Day 4: Up and Comer you're most excited to see...
There are a few skaters that I believe would become great skaters in the future... the one I keep going back in Mackenzie Connelly. She's my only 10 year old friend (this involves me pumping her full of sugar and then sending her back to her mother.). I've seen her skate and I believe she has what it takes in becoming a champion one day. She has the speed, the footwork, the flow and it shows that she loves to be out there on the ice. She also has the energy of a rabbit. I once attended her competition in Orleans and once she got off the ice, she has doing back flips on concrete and showing off her gymnastic moves.
Her parents are also very supportive in whatever she wants to do. It doesn't matter if she wins or looses, what matters if she enjoys whatever she does which makes all difference in the world to any child athlete. She has no pressure to win which is why she skates freely and does so well in competition.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
ahhhh memories!
Day 3: Favourite Spectator Moment
I have several favourite spectator moment one being Canadian Stars on Ice 2006. Jeanna and I had waited for this moment for almost 3 years... our first skating show together. We had anticipated this show since the cast list had come out. This wasn't only our first show but we were getting to see Shen and Zhao. We were able to get on ice seats which was amazing. Little did we know what was ahead. The show was amazing but what stuck out the most was by Shen and Zhao. Seeing their huge triple twist up close, the quality of their skating and how well they fit in with the rest of the cast were highlights for the both of us.
At the end of the show, Hongbo came and shook our hands and as we were telling how much we appreciate their skating and how wonderful they were, his face lit up and he thanked us. We both left the show excited and talked about nothing else for the next few days.
The second memory I will cherish for the rest of my life was watching Josée Chouinard for the first time. I couldn't have been more than 12 years old when our skating club invited Josée to skate at our annual carnival. I remember my costume was a red turtleneck, a black skating skirt with white tights (very fashionable at the time). I also remember the older skaters being excited about a National known skater skating two solos and the finale. After our first number, we were able to sit and watch as we always did with a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie ( a reward for a job well done). That's when I first caught a glimpse of Josée. She was a beautiful skater gliding with such ease and performing like no other skater I had ever seen. I sat there in awe for what seemed like hours. Finale we were called up to skate the finale, I was going to skate with this amazing skater. I was so excited that I forgot what I was told to do and just skated around trying to imitate Josée! I don't have pictures but my parents wanting to catch every second of mine and Amy's lives videotaped everything. I still watch it from time to time reminiscing of when I skated with an Olympian!
Many years later I was able to meet with her again and I asked her if she remembered skating in Elliot Lake years ago. She smiled and told me that she remembered it well which really made my day.
A special mention goes to the 2006 Canadian Nationals where I met Laurie my current BFF. Had it not been for that who knows if we would have ever met!
I have several favourite spectator moment one being Canadian Stars on Ice 2006. Jeanna and I had waited for this moment for almost 3 years... our first skating show together. We had anticipated this show since the cast list had come out. This wasn't only our first show but we were getting to see Shen and Zhao. We were able to get on ice seats which was amazing. Little did we know what was ahead. The show was amazing but what stuck out the most was by Shen and Zhao. Seeing their huge triple twist up close, the quality of their skating and how well they fit in with the rest of the cast were highlights for the both of us.
At the end of the show, Hongbo came and shook our hands and as we were telling how much we appreciate their skating and how wonderful they were, his face lit up and he thanked us. We both left the show excited and talked about nothing else for the next few days.
The second memory I will cherish for the rest of my life was watching Josée Chouinard for the first time. I couldn't have been more than 12 years old when our skating club invited Josée to skate at our annual carnival. I remember my costume was a red turtleneck, a black skating skirt with white tights (very fashionable at the time). I also remember the older skaters being excited about a National known skater skating two solos and the finale. After our first number, we were able to sit and watch as we always did with a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie ( a reward for a job well done). That's when I first caught a glimpse of Josée. She was a beautiful skater gliding with such ease and performing like no other skater I had ever seen. I sat there in awe for what seemed like hours. Finale we were called up to skate the finale, I was going to skate with this amazing skater. I was so excited that I forgot what I was told to do and just skated around trying to imitate Josée! I don't have pictures but my parents wanting to catch every second of mine and Amy's lives videotaped everything. I still watch it from time to time reminiscing of when I skated with an Olympian!
Many years later I was able to meet with her again and I asked her if she remembered skating in Elliot Lake years ago. She smiled and told me that she remembered it well which really made my day.
A special mention goes to the 2006 Canadian Nationals where I met Laurie my current BFF. Had it not been for that who knows if we would have ever met!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Day two!
Day Two: Favorite Pairs Program
I always had a fascination with pairs since the first time I saw an older friend of mine skate pairs with a guy who I was convinced was too short for her. Never the less they skated beautifully and that's when I
wanted to take a shot at it. My aspirations to becoming an amazing pair skater ended quickly with one swift kick to the head with a skate blade. I still sport the scar to this day and every time I look at it, a
flashback to that skate blade hitting my eyebrow comes back. As a single skater, I only have to count on myself to get the job done and not someone else. There's no drama or yelling when someone misses an
element not is there that exhausting search to find the perfect partner. Not to mention I've been known to like being front and center and sharing the spotlight with someone else is hard!
To choose one favourite pairs program is difficult, however if I had to choose it would have to be Gordeeva and Grinkov's Moonlight Senota. First, Gordeeva and Grinkov are still considered one of the greatest pairs to ever skate. They were technically strong, but also had a soft and graceful side to their skating. Moonlight Sonata had a different feel than any other program I've seen them skate. It had a mature and elegant aspect but also had the speed with every element was timed perfectly to the music. I also really liked the romantic feel it had as you could really feel the love and respect they had for each other.
Honourable Mentions
Shen and Zhao – Turandot: This is tied with my original choice of Gordeeva and Grinkov. This is when this pair took it to the next level in terms on artistic impression. They were always technically sound, but sometimes lacked the feel and mood of their programs. This was not the case with this program, especially at the 2003 World Figure Skating Championship where they dazzled the audience with an exceptional performance. This is when the world fell in love with Shen and Zhao.
Brasseur and Eisler - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini: How can one not admire Isabelle after performing this program at the 1994 Olympics with bruised ribs? It may not have had the speed of the Russians but this program was beautiful technically as well as artistically. A beautiful program that deserved the gold medal at worlds and an Olympic bronze medal.
I always had a fascination with pairs since the first time I saw an older friend of mine skate pairs with a guy who I was convinced was too short for her. Never the less they skated beautifully and that's when I
wanted to take a shot at it. My aspirations to becoming an amazing pair skater ended quickly with one swift kick to the head with a skate blade. I still sport the scar to this day and every time I look at it, a
flashback to that skate blade hitting my eyebrow comes back. As a single skater, I only have to count on myself to get the job done and not someone else. There's no drama or yelling when someone misses an
element not is there that exhausting search to find the perfect partner. Not to mention I've been known to like being front and center and sharing the spotlight with someone else is hard!
To choose one favourite pairs program is difficult, however if I had to choose it would have to be Gordeeva and Grinkov's Moonlight Senota. First, Gordeeva and Grinkov are still considered one of the greatest pairs to ever skate. They were technically strong, but also had a soft and graceful side to their skating. Moonlight Sonata had a different feel than any other program I've seen them skate. It had a mature and elegant aspect but also had the speed with every element was timed perfectly to the music. I also really liked the romantic feel it had as you could really feel the love and respect they had for each other.
Honourable Mentions
Shen and Zhao – Turandot: This is tied with my original choice of Gordeeva and Grinkov. This is when this pair took it to the next level in terms on artistic impression. They were always technically sound, but sometimes lacked the feel and mood of their programs. This was not the case with this program, especially at the 2003 World Figure Skating Championship where they dazzled the audience with an exceptional performance. This is when the world fell in love with Shen and Zhao.
Brasseur and Eisler - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini: How can one not admire Isabelle after performing this program at the 1994 Olympics with bruised ribs? It may not have had the speed of the Russians but this program was beautiful technically as well as artistically. A beautiful program that deserved the gold medal at worlds and an Olympic bronze medal.
Underhill and Martini – 1983-1984 long program. I can’t remember the name of this program but I remember loving it from the first time I saw it. When they were clean, they made it look effortless even though it was a powerful piece of music. They had so much speed that the program just seem to fly by!
Mishkutienok and Dmitriev – Liebestraume: Classic lines combined with one of the most beautiful classical piece of music makes for a lovely program. Not everyone can pull of a slower piece of music like Liebestraume, but they make it look effortless!
Sexiest pair skater Smirnov!! I've had a fascination with Smirnov for about 3 years now.
A special mention to Danielle Carr and Stephen Carr as I love everything Carr ;)
Friday, January 7, 2011
First post of course it will be about Figure Skating!
After reading a few blogs this week and talking to a good friend, I thought I'd jump the bandwagon once again. I've had several blogs in the past but more wore off on me and were ignored.
A friend of mine and I decided to take on a challenge. Blogging for 30 days about a sport we're both quite passionate about: Figure Skating. This will probably help me with a case of writer’s block I've been suffering from lately!
Day One: How Did You Get Into Skating
I remember this like it was yesterday! My parents decided to sign my sister and I up for Canskate lessons so that we could skate when our school would go on field trips to our local arena. We walked into the Rioden Arena and right away I knew I belonged there right away. The smell of zambonied ice took me in and I hasn't let go some 20 years later! I sat on a bench in one of the locker rooms, but on my slush pants, my pink and green jacket, hat and gloves while my dad tied my skates on as tight as he could. I took my sister by the hand and off we went or so we thought. The second we stepped on the frozen sheet of ice, we both took a stumble. We looked at each other, started to laugh and crawled back to the boards to help us get back up. I was a little braver than my little sister and pushed away from the boards trying to take as many baby steps as the thin blades would let me before tumbling forward. A childhood friend of ours who was already a year into her short skating career was skating circles around us encouraging us to get up and try again. So I crawled back to the boards, pulled myself up and tried again each time being easier.
As the weeks went by, the gliding became easier and falling became less frequent. I was excited to learn new tricks, whether it being a bunny hop, two foot spin or shoot the duck; I loved every minute of it. Finally we got to learn our very first choreography to Mockingbird Hill by Pattie Page for our annual Carnival. We were able to sit in the first row in our beautiful yellow chiffon dresses and watch the other skaters while waiting for our turn. I was amazed how easily the older skaters were jumping off the ice and doing tricks I'd never seen before. I turned to my newly best friend and told her that one day I would do those tricks in a show just like this. I sensed that she didn't believe me but we didn't have time to discuss it as we were on ice next. The music started and we all skated cautiously around doing small bunny hops, spins and waltz jumps. Once we all landed our waltz jumps, none of us could remember the choreography and we turned to our teacher for guidance. Unfortunately she was in the middle of her own mini solo and didn't notice we were all standing around looking at her. She finally ushered us off the ice as we all waved at our parents making sure they were watching!
I continued with the Elliot Lake Nuclear Figure Skating Club (renamed the Elliot Lake Figure Skating Club once the mines closed) for some years after and moved the several clubs once I moved to Ottawa. As I got older realizing an Olympic medal or even a National title would never be in my future, I switched over to teaching the same lessons that were taught to me as a young skater, hoping that some day I would recognize the name on top of the podium and proudly tell everyone that I was that skater's first teacher.
A friend of mine and I decided to take on a challenge. Blogging for 30 days about a sport we're both quite passionate about: Figure Skating. This will probably help me with a case of writer’s block I've been suffering from lately!
Day One: How Did You Get Into Skating
I remember this like it was yesterday! My parents decided to sign my sister and I up for Canskate lessons so that we could skate when our school would go on field trips to our local arena. We walked into the Rioden Arena and right away I knew I belonged there right away. The smell of zambonied ice took me in and I hasn't let go some 20 years later! I sat on a bench in one of the locker rooms, but on my slush pants, my pink and green jacket, hat and gloves while my dad tied my skates on as tight as he could. I took my sister by the hand and off we went or so we thought. The second we stepped on the frozen sheet of ice, we both took a stumble. We looked at each other, started to laugh and crawled back to the boards to help us get back up. I was a little braver than my little sister and pushed away from the boards trying to take as many baby steps as the thin blades would let me before tumbling forward. A childhood friend of ours who was already a year into her short skating career was skating circles around us encouraging us to get up and try again. So I crawled back to the boards, pulled myself up and tried again each time being easier.
As the weeks went by, the gliding became easier and falling became less frequent. I was excited to learn new tricks, whether it being a bunny hop, two foot spin or shoot the duck; I loved every minute of it. Finally we got to learn our very first choreography to Mockingbird Hill by Pattie Page for our annual Carnival. We were able to sit in the first row in our beautiful yellow chiffon dresses and watch the other skaters while waiting for our turn. I was amazed how easily the older skaters were jumping off the ice and doing tricks I'd never seen before. I turned to my newly best friend and told her that one day I would do those tricks in a show just like this. I sensed that she didn't believe me but we didn't have time to discuss it as we were on ice next. The music started and we all skated cautiously around doing small bunny hops, spins and waltz jumps. Once we all landed our waltz jumps, none of us could remember the choreography and we turned to our teacher for guidance. Unfortunately she was in the middle of her own mini solo and didn't notice we were all standing around looking at her. She finally ushered us off the ice as we all waved at our parents making sure they were watching!
I continued with the Elliot Lake Nuclear Figure Skating Club (renamed the Elliot Lake Figure Skating Club once the mines closed) for some years after and moved the several clubs once I moved to Ottawa. As I got older realizing an Olympic medal or even a National title would never be in my future, I switched over to teaching the same lessons that were taught to me as a young skater, hoping that some day I would recognize the name on top of the podium and proudly tell everyone that I was that skater's first teacher.
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