Thursday, June 24, 2010

Dance Lessons

I love watching the TV dance shows, Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance. Apart from enjoying the dancing and costumes, I am also trolling for information that I can apply to figure skating. Can I modify that costume for a figure skating program? Can I do that dance step on ice without giving myself a concussion? Can I use that music for a program?

Last night Nigel Lythgoe was critiquing one of the dancers on SYTYCD and what he said resonated with me. I would like this to become my goal as a skater. Here is roughly what he said: you need to practice the dance steps until they are second nature to you but then you have to not think about them and dance from the heart. I want to be able to do this with my skating program. I want to be able to skate from the heart. I want the music to flow through me. I don't want to just go through the moves: jump1, spin1, step, step, jump2, spin2. I find this type of skating boring and I don't want to be boring. I want the joy of skating to flow through me while the steps are being done from muscle memory. One of the skaters I adore is John Curry. He took this idea of skating from the heart to new heights. I admire his skating the most. He can take simple edges and make them look brilliant. Skating should be joy. I am looking forward to returning to the ice.

No comments:

Post a Comment