Dancin' In the Moonlight Daylight

I figure if I'm going to spend the money to go see Stars on Ice I should spend some time getting pumped.

What does that look like? Well a little trip down memory lane, of course. (It is my favorite lane.)

Then again, if you've spent more than approximately 3 minutes with me ever, you've probably picked up on the fact that I don't really *need* to work on getting excited for skating-- it's pretty much embedded in my being.

Well, sort of.

The last time I went to Stars on Ice I fell asleep before intermission. (Emily was the skating fan back in 1999). So I can't say the affinity has always been there. But it's in me now, in time for the 25th Anniversary tour.

Hopefully *I* will be in time for the show on Sunday. Not only does its starting at 4 p.m. (daylight) complicate my choice of song for the previous montage, it also makes for a very interesting commute to DC following my (hopefully) 2:30 p.m. arrival in Baltimore.

College is for adventures. And even if I'm pushing it on Sunday, I am bound and determined to find the joy in every last second of it. Emphasis on the last.

A Tough Act To Follow

I keep putting this off because I figure no one wants to listen to (or read) me go on about Gordeeva and Grinkov for another long post. And I figure, really, I don't have time to make a long post.

But, friends, February 12, 2010 is upon us. And we're just barely halfway through the olympic recap/preview. So let's make a deal: I'll keep it concise if you charge ahead with me.

Deal. Here's what we've got so far:

1980 and Savchenko/Szolkowy (Germany)

1984 and Zhang/Zhang (China)

1988 and Dube/Davison (Canada)

1992 and McLaughlin/Brubaker (America)

1988 is where we left off with Sergei and Ekaterina. And it's where they thought they were done with the olympics. After the 1990 competitive season, they retired from amateur competition (yeah, right, I'll show them amateur).

Part of why they decided to retire from competition was because, in January of 1989, they became a couple couple. After he kissed her, Katia says, "I was braver with him, more giving, more secure. From this point on, I never paid attention to any other man, not ever again." Turning professional gave them time to work on their technique, heal Sergei's bad shoulder, and get married.

With all their free time after their April 1991 wedding, the two hopped on the road with Stars on Ice and quickly became besties with all the big names you might know in skating (you know, Scott Hamilton, Kurt Browning, Kristi Yamaguchi, Steven Cousins, Brian Boitano, Brian Orser, Katerina Witt, and the like).

Then, on tour in January of 1992, Katia found out she was pregnant:

"That night I still said nothing about the pregnancy to Sergei. He was out late with some of his friends, which upset me, of course, and the next morning I was still angry with him. I felt sick, and somehow we got into a silly argument. I don't remember what it was about, but my hormones must have been making me crazy, because I suddenly blurted out, 'I'm pregnant. I'm feeling bad, and you don't even care. You could have a baby, but I'm going to have an abortion now.' Sergei was shocked. 'Is it true? What are you talking about?' He forgot that I was mad at him, forgot the argument, forgot even the talk of an abortion. 'Why didn't you tell me before?' He was so excited, and kept holding me and kissing me. 'Why didn't you tell me, Katoosh?'"

(Katoosh is a more common name for Katia that Sergei used with her)

In 1993, after Daria was born, skating authorities (like haterade man) made the unprecedented decision to let professionals reinstate into amateur competition. Brian Boitano led the pack to reinstatement, as Victor Petrenko, Katerina Witt, and Sergei and Katia followed.

With the help of their choreographer Marina Zueva, Sergei and Katia began training for the 1994 Lillehammer games:

"Marina told us that since Daria's brith, we had become more beautiful as pairs skaters, more professional, with a deeper understanding of each other. She said we fit together better, that our lines were cleaner. Performing every night in the shows had taught us how to express our feelings to the audience, to skate the program as a whole rather than simply going from element to element. 'You're doing everything I told you so perfect. It's almost like you were preparing your whole career for this program,' she said one day."

And this is that program, The Moonlight Sonata:

"This gold medal in 1994 satisfied me in a way no other medal I'd won ever had, even though we had made this one mistake (Sergei bobbles the double flip). I knew how hard we'd worked and how well we'd skated the whole year. I knew how much we'd sacrificed personally, spending that time away from Daria. And I was satisfied it had been worth it. The first gold medal we had won for the Soviet Union. This one we won for each other."

Sergei and Katia reunited with Daria and skated with Stars on Ice during 1994-1995...

...and won their 3rd World Professional Championship (the olympics of professional skaters).

Look Out Vancouver

Here comes the next best thing.

Not like second to best.

Like up and coming.

Providing a fresh face for amateur skating, I proudly present Emily and her debut skating lesson (since the 6th grade).

I guess I'm going to be that mom. The one all up in the way with the camera out all the time, waiting on the child to do some trick.

But for now I'm that sister.

You'll excuse me while I go book my flight to Canada, won't you?

Oh and also, you heard it here first, these little kids are the future of pair skating. I would know, given that I basically watched them during the entirety of Em's lesson my youtube experience and complete credentials as a scout.

I know, I know, "stalk much?"

I'm merely looking out for Vancouver...

Insignificant

It's baaaaack.

Our olympic flashback/forward program is making an appearance after two whole months of nothin.

1980 and Savchenko/Szolkowy (Germany)

1984 and Zhang/Zhang (China)

1988 and Dube/Davison (Canada)

This is the long overdue fourth installment, about the easily overlooked 1992 Albertville olympics. Where? Exactly my point. And, France, by the way. That's where.

I can't say for certain what got me thinking about kickin' this back up. I mean, I know, but I just really can't say yet. I did buy a t-shirt with the olympic rings on it a couple of weeks back and it has been a source of inspiration, for sure.

In addition to this, last Saturday during study breaks, I got a few of us watching some pairs skating and attempting to do some moves in our socks on the hardwood floor of the apartment. We were genius.

(the last two are sit spins, by the way)

And then after exams Katie Jones and I were watching Sale and Pelletier (they'll be comin up sometime in the near future) mostly because she busts it on the ice like I would if I were competent in the ways of skating, and got the great idea to mesh it with music from Glee.

(For the record, as I sit here writing this, Dad is busy writing the "Smith Evacuation Plan" for in case of a fire... some formality that needs to happen before we can get Quasi-Smith up in this house. This is ironic to me given that I begged this family to practice a fire drill after the nice fireman at Career Day suggested it in kindergarten. The drill never happened and neither did an escape plan or meeting point.

Then, back when Luke worked at Cammack Village as a police officer and fireman, I missed it when he was the officer on duty and the rest of the family walked into his house to find a fire near the back door. The mental images of him jumping in his police car to drive to the fire station, hoppin in the fire truck and driving a quarter mile back to his house as mom screams "do something" and dad points the garden hose in the general direction of the flames is almost better than actually being there, though, I think. I don't believe in karma, but.... I'm just sayin' maybe if we had conducted a drill they could have been more cohesive. I guess sometimes DHS has to say something before it will get done. So now, 15 years later, we have an evacuation plan and a ladder to put by the window upstairs. Here is the plan (excuse the mirror effect of the mac):

It reads:

"1. Leave the room.

2. Go down the stairs.

3. Get out of the house through the front door."

... I know this plan will change your life. You will not find a clearer plan than that, trust me. No. Don't trust me. Trust the Doctor and the Fireman. We don't keep 'em around here for nothin.)

(This is officially another side note stemming from the one above that I felt deserved a new parenthetical clause given the monstrous nature of the first one. In that last picture I have fake glasses on because I am trying to get used to the look because I tried on Emily's new prescription glasses and stuff actually was much clearer for me, too. So I might be getting glasses. What do you think?

Eh. We'll see. Actually, I'll see. Better, anyway. If I get the glasses. I might wait until it's unbearable. The lesson learned, though, is that sometimes you just assume you have perfect vision until you are proven wrong by a much clearer picture. Do I assume I have things figured out or am I looking for better focus? That is about as deep as I am prepared to go tonight, so for now just ponder with me, aight?!)

Listen, I told you it was easy to be distracted from, the '92 games of Albertville. But it is where Kristi Yamaguchi won her medal, so there's some importance. Thus we continue the age old tale of Russian domination in pairs figure skating. Only not really because this was the USSR. Oh, but not really because that officially ended in 1989. 1992 was still a time of transition for Soviet Russia and its socialist nation-state affiliates so the "russians" competed under the name "the Unified Team" at this olympics. Just to give it that western pro-United States ring to it, it seems. Still, the Unifieds (*cough* soviets *cough* russians) were again prepared to stomp.

Enter Artur Dmitriev and Natalia Mishkutenok. They trained in Leningrad (modern St. Petersburg) with Tamara Moskvina of Valova and Vasiliev (1984 olympic gold medalists) fame. In competition, these two never placed less than 3rd. After this Olympics, they skated the same routine at Worlds and scored an unprecedented four perfect 6.0 marks. For those who ask "how can you do pairs and not be a couple?" I would suggest calling up Artur and Natalia, who split up as a team amicably soon after their silver medal win at the 1994 Olympic games (coming right up!). Artur went on to partner with Oksana Kazakova (not relation to Oksana Baiul), which becomes important, oh, around 1998. Natalia married a hockey player and then divorced him and then married some random guy and now they have a 3 year old daughter. She coaches skating in Texas (random?) now, completely retired from performance. Dmitriev, however, is still kickin' with his second skating partner, though he has been married to a russian gymnast/choreographer since 1992 and they have a son, Artur Jr. I call him Artie because we're tight like that.

Before you watch, I do ask that you respect the purple.

I don't know who the woman commentator is, but I think she may be Dick Button's daughter to whom he bottle fed a little too much haterade. "She did not get those rotations in AT ALL!"

A little piece of trivia for you all, the move where she grabs his calf and he holds one of her legs so that she does the splits while he spins is something they created and it is now named after her, called "Natasha's spin."

So now our amateurs, Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker of the US of A.

Represent.

With any luck, they will represent America in Vancouver. They are the current two time US Championship gold medalists (but, uh, placed 11th at 2009 Worlds. If I remember correctly, she had had the flu. Unfortunately, Katie Jones, none of the flaws in this performance involve skate in the face. Shame.) and at 17 and 23, respectively, have a while to go in their careers.

This is them winning the 2009 US Championships: (beware, Emily, you are not going to like her teeth)

And here is their most recent short program, skated at the Russian Cup last month to "Unchained Melody" (may Patrick Swayze rest in peace):

For the record, Keauna is totally wearing Ekaterina Gordeeva's costume from her 2006 performance of All I Want For Christmas is You. I feel like I should include it since it is that time of year...

As to whether or not they are a couple, it's just hard to say. She is a senior in high school in Colorado Springs, while he is at the University of Colorado. I don't know how much say so a six year age difference has on their being together or not, but these pictures seem to indicate that it doesn't have a lot:

(please note that she is completely horizontal!)

Yeah, yeah, I guess they are just doing their job, really (I wish that was my job). Oh well. besides, the real reason I'm posting that many pictures of them is so that it doesn't seem as obsessive when I put so many of Gordeeva and Grinkov when their turn comes up. What I can say for certain, since wikipedia has informed me, is that the name Keauna is Hawaiian for "feminine wind running through the forest." My name feels so insignificant now.

... not to mention my skating skills.

And still seeming insignificant after all of this?

Albertville.

And Dad's escape plan.

Calgary

I'm in the olympic skating spirit.

A, because Sao Paulo was just chosen last week as the site for the 2016 summer olympics.

B, because my awesome friend Gillian gave me her size 9 figure skates last week.

A good week for the olympics and for skating, don't ya think? I mean, now that I'm back on ice and all.

I believe we last left off, in our olympic pre-game review, at 1988 (by "believe" I mean "know" because I've been pumped ever since about getting to this pair).

The games were held in Calgary, Canada. Side note (and/or useless piece of information): Calgary put in a bid to host the 2010 Olympics, but Vancouver won the bid as the nation's representative and, ultimately as the international host. Now you know.

There's a big, long story with Gordeeva and Grinkov that is the reason I like them so (because I do so love a good biography), but in 1988 they were just two russian kids. This was their first olympic try, where everyone expected them to simply put their feet in and test the waters. Never mind that they were the two time world champions (86 and 87) at the time.

She was 16, barely five feet tall and 90 pounds.

He turned 21 during the olympic festivities, stood at five feet, ten inches tall and weighed 160 pounds.

Ekaterina attributes their cohesion to an accident that happened in mid-November before the February olympics. During a training session, practicing a star lift, Sergei tripped on a rut in the ice and dropped Ekaterina, leading to a major concussion and six days in the hospital for her. She says, "After getting out of the hospital, it was another week before I was allowed on the ice, and Sergei continued to visit me at home every day. When, at last, I could skate again, I immediately noticed a change in the way he was holding me. He was holding me tighter, as if he didn't want to give me a chance to touch the ice. It was like he grew up during this period when we didn't skate. I felt more secure. Something had happened in those two weeks, and even I -- so focused on skating, so serious about training and life -- realized that his thoughts for me had changed. Before we had been like two skaters. After that, we were a pair."

Apparently.

Together, still with a sibling sort of relationship and some crazy russian training, they were this tiny powerhouse. At Calgary they skated what is considered to be one of the cleanest long programs of Olympic history.

That night, Ekaterina writes in her book, "Elena and Oleg, who won the silver medal, went out with Sergei, leaving me behind. I was left to enjoy my ice cream by myself, but as it turned out, even that fell through. After waiting all those days, when I went to the game room to create a fabulous sundae, I found they had closed the soda fountain for good (she had been looking forward to this since they got to the olympic site, but wouldn't have the sweets before their performances). I was so angry that I went to the regular cafeteria and took three bowl

s of ice cream, but it wasn't the same. It's mind boggling that I should have been bored after winning an Olympic gold medal. But understandable, too, since I'd been left behind and had no one with whom I could share my success."

"What drives me crazy now, when I look back on Calgary, is that I don't remember Sergei from out first Olympics at all. I can't even picture him there, probably because I was so wrapped up in the competition I didn't even look at him. I don't remember if we took a walk together before skating our free program, which we usually did. Or, if we did, where we walked. Or what, if anything, we talked about. I just don't remember and it makes me angry at myself."

Frustration over not having fully soaked up the experience would bring the couple back some years later (get excited). Not before some significant changes would happen in their lives. But that's a story for 1994.

As for 2010, here are some hopefuls.

Thing is, they better hope good.

Bryce Davison and Jessica Dube ranked 7th this year at the world championships, which isn't where you like to be going into an olympic year, I would imagine. Still, they are getting stronger and have a good chance of representing Canada in Vancouver, given that they did win the gold at the canadian championships this year.

This video is from last years (2008) World Championships, where they won the bronze medal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWD2L1qRSLo

(you have to copy and paste this into the browser bar)

And because everyone loves a good skating accident (from which people recover, of course), this is a video from the 2007 Four Continents Championships when Bryce ran into Jessica during their side by side camel spins.

And finally, because everyone loves a good gala performance probably more than they love a good accident, here is the gala following Dube and Davison's gold at this years canadian championships.

I don't even know why I said finally earlier because I have yet to answer the all important question: are they or aren't they a couple? After some intense google research the answer is that I can't even know. There's nothing saying specifically that they aren't, and there are a few articles that hint at a relationship. Guess we'll find out come olympic season. Wish them luck.

Did you miss the first two installations of our Olympic pre-game? Here you go!

1980

1984

It was nice?!

And so our quest continues to become better educated olympic viewers. Who. is. pumped?

So here's the thing. I have identified the hater spoken of in this post. His name is Dick Button, if that rings a bell (which, if we were hard core fans, apparently would... we are on our way, friends). And I've 'bout decided that, even though he looks like the monopoly man, the commentator can say just about anything he wants. Here's why:

Really I just was thrilled about the opportunity to stick a for real history lesson up in here.

The good news is that Mr. Button cheered up a little by the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics. Anyone got a 20 on sarajavo, by the way? Sounds like somewhere Sydney Bristow would go, but I'm not sure what country it's in actually. I suppose I could google it like I have every other piece of information I'm giving you here. But then what would be the point of this community?

Twice in two minutes, Valova and Vasiliev get a "that was nice." I mean, I would hope so seeing as how this is the olympics and all. But it is apparently a high compliment coming from Dick. So they'll take it... and their gold. Thank them very much.

Right! Okay, statistics and story and all that. Their names are Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev and they were paired together in 1978 when she was 15, he was 18. They entered the olympics as the 1983 world champions (skating events happen in this order, beginning in January of any given year-- well the olympics, obviously, only on olympic years: skate America, skate Canada, Nationals, Europeans, Olympics, Worlds with exhibitions following each event). Both are from Leningrad (which becomes relevant in comparison to Gordeeva and Grinkov who represent Moscow and a different government sponsored sports club) and trained under the supervision of the Armed Forces Sports Society and career-long trainer Tamara Moskvina. They were engaged at the time of this performance and married later in 1984. They placed second (behind, well, we'll get there...) in the 1988 olympics and became the first amateur pairs to turn professional that year. Though they divorced in 1992, Valova and Vasiliev competed as professionals until 1995 (the year Sergei Grinkov...).

About the program: it was inspired by the Siege (or blockade) of Leningrad that started in 1941 and lasted for 872 days. It was the second deadliest blockade of a major city and required that coach Moskvina be evacuated to nearby mountains for her childhood, where she suffered from malnutrition. According to her, this program is about love and the struggle to maintain it during the trauma that was Leningrad (present day St. Petersburg). So that is why the music is so epic. Well, that and you gotta go big or go home to please Dick Button. And olympic judges.

as a side note: I feel like I enjoy the more obvious interpretation of love in Leningrad by the following routine of Savchenko and Szolkowy. It is aptly entitled "Leningrad" and was performed as the exhibition piece after they won gold in the 2008 World Championships. It is obvious that this team representing Germany is intent on paying tribute to the victims of German invasion during World War II. First Poland with the Schindler's List program, and now Russia. The history major in me thinks that is beautiful.

because it needed to be addressed: that was some seriously thin hair with a whole lot of hair spray.

How about a couple of more olympic hopefuls? Again, there was such a wide variety of pairs to choose from, with even more performances to sift through. It is a hard job, but someone has got to do it.

So I'm going with Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao (no relation). They were paired in China in 1997, when Dan was 12 and Hao, 14. I'm just saying I was obsessively watching 7th Heaven at that age. We'll blame communism. That was a complete joke. Laziness is the real culprit. They competed in the 2006 olympics, which is the program I picked to show you because I think it speaks the most about them. And even after... what happens... they wound up winning silver in Torino. Now they are the 2009 World silver medalists (after Savchenko and Szolkowy) and poised for a medal in Vancouver. So look out for them.

The girl straight got up and performed an entire long program after landing the highest, fastest jump on her left knee. Sandra Bezic was right, that is olympic spirit. Tragically I do not know their relationship status, as per you never really hear a whole lot about the private lives of chinese athletes.

I can say, however, that they are "nice."

February 12, 2010

Let me tell you where I will be.

Vancouver.

That's a small lie.

My television will magically transport me there. Where I will be watching the winter olympic games. Are you with me? Peterso has no choice. Because that is just the way it is. And because she is the fool who paid attention to me that fateful day when I pulled up youtube and began exploring the world of figure skating.

I will now pay you the same favor. But do not worry, I will do it little by little so as to neither bore you nor overwhelm you (two things Ashley will tell you she has experienced late into the evening... many evenings).

It is mainly so I have an excuse to re-watch each of these programs and, for once, not feel like an idiot for spending my time watching blurry old olympic routines. Thank you, every 2 of my readers, for this opportunity. Seriously, though, this is fun for me. Because I really don't know a whole lot about the gold medalists from years past (I know a lot about the couples I do know) or about the contenders for 2010, so it's an experience for me that I want to document. Because as a history major, documenting is how I roll.

First I will show a performance from years past, then introduce a pair likely to find themselves competing in February.

So here we go.

We'll start in 1980 at Lake Placid, New York (shout out to MB). Y'all, this woman was crazy. By crazy I mean the most successful pairs skater of all time. Technically speaking, at least. Let me define successful: 10 successive World Championship gold medals, 3 successive Olympic gold medals. With her partner, Aleksandr Zaitsev, Irina Rodnina won gold at every event she entered between 1973 and 1980.

I mean, if I were a pair up against them I would have stayed home (I wouldn't have been and that's probably the reason. The only one. Nothing to do with the coordination problem or the Early Onset Trudy Smith syndrome). These two married in 1975 and had a son, Sasha Jr., in 1979. Their coach was Stanislav Zhuk, who also trained Gordeeva and Grinkov (we'll be hearing from them soon).

p.s.-- I don't know the skating terms, but I feel like that commentator drank a little too much haterade before he took the mic. I'll be slightly more helpful and mention that the couple this guy brings up a few times during the performance is U.S. pair team Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, who were forced to withdraw from these games due to an injury of Gardner's. This commentator may not ever get over it, I feel like.

Okay, as for the olympic hopefuls. I couldn't decide whether to start with the best, or the Americans. Then I didn't know if I should do their best or most recent performance. I went with most promising (in the hopes that you might return) and most recent.

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy are the current and twice World Champions, three time European Champions and six time national champions (for Germany). They began skating together in 2004. This is their long program at this years World Championships, held in March, where they achieved their personal best score of 203.48 (someday I will research the scoring system and fill you in). I may not know the silly details like scoring rules, but I do have the important inside information-- they are an off ice couple.

What's poignant about this program is that they skate to John Williams' Schindler's List score while representing Germany.

This is fun, yes?

Well, for me, anyway. And now you know where I'll be should you need me on February 12.