Gymnast Nia Dennis Cartwheeled Into the Met Gala With a Marching Band

Nia Dennis, an incredible gymnast known for her floor routine—you may know her after she went viral for her routine that celebrated Black culture—was joined by a literal marching band, specifically the Brooklyn United Marching Band, at the 2021 Met Gala. It's basically the coolest thing you've ever seen: She's wearing a blue Stella McCartney x Adidas bodysuit, according to E! News, and she literally performed a routine, complete with flips and splits, on the steps of the entryway. Best way to start the event? I think so!!

She danced to an instrumental version of "New York" by Alicia Keys. She posted a sparkly Boomerang to her Stories in her outfit with the caption, "all the rumors are true yea." Fans were delighted: "Nia Dennis shows Jason Derulo what he should have done when he fell down the #MetGala steps," wrote Jarett Wieselman. "Nia Dennis has actually fallen down the stairs of the Met Gala (on purpose)," wrote Alex Zalben.

Here are images of the epic performance:

And The Shade Room even has video from the performance:

And here it is from another angle:

That. Is. Epic.

Dennis later walked the red carpet in Ana Khouri jewelry, Jennifer Behr's Gigi bobby pins and a sheer sparkly floor-length overlay:

So there's even a high-fashion version of her athletic outfit. Amazing.