Rhythmically Speaking -- Rhythmic Gymnast Learning English, Teaching Her Sport

Anelia Ralenkova hypnotizes children.

She tosses a bright red ball, flips a trailing yellow ribbon and juggles white batons, all the while spinning, tumbling and break-dancing on a blue mat.

The young gymnasts forget their stretching exercises. Their instructor can't tear their attention from the center of attention - Ralenkova, a former world champion and two-time European champion in rhythmic gymnastics.

The instructor, realizing her troops are mesmerized, gives up and starts telling them about Ralenkova. Telling them how she left her native Bulgaria on a two-year work visa to come to the Seattle Gymnastics Academy to make champions out of little girls like them.

Ralenkova, 26, toured 30 U.S. cities last summer, promoting her sport on behalf of the U.S. Gymnastics Federation. The tour gave her the chance to decide where to seek her fortune in America.

The Pacific Northwest reminded her of home, and she fell in love with Seattle because ``the people are very, very honest and nice.'' Where the region bears little resemblance, however, is in the sport that has dominated her life since age 7.

In Bulgaria, rhythmic-gymnastics competitions draw 30,000 people.

Ralenkova's plan is, through the academy, to make Puget Sound this nation's hotbed of rhythmic gymnastics, much the way Bela Karolyi has made Houston the haven for artistic gymnasts.

The plan just might work.

The academy has vaulted into the forefront in its attempt to develop the sport. Heading the fledgling program is Joyce Chaplin, 51, who led three Seattle-area girls to strong placings in national competition in September. She subsequently was named rhythmic coach of the year by the U.S. federation.

Getting Ralenkova on board is a definite plus. Picture Olympic champion Mary Lou Retton taking her enthusiasm and skill to Havana to teach at a gym willing to buck tradition. Soon there might be little Cuban girls sprinting, bounding, flipping - and winning. All the while smiling.

Getting American children - and their parents - to consider rhythmic gymnastics as an athletic outlet is not as easy as getting a youngster to try a handstand. It should be, given that rhythmic coaches insist the sport is safer and girls don't have to be super petite to be superstars.

The sport has been in the United States for fewer than two decades. Until the Los Angeles Olympics, few Americans knew about it. And after watching little girls dance about while tossing a ball, twirling a ribbon, jumping through hula hoops and flipping batons, some laughed.

To Ralenkova, rhythmic gymnastics is no laughing matter - but it is to be enjoyed.

As a little girl, she preferred playing soccer in the streets of Sophia - until she stumbled upon rhythmic gymnastics.

As an athletic protege in a Communist nation, her future was set. Pre-dawn workouts in frigid gyms became the way to start her day. She trained eight to 10 hours daily.

``I was never tired because I learn more and more,'' Ralenkova said. ``I like competition. I'm sorry I cannot compete now.''

But she can coach.

``She's going to be very successful,'' said Nora Hitzel, coordinator of rhythmic gymnastics for the U.S. federation, in Indianapolis. ``She was finding it difficult in Bulgaria to do the kind of coaching she wanted to do. Some of the coaches are really tough there - win at any cost. She doesn't view the sport from that perspective. She cares about the athletes.''

To watch Ralenkova give an impromptu lesson to Candy Anguish, 7, at the Academy's Edmonds gym hints at her style.

``You want to try?'' Ralenkova asks with a smile, then drops to her knees. Candy looks a world champion in the eye.

Ralenkova works with the girl on her posture. Next they grab balls and roll over them, backs straight, toes pointed, as playful as seals.

While Ralenkova considers her style of coaching her secret, she clearly looks at it differently than those who trained her.

``The girls must want to be champion - not only the coach,'' she said. ``You must have big desire to be champion - and with talent.

``I don't look at these girls as just gymnasts. They are people,'' she said. ``They want to work with me, and that makes me happy.''

If Ralenkova goes at coaching with the same intensity she has at adjusting to life in the United States, she is bound to succeed. Last Christmas, she knew two words in English - ``hi'' and ``bye.''

Now she spends long nights chatting with other Bulgarian expatriates in her Northgate apartment - always in English - and listening to classical music.

A philosophy major in college, she is devouring Socrates in English. She swims daily and loves to dance. She considers two hours of ballet her standard warmup.

She coaches about four hours a day, shuttling from the academy's gym in Edmonds to its main location in Lake City. She hopes to save enough money so her 3 1/2-year-old son soon can join her in America - her son she proudly tells was born on the Fourth of July.

A Christmas baby herself, Ralenkova has many gifts to share, her gymnasts say.

Joy Williams, 15, is a Roosevelt High School sophomore who won a senior national title in September. Her exposure to Ralenkova in recent months already has her planning to enroll at the University of Washington so she can continue working with Ralenkova.

``It's been a lot of fun. She's a good coach,'' Williams said. ``She's taught us different tricks and such. Being an international gymnast, she has a lot of insight.''

April Louise is a former competitive artistic gymnast developing a rhythmic program on the Eastside. She hopes Ralenkova's contribution at clinics and exhibitions will help.

``She brings not only legitimacy, but she's such an accomplished performer,'' Louise said. ``When people see we've attracted such a big star from Eastern Europe, it validates it.

``Right now, if this sport is going to succeed in Seattle, we need to have a big name - and she has the name.''

FREE RHYTHMIC LESSON OFFERED

In an effort to expose more youngsters to rhythmic gymnastics, the Seattle Gymnastics Academy is offering a free introductory lesson.

Any child 4 or older is welcome, said Marilyn Overcast, director at the Edmonds gym.

For details, call the academy office in Lake City (362-7447) or Edmonds (778-5784).