BJ Das loves to move.
Although the arts weren’t a central part of her upbringing, the Seattle, Washington, local has always been drawn to movement, beginning with living room dance parties to the rhythm of the Spice Girls.
And it only took one gymnastics class for her to go all in.
“I immediately fell in love with the physicality and energy of it – and kind of latched on,” Das said.
Like many young gymnasts, she dreamed about going to the Olympics – but she often had a love-hate relationship with the sport. The intense training under critical coaches suppressed her confidence, she said.
Artistic outlets existed in two separate worlds for Das – the rigid world of gymnastics and the freedom she had at home dancing.
“As a gymnast, I felt I was restricted to this certain way of moving that didn’t feel natural in my body,” Das said.
At the University of Washington, Das remained committed to gymnastics. She choreographed her own floor routine, marking her first moment of creative control in the sport.
But an Achilles tear during her sophomore year abruptly ended her gymnastics career – leaving Das without the compass that had previously guided her passions.
“Dance got me out of a dark time,” Das said. “The thing that kept me going was the thought of me being able to learn something I’d always wanted to learn, which is how to dance.”
The orbit of creative motion had pulled her in by the time she graduated from college. She decided to move to Los Angeles and give herself a year to see if she could succeed in the professional dance world.
The average professional female dancer starts training at around six years old.
Das began when she was 20.
But with years of gymnastics under her belt, she had already picked up skills invaluable to her dancing success. She showed a relentless drive to make up for lost time.
“I constantly had to remind myself I was worthy of being in the room,” Das said. “It took a lot of mental strength, and I can thank gymnastics for a lot of that.”
Her first year in LA mirrored that of many aspiring artists. Classes, auditions and networking packed her schedule. She even picked up early-morning shifts at Starbucks to make ends meet.
Little by little, a few milestones began to overshadow the rejections.
And in less than a year, Das got the call. She had achieved her dream – booking a world tour with Avril Lavigne.
Das performed all over the world in front of bustling crowds. Although performing under such pressure was initially stressful, Das said the opportunity skyrocketed her career and allowed her to thrive outside of her comfort zone.
“The tour taught me to be present, enjoy the moment,” Das said. “I didn’t have to worry about anything back home. I just got to live my best life.”
Das began to receive choreography opportunities as her connections grew within the dance world. She worked with household names such as Beyoncé and Justin Bieber for over a decade, filling her choreography resume with a handful of television and award show credits.
But her love for gymnastics had never wavered, even in the apex of her career. Das attended UCLA meets occasionally, savoring their floor parties. Those visits subtly planted the seeds for her ultimate return to the sport – but this time in a different role.
Das’s return to gymnastics was unconventional.
After an old teammate asked her to help cut music for Utah’s floor routines in 2018, she joined the program as a volunteer assistant coach the following year.
“That definitely exposed me to the growth that gymnastics had had since I was in it,” Das said.
The electric choreography and viral floor routines captivated her, and she realized her two passions had collided on the big stage. While living in LA and working remotely for Utah, Das capitalized on her wish to choreograph for UCLA, and she soon found herself a part of the UCLA staff with the same title – stepping into a program that had just lost their dynasty coach.
Although both coaching turnover and a global pandemic may have discouraged others, Das was impressed by the program and its athletes. She wanted a bigger role – not only in gymnastics but also in shaping athletes’ journeys beyond the mat.
And when coach Janelle McDonald became the program’s head coach, Das was ready to officially join the staff and pursue their shared goals.
“She’s been in it with me every step of the way,” McDonald said. “She always uses her perspectives to challenge me, to push me to learn and grow and look at things differently. That’s absolutely who you want in your corner in this job.”
Das strives to make gymnastics a welcoming, creative environment – one she didn’t realize was possible during her own career.
She dances with the athletes at the start of each practice, helping get them loose while building a sense of community. Das is also known to incorporate games and challenges as she coaches.
“The first word that comes to mind when I think about BJ is ‘fun,’” said Katelyn Rosen, a rising junior and member of UCLA gymnastics.
When it comes to composing the prized floor routines, Das collaborates with each athlete, making them an integral part of the creative process.
Das said she rarely enters the studio with a set plan. She prefers to freestyle alongside the athletes, moving with the music to see what sticks – an approach that has proved itself successful.
She is responsible for two NCAA-winning floor routines, performed by alumnus Brooklyn Moors and rising senior Jordan Chiles.
“She really is able to look at each individual athlete, see who they are, see how their performance can show the world who they are, and she’s able to blend that really well out on the competition floor,” McDonald said.
Das encourages her athletes to approach floor not as a judged competition but as a performance – one that makes the audience feel something. Rosen added that this mindset has boosted her confidence and made the team’s floor parties even more special.
Das said she felt the weight of needing to be perfect as a gymnast – a standard she had long considered unattainable, but dance offered something else entirely: expression, release and joy.
Now, with every choreographed routine and practice, Das is rewriting the experience she once yearned for – not just for herself but for a new generation of gymnasts.
“The best thing about BJ is, even though she is one of the most talented dancers I have ever met, she’s not intimidating,” Rosen said. “She makes you feel invited to dance with her.”
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