Meet Bijoya Das, the mind behind UCLA gymnastics’ viral floor routines

As a teenage gymnast, Bijoya “BJ” Das and her teammates spent team sleepovers choreographing dances to perform for each other.

She would also take drop-in dance classes outside of practice, and bring what she learned to the gym and lead the team in dance warm-ups. One day, after one such warm-up, her coach pulled her aside and told her that she could be in music videos. “I was like, ‘what?’ Of any gymnastics compliment I ever got from a coach, I remember that compliment just meaning the world to me. I thought it was the coolest thing someone had ever said to me in my entire life,” Das, who is half Indian American, says.

Up till then Das, who had been in the sport since she was 6, had never been told she was good at anything besides gymnastics. And even as a much younger gymnast, she’d often been told she was a bit too stiff when it came to the sport’s dance elements. That one compliment gave her confidence to think she was a good dancer.

And since then, Das has run with it to become a professional dancer, performing alongside pop stars, choreographing for award shows, TV shows, and more. She’s even fulfilled her former coach’s prophecy and made it into a few music videos, including “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyonce, “Beauty and a Beat” by Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj, and “Baby I” by Ariana Grande.

In more recent years, Das—who left the sport her sophomore year at the University of Washington, where she competed for Huskies, due to an injury—has combined her two worlds as a member of the coaching staff for the UCLA women’s gymnastics team, and as the choreographer behind the team’s many viral floor routines, including Jordan Chiles’ many routines, as well as Tiana Sumanasekera’s Bollywood routine.

I recently spoke with Das, who—full disclosure—is a former teammate of mine from my own gymnastics days. We reminisced about being injured together and idolizing college gymnasts, as she told me how her career path has come full circle.

This interview was edited for clarity and length.

Samantha Pak: What was it about the dancing elements of gymnastics that stuck with you or caught your interest?
Bijoya Das: I think it was the joy and the freedom that I felt. I didn't realize how fun it was for me. But those little moments when I was a gymnast growing up and making up a dance at a sleepover, or me and (my former teammate) Kelly, when we went to these drop-in dance classes, it was really fun, and a way to get out of your head and the pressure and perfection of gymnastics, and have a moment of just being free and lighthearted. I think that's what it did for me at the time, without me even realizing it.

SP: When you got to college where people had more freedom in terms of choreography and music choices, what was that like?

BD: I was very ready for it and excited about it. I ended up choreographing my own floor routine and picking my music. My coach gave me a lot of freedom. And I was like, “Sweet, I'm so down.” I've always wanted to do that.

SP: So college, you get injured. Was that also why you stopped competing and why it ended in your sophomore year?
BD: Yeah. That injury, it’s possible to come back. But that was my second Achilles tear and with my elbow being a chronic barrier with doing more events, at that point it was just like, “Okay, your body's not handling.” It was hard to walk away. But I think in the end it was meant to be. It was just very difficult.

SP: How did you get into dancing professionally?
BD: The second I knew that I was not doing gymnastics anymore, I was like, “I've always wanted to dance.” That was my first thought of something that felt hopeful in coming back from that injury. Because I am the type of person that needs something to hang on to or strive for. It was my silver lining of this whole devastating end to my career.

I took a ton of classes, and then I would go to the shows and then I just fell into the community. I had a teacher invite me to do a show. They needed somebody that could do a “Smooth Criminal” flip in a Michael Jackson piece that they were choreographing.

I started doing more shows, and I was in a bunch of performing groups. Through that, I met dancers who were more experienced and at a higher level than me that were moving to LA to pursue a dance career. And I'm like, “Wait, this is an actual career you can do?” And so then it just became this dream job in the back of my head. I just kept at it. And sure enough, a couple years later, I'm like, “Hey, Mom and Dad, I'm leaving to LA to be a dancer.” I was like, “Don't worry, I'm just taking a gap year.” That's how I framed it.

SP: Once you started dancing professionally, what have been some of the highlights for you?
BD: One of my most memorable jobs was my very first tour, which was a world tour with Avril Lavigne. That was just a highlight—the people, the venues, the experience of it all, and just feeling like, “Wow, I'm really traveling around the world doing something that I've always wanted to do.”

I think working on some TV shows as a choreographer was really cool, too. Working behind the scenes has been fun. I did a couple episodes of this show called GLOW on Netflix. Working with actors in the comedy space, you have a script, and you get to learn how to adapt movement to a script and a character, versus it just all being super cool music video choreography. You're a little more creative within the style of the show. That was super fun.

SP: When did you transition from professional dance, to going back into the gymnastics world and working at UCLA?
BD: I started at UCLA summer of 2019. I had already been a little bit in the college world, just helping with floor music and choreography for a couple other schools. So I was sort of familiar, but it was very much a side hustle.

And then I got in contact with some people at UCLA and it all kind of snowballed from there. Suddenly I'm a volunteer coach there, and at practice every day. And I'm not just doing their floor routines, but I'm very much involved in the culture, the mentorship, the coaching, and the behind-the-scenes involvement that it takes to run a college program. I just got so involved and invested right away.

SP: What was it like to be back in the gymnastics world after being gone for so long, but also on the other side of it in a coach capacity?
BD: The sport had evolved and grown exponentially since I was an athlete. People on the UCLA team were huge stars in the world of gymnastics, and the crowds were selling out, and there was just so much publicity and attention on it that I never experienced. It was really electric, going into Pauley Pavilion with a sold out, or almost sold out crowd. It was just really magical and electric. It felt like I was part of something that was bigger than just gymnastics.

SP: What is that process in terms of working with the athlete on their floor routines?
BD: I work with the gymnast throughout the whole process. Definitely have a lot of conversations before, about the music and the style that they want to go with. Once we get to the movement, it’s really playing to their strengths, and what the music is telling you to do, or what style looks best with that music or theme that we're going for.