one of the annoying fans, for sure.”
Growing up, Rosen surrounded herself with the Avengers, Spider-Man and newer additions to the Marvel franchise like the Scarlet Witch – whom she loosely based her routine on.
Even after she said goodbye to her childhood, superhero movies remained an important escape for a gymnast who spent hours training every day.
“It can get tiring being a student-athlete,” Rosen said. “Any way that we can just kind of let our brains relax, I think that’s really important – that healthy balance.”
Rosen isn’t the first gymnast to summon the comic books during her floor routine, bonding with several teammates over their shared love of Marvel characters and movies.
Senior Chae Campbell’s current floor routine is based on Marvel’s “Black Panther,” and junior Emily Lee found inspiration in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” last year.
Despite her critiques of the recent additions to the Marvel universe, Rosen said some of her fellow Bruins organized a watch party that devolved into them standing on the couch screaming at the “Loki” season two finale.
Although Rosen missed the “Spider-Man: No Way Home” premiere in Westwood – leaving her jealously following along on Instagram while some of the Bruins went down to the Village to spy Benedict Cumberbatch – the movie buff is itching to cross another premiere off her LA bucket list.
Rosen also found LA to be a hot spot for one of her other favorite hobbies, dancing – even if she said she occasionally gets out-danced by a 6-year-old in a hip-hop class.
“My favorite part of gymnastics was the floor rotation and doing extra things like ballet and hip-hop to help in your performance,” Rosen said. “Coming to UCLA, I was like, ‘This is definitely my place.’ There’s so much dancing going on.”
Das, with her professional dancing background, also teaches the Bruins new moves in the gym, and many practices at Yates Gym turn into dance parties fit for a studio. Later at night, the rhythm creeps up to the Hill to Rosen and freshman Alex Irvine’s dorm, where they stay up grooving well after practice hours.
Rosen’s excitement extends beyond the Bruins’ dance parties to all aspects of the UCLA program, though. Sophomore Selena Harris said the freshman’s enthusiasm is infectious.
“That energy and that pride that she has to be a Bruin really rubs off on everybody,” Harris said. “It’s a huge dream of hers to be at UCLA, so that really rubs off onto everybody and makes everyone even more hyped up to compete.”
Her floor routine may command all the attention, but Rosen has quietly developed into a consistent all-arounder for one of the top teams in the country just months into her collegiate career.
The former elite gymnast, who qualified for the U.S. Championships five times and trained with Twin City Twisters gymnastics center in Minnesota, has already reached season highs of 9.900-plus across three events, capped off by a 9.950 for her personalized floor routine in just its second competitive showing.
Rosen’s skills transcend the stats sheet, though, providing a consistency that has helped UCLA refocus when necessary during meets.
In Rosen’s first competition as a Bruin, sophomore Ciena Alipio fell right before the freshman’s beam routine. And while beam is known to be an event that demands intense mental fortitude, Rosen locked in and stepped up for the team.
“She’s a really steady competitor,” said coach Janelle McDonald. “That’s exactly what we want our athletes to do – to have each other’s back and to be able to not let what happens in front of you change the job that you have to do.”
Both Irvine and Harris added that Rosen is the ultimate hype woman – consistently giving her teammates encouragement and confidence.
With the sun just barely rising on her time at UCLA, Rosen continues to shine among the Bruins and brighten her teammates’ days.
“She’s kind of that pick-me-up when it’s low energy in the gym,” Irvine said.
But as soon as she crosses the white lines of the competition floor, Rosen manifests the dark witch born of comic book characters and UCLA gymnastics legends, letting the magic consume her as she flies through the air for the teammates screaming beside her.
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