Much to my surprise my coach Berkley wanted to start working on my Adult Bronze Program right away. She debriefed me on my test last Tuesday and told me one of the judges verbally complimented my skate and said it was obvious I must have skated as a child. I will take that as a compliment.
I selected a piece of music and edited it to 1:50, the max time allowed for Adult Bronze Free Skate testing or an Adult Bronze competition program. I am keeping the music a secret until the program is complete and performance ready. It's a piano piece .. I will say that.
I mentioned to my coach that I did not want to skate to a big piece of overly dramatic music and not have the skills to back it up. When she heard what I chose, she was really pleased. She said it will work because I am a "quiet skater". I had to laugh at that. My childhood coach told me I skated like I was a linebacker for the Rams! Perhaps I have acquired some grace on the ice after 41 years.
So right off the bat she came out on the ice and we selected a starting position! Just like that. Actually, first she asked me how I felt - emotionally - about the piece. What emotion did I feel and want to convey in the program? She agreed with my idea and proceeded to find an opening position for the program.
Little did I know how much work goes into the simplest thing: Skating up to and holding a starting pose. It's just a turned out right foot with the left leg behind, toe pick in the ice, but the position she put my hands in and the subsequent hand and arm movements require some core strength. It felt so abnormal for me. I have not been doing anything artistic with my body for so long. I never took ballet - wish I had.
So far we have
- A starting pose
- Some hand and arm movement (artistic expression)
- A forward pivot
- Two footed glide exit (arm position pending)
- L + R inside edges
- Backspin (obviously she has faith... she is choreographing the spin before I can do it)
That covers about the first 18 seconds. 92 seconds to go!
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