~Photos by Donald Norton

For the fourth year, Somerville hosted the annual American Rendezvous weekend (ARDV) gathering from June 24 to June 26, where parkour practitioners participated in training sessions led by elite coaches from across the country and abroad.

Parkour is a form of movement rooted in a variety of physical disciplines – gymnastics, martial arts, climbing, breakdancing, and track – and its popularity has grown rapidly in the Boston metropolitan area.

Parkour was born in the banlieues (suburbs) of Paris in the 1980s and is now one of the world’s fastest-growing sports.

ARDV is open to adults and high-school students (age 14+), of all experience levels and athletic backgrounds. It is designed as a “melting-pot event” for people to meet and train with each other in a safe, fun, and hard-working atmosphere, while celebrating a healthy and active lifestyle. Due to popular demand, a children’s event has been added for Saturday only, for youth ages 6-14. These sessions are specifically structured for children featuring games, technical instruction, “challenge sessions”, and all are led by a team of experienced coaches.

The weekend was sponsored in part by the City of Somerville and Shape Up Somerville.