Sunday, October 3, 2010

Sometimes We Soar

I can now say this for a fact: watching Olympic skaters from front row seats is freaking amazing! My daughter and I were blown away by All That Skate in L.A. this weekend. The show was aired on Korean television, which is the origin of these videos. It will be broadcast in the U.S. Oct. 10 on NBC, as well.

My breath was taken away by the lyric beauty and astounding jumps of Gold Medalist Yuna Kim and by the lifts and throws in the performances by Pair champions Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo.

Here's the thing about champion ice skaters. They take risks, big ones. But they've work long years, perfecting the basics, getting physically strong and mentally prepared for pushing themselves to these extremes of performance. And if they fall, they get right back up and keep going. They make pretty good role models for anyone, really.

Kim organized the show and invited her impressive friends: Michelle Kwan, Johnny Weir, Stephane Lambiel, Patrick Chan, Ashley Wagner, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy.

Hope you enjoy the videos or catch the televised show. Better yet, someday go see them live.



15 comments:

Bish Denham said...

Beautiful! So glad you had a wonderful time.

Jennifer Shirk said...

How lovely! I love to watch figure skating on TV. I can't imagine how awesome it would be to watch it live and in person!

Yat-Yee said...

When champion ice skaters take risks, they do it in front of million of eyes, and I'll bet they are relying heavily on their years of long, hard work.


I wonder how many of us writers who have been working hard find it difficult to determine just when to take which risk?

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

What an amazing experience!! The closest I've come is to watching Disney's MONSTERS on ice. Not quite the same. I love to watch partners ice dancing, though. so lovely. That video was gorgeous. I loved the music. Wish I understood what the commentators were saying, though I'd imagine it was something to the effect of, "awe-inspiring."

Robyn Campbell said...

You def deserve a great time. BTW, let's not tell anyone about me pretending that I was the girl in the red. Shhhh That's just between us, Pat. K?

I truly enjoyed the videos. Super cool. And risks they do take. A little Yoda talk for you there.:)

Just like we writers take risks every time we go to a crit meeting. That face-to-face thang is WAY filled with risk. YIKES. And sending out to agents. DOUBLE YIKES. GAH, how do we do it?

Talk soon. :)

The Words Crafter said...

One of my all time favorite sports to watch....just beautiful. And I'm glad you both got a chance to see it live and that you enjoyed it.

Jemi Fraser said...

Shen & Zhao are amazing! And I think Patrick Chan is going to be something pretty special :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

EVERYBODY! Thank you for watching the skaters and commenting. I just wanted to share a magical moment.

Donna said...

Gorgeous!

Jackee said...

There is something about figure skating that surpsses any other form of motion for beautiful fluidity. I love it.

Thanks for sharing--so glad you got to go see it in real life!

~ Jackee

kah said...

I've always been in awe of figure skaters. So glad you got to experience such beauty. :)

VR Barkowski said...

There's nothing like watching figure skating live, the lights, the music, the grace and elegance of the athletes, even the chill off the ice makes the experience singular. Wonderful videos. Thank you.

Phoenix said...

I grew up watching ice skating with my mom... loved every minute of it. I'm still fond it and when it's on at my mom's house we'll sit and watch the competitions for hours! :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Again, thanks to all of you for enjoying and commenting!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I frickin' LOVE figure skating. It's such an elegance dance. =] BTW, I love the videos you post. They're always so beautiful.