I've had this song picked out that I wanted to do a dramatic program to for about a year and a half. I was playing the album on a nearly empty session one day and this song just grabbed me. My friend said, "Oh, you *have* to skate to this!" But up until now, I'd never done it. First, I was a little scared to try doing a dramatic event. Then I couldn't figure out how to cut the music. With the registration deadline for my last competition of the season coming up, I decided it was now or never. If I could cut the music in time for the registration deadline, I would sign up. And that's what I did.
My goal with this program was to try to move in a way that felt comfortable and expressive for me, so I wanted to do my own choreography. I ended up doing most of it, but because I only had about a month to put it together, I enlisted my coach for a little bit of help when I got into a time crunch.
There are parts of this skate that I love, and also a lot of parts that I'd like to rework. But I'm going to count my first dramatic program outing as a success, and I think I will continue to work on this program and keep it for Adult Nationals next year.
Oh, and the title of this post? Right before the competition, I ran into a young girl on a public skate who had been on a number of freestyle sessions where I'd practiced my program. She told me, "You do that program where you kick your leg! It's so FUNNY!" Her interpretation made me chuckle, but I corrected her, "Well, it's not supposed to be funny, it's supposed to be..." I struggled for the right word to use with a 7 year old, but she piped up first, "I know, I know. It's supposed to be dramatic!"
So there you have it folks. It may be funny, but it's supposed to be DRAMATIC! You be the judge!
Friday, September 26, 2014
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
About That Axel...
This post actually has almost nothing to do with skating.
It's about a pronoun.
And axels. It's about axels, too.
When my club did its spring show, they brought in an outside choreographer who chose soloists for the show by reviewing video submissions in which the skaters gave an introduction of who they are and showed some of their skating. One young girl earned herself a spot in the show by quipping, "Now about that axel..." in her video introduction. This phrase stuck out to the choreographer and inspired him to give her a little piece in the show where they explained to the audience a little bit about what the axel means to figure skaters and included a double and triple axel demo from our top skaters.
I've never talked about any interests outside of skating on this blog, but I am a language geek. I speak a couple of languages and I enjoy thinking about language structure and word connotation and all sorts of other language related issues. I listen to this podcast called Lexicon Valley that recently did an episode on demonstrative pronouns, you know, like this, that, these and those. Now everybody knows how these words are used to refer back to topics and things previously mentioned, but this podcast explored a different use of pronouns---using them to refer to things that you have not immediately been talking about, such as "About that axel!"
You can listen to it here if such a topic appeals to you, but the gist of it is that this use of pronoun is used to refer to a common understanding that the audience and the speaker share. Its intent is to cause a familiar emotional reaction to the thing and it forms a bond between the speaker and the listeners. The podcast centered around how a particular politician made frequent use of this type of pronoun, which has the effect of strengthening the positive reaction of people who agree with the common understanding that's put forth, and enhancing the negative reaction of people who disagree. Anyway, it can be a powerful rhetorical tool, and I didn't think much of it after I listened to the podcast.
But now I can't not notice it. I realized that I write and talk about "that axel" all the time! I am doing this exact thing with language and have never thought about why! Obviously, I've made previous posts about axels, so I could be referring back to those, but in the case of the auditioning girl in her video, no previous mention of an axel had been made, but the way she used that phrase, "about that axel"... inspired an entire piece in the show. She had tapped into that angst that all skaters have known just by the use of that one pronoun and it resonated with the choreographer who knew exactly what she was talking about. She did that with just one word! Isn't language fascinating??
Oh yah! And skating is fascinating, too. I'll get back to rambling on about that axel in my next post ;)
It's about a pronoun.
And axels. It's about axels, too.
When my club did its spring show, they brought in an outside choreographer who chose soloists for the show by reviewing video submissions in which the skaters gave an introduction of who they are and showed some of their skating. One young girl earned herself a spot in the show by quipping, "Now about that axel..." in her video introduction. This phrase stuck out to the choreographer and inspired him to give her a little piece in the show where they explained to the audience a little bit about what the axel means to figure skaters and included a double and triple axel demo from our top skaters.
I've never talked about any interests outside of skating on this blog, but I am a language geek. I speak a couple of languages and I enjoy thinking about language structure and word connotation and all sorts of other language related issues. I listen to this podcast called Lexicon Valley that recently did an episode on demonstrative pronouns, you know, like this, that, these and those. Now everybody knows how these words are used to refer back to topics and things previously mentioned, but this podcast explored a different use of pronouns---using them to refer to things that you have not immediately been talking about, such as "About that axel!"
You can listen to it here if such a topic appeals to you, but the gist of it is that this use of pronoun is used to refer to a common understanding that the audience and the speaker share. Its intent is to cause a familiar emotional reaction to the thing and it forms a bond between the speaker and the listeners. The podcast centered around how a particular politician made frequent use of this type of pronoun, which has the effect of strengthening the positive reaction of people who agree with the common understanding that's put forth, and enhancing the negative reaction of people who disagree. Anyway, it can be a powerful rhetorical tool, and I didn't think much of it after I listened to the podcast.
But now I can't not notice it. I realized that I write and talk about "that axel" all the time! I am doing this exact thing with language and have never thought about why! Obviously, I've made previous posts about axels, so I could be referring back to those, but in the case of the auditioning girl in her video, no previous mention of an axel had been made, but the way she used that phrase, "about that axel"... inspired an entire piece in the show. She had tapped into that angst that all skaters have known just by the use of that one pronoun and it resonated with the choreographer who knew exactly what she was talking about. She did that with just one word! Isn't language fascinating??
Oh yah! And skating is fascinating, too. I'll get back to rambling on about that axel in my next post ;)
Monday, September 15, 2014
Camera Shy
It was a blissfully empty morning on the ice. Two adults in lesson, one responsible teenager and me. I was getting close to the end of my session and I decided to go back to the waltz-backspin axel drill to practice the feeling of take-off and alignment over my right side.
The first one was a mess. I had a good take-off, but I landed on my inside edge and wasn't able to hold it and turn it into a backspin. Suddenly I hear my coach and his adult student exclaim from across the rink, "That was an axel!" I turned and looked at them. "That?!?" What are they smoking? I think. They confirm, "Yes!" and I ask again, because I'm sure what I've just done is a mistake. But they're waiting for me to do it again.
So I line up to do an axel from a stand-still, which I don't do often, but that's how I do the drill. As they watch, I push onto my left leg, push through the toe and lift my free knee through. I came down on the quarter mark on the other side and landed on one foot. Now that was an axel! A cheer came up from my coach and his current student, as well as the teen who had now stopped to watch.
Buoyed by this success, I tried again, the same way. Again, success! A third try was not so succesful.
"Do you want me to video you?" the teen asked. I accepted her offer, since my camera was out of battery and I needed someone to hold my phone to film me. "Of course, they probably won't show up for the camera," I joked. And so it went. The first few were back to my old familiar forward landings. "I'll take as many as you want!" The teen promised, "This is a big deal!" That one statement meant so much to me. She is not a girl who minces words. She won't tell you it was good unless it was, and she's seen me working on axels for a year. I kept going. Eleven videos later, we had a few okay ones, but none as good as the two I did before. I knew then that lightning wasn't about to strike again, so I released my volunteer videographer to her own practice.
Every day, though, that axel is getting closer. I capture that feeling that I know is the right technique and I almost get all the pieces to come together. I feel it getting closer and closer. I continue to think "any day now..." even though I've been thinking that for months. Days of progress like this one keep my hopes up.
So stay tuned for the news and the video because I'm going to land that axel any day now...
The first one was a mess. I had a good take-off, but I landed on my inside edge and wasn't able to hold it and turn it into a backspin. Suddenly I hear my coach and his adult student exclaim from across the rink, "That was an axel!" I turned and looked at them. "That?!?" What are they smoking? I think. They confirm, "Yes!" and I ask again, because I'm sure what I've just done is a mistake. But they're waiting for me to do it again.
So I line up to do an axel from a stand-still, which I don't do often, but that's how I do the drill. As they watch, I push onto my left leg, push through the toe and lift my free knee through. I came down on the quarter mark on the other side and landed on one foot. Now that was an axel! A cheer came up from my coach and his current student, as well as the teen who had now stopped to watch.
Buoyed by this success, I tried again, the same way. Again, success! A third try was not so succesful.
"Do you want me to video you?" the teen asked. I accepted her offer, since my camera was out of battery and I needed someone to hold my phone to film me. "Of course, they probably won't show up for the camera," I joked. And so it went. The first few were back to my old familiar forward landings. "I'll take as many as you want!" The teen promised, "This is a big deal!" That one statement meant so much to me. She is not a girl who minces words. She won't tell you it was good unless it was, and she's seen me working on axels for a year. I kept going. Eleven videos later, we had a few okay ones, but none as good as the two I did before. I knew then that lightning wasn't about to strike again, so I released my volunteer videographer to her own practice.
Every day, though, that axel is getting closer. I capture that feeling that I know is the right technique and I almost get all the pieces to come together. I feel it getting closer and closer. I continue to think "any day now..." even though I've been thinking that for months. Days of progress like this one keep my hopes up.
So stay tuned for the news and the video because I'm going to land that axel any day now...
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