Backwards Falls

So, I sat down to Sunday lunch with my friend the Big Guy, who used to figure skate, and during a recitation of my week, I told him how I 'almost killed' my coach.

The Big Guy grinned without any sympathy for my horror. "I once saw a former elite skater at a suburban freestyle take a backwards fall." He tells me the gentleman's name. He had been a team member at Worlds and won at least one Gran Prix gold medal in his time. "He was skating backwards really fast and hit a rut. You know how bad the ice was at that rink. He fell backwards flat on his butt and slid halfway down the rink. You could see on his face it caught him completely by surprise."

I know what would have happened if this had happened to me. In the blink of an eye every coach in the rink would have been at my side solicitously asking if I was okay.

I think for a second. "Did they laugh?" I ask.

"Oh yeah."

Well, I don't feel quite so bad now.

You can stop laughing now

Presentation Skills

I was brought up in an environment of professional level artistic performance. My mother sang in a professional opera chorus, and sang internationally in choral performances. From a very young age I was exposed to performers and performances of world class artists. As a child I watched opera stars of international fame, perform and rehearse on a regular basis. It's not just about singing. It's stage presence, and acting, even the turn of a head or the tilt of a chin makes a difference.

In a way, I have the performing bug, but I knew from childhood that I would never have world class skills needed. Still I was taught to observe and critique with a professional eye. I know, when I see myself on video, or watch others perform, where the errors are. I watch people skate and my mind reflexively ticks off: poor arm position, wrong head position, poor expression, needs some shoulder action, hunching, timing off, needs arm expression, bolder moves, hesitating.....I was taught to analyze this.

Most kids, no matter how good they skate, don't seem to know how to perform. I'm not talking about 'skating skills', I'm talking 'performance skills'.  Most adults, who do have strong presentation skills through experience or close observation, don't have strong enough skating skills. There are obviously kids who are born performers, and adults who can skate strongly. I'm just making a generalization. It's hard to find the complete package.

A while back, at one of the many rinks I skate at, I chanced to see a former elite skater while he was coaching one of his students in her program. I know him slightly. He's a family man, with a new child on the way and exudes a natural aura of macho. He has amazing ice presence. If he takes two strokes onto the ice, everyone in the rink is watching him. His student's a pretty enough girl, but she has no more idea of how to carry herself to hold the viewer's eye, than I do to do an axel.

"No!" the male coach yells over the exotic Bollywood music. "Don't just fling your arms. Push them into position and do this!" He raises his arms in the movement he described, and in doing so, his hands curl into this seductive motion, his body arches, and his hips move. For that three second demonstration, he's more of a woman than the girl will ever be.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the difference between a skater who has presentation skills, and a skater who's just going through the motions.

The Horror. The Horror.

Dance Coach announced at the beginning of the lesson, "I have many new things for you to learn today."

I'm always aghast when that happens. What new horror is this? Anyway, today was mostly backwards stroking, and backwards chasse' in waltz hold. He started with me in the usual way, with me doing the forward stroking. This goes okay, we've done it off and on. Then backwards stroking/chasse enters the lists.

This is not the first time I've done either of these. We did them a few times in earlier lessons in what I think of as Dance Coach's 'introductory phase'. I'm sort of projecting into his mental processes, but what seems to happen is he shows me something new to see where I am in that skill. If it's completely new, he seems to work on getting me comfortable with the skill with small criticisms. Then he drops it for a few lessons, or we only do it for a few minutes off and on.

Today, the 'introductory phase' was over. We quickly transitioned to what I think of as the 'super critique phase'.

You know what this means. Picky. Picky. Picky.

What happened? One comment on one stroke, "You stepped wide there." And, I learned that I need to be able to skate these when I'm in hold but as if his supporting (right)arm isn't there. So, I shouldn't depend on his arm for support, just guidance. Okay, we do it again, and now that I know what he wants, I do it.

We now proceeded to the 'advanced phase':

"You need deeper edges in these."

Awk! Couldn't we glide along in the 'super critique phase' for a while, so I can enjoy it?

So, I work my kneebend and ankle action on my edges, and Dance Coach says, "Much better than I expected."

I mockingly give him the hairy eyeball, then I laugh. "That's kind of back handed. But I'm happy with that."

The hairy eyeball

Five minutes later, we're warming up for the Canasta Tango for the first time in the lesson. No music, just the pattern. As we do the cross roll, I ask, "One pattern or two?" Don't hear the answer and proceed to go for the second pattern.

Dance Coach went for one pattern.

I don't know what happened exactly. I know my boot hit his boot. The next thing I see is his upper body going past the vertical--backwards.

We're still in Reverse Killian, but I'm useless here. I don't remember if I let go of his hands (which would have been sensible) or not. Whatever happened, he has the reflexes of a fox. He gets himself upright and doesn't fall.

If Dance Coach is shaken up he doesn't show it. My face is white with horror. He sorts out what happened and pats me on the shoulder. All my smugness is gone. I just want to go and hide.

We still have half the lesson left.

 

I have to credit Dance Coach's professionalism, and coolness for moving the lesson on. He doesn't mention 'The Horror' again, and soon we're back doing the same dance again. He doesn't even emphasize the statement, "Two patterns, this time." Thank you, Dance Coach. I feel better now.