Hey everyone!
I want to keep you all updated on things going on this off season. I’m training my newly choreographed programs. I just got back from a meeting with my costume designer, Stephanie Handler in New York City. The summer skating sessions are almost over and I’m feeling prepared and excited for this year.
The music I’ve chosen for this season is: Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet for my short program and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto #2 for the free. I choreographed my long program first, with my choreographer, David Wilson. I am so passionate about the piano concerto. It is literally one of my favorite pieces of music. I brought the suggestion of using this to David and he agreed in thinking it would be a perfect fit. I really hope my love of this piece of music and of the choreography David has given me is seen because I love it so much.
The short program was a different experience than I was used to. David had brought up the idea of collaborating with another choreographer, Sebastian Britten, a friend and former client of David’s. I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea at first. I had always loved working with David one-on-one and really had no clue what it would be like when another point of view was added to the mix. Well, within minutes (it could have been seconds) of working with David and Sebastian, I knew it was going to be a great experience. I love this piece so much as well.
What is the story of the programs? Well the short brings you to the part in Romeo & Juliet where all the drama is beginning. The program ends mere seconds before Romeo kills himself! I really mean mere seconds. If my short program was 2 seconds longer than the maximum time limit of 2 minutes and 50 seconds, I would be dead! I couldn’t do that because I have to skate the long ;).
My long program story begins with painful memories then moves onto accepting then moving on from those thoughts to which finally leads to overcoming sadness to feelings of success and confidence.
I feel very artistic explaining the plot lines of my programs!
I hope when you see these pieces you can see these stories play out.
I’ve also done some shows this summer! My experience in Korea was a great one. I felt so lucky to be a member of the cast. I even had the chance to speak to the Korean audience in Korean! I have been studying and practicing and I really wanted to show that to the fans. Also, I was asked to do a short video blog. I of course said yes! I taped one little blog, then I was approached and told that they actually wanted Jeff Buttle to do the blog and that the camera man who gave me the camera, thought I was Jeff. So, I gave up my job as official blogger for the show and gave Jeff the camera. I have to thank all the fans who came and cheered and supported us! Thank you!
I also had the opportunity to do Mao’s show again, “The Ice”. I had so much fun in this show last year that I was so excited to skate in it again. I once again had an amazing time. The Japanese fans were so kind. On this trip, it was the first time I had the chance to sit down and talk with a bunch of my fans at my first official fan meeting. What an experience! It was surreal to see all these people gather just to meet me. I was so honored. I really can’t thank everyone who came enough. I had such a great time and I hope they did too! Also, in the style of the upcoming season a few of the fans even called themselves the “Japanese Juliets” :). Again, a huge thank you to all the fans who came and showed their love and to those who sent messages!
My training has been going well. Every day I try to go into the rink and push myself. I have a new trainer for my off-ice conditioning and feel much stronger and solid. It’s also been fun with a lot of international skaters coming. Tomas Verner was in for two weeks. I loved skating with Tomas. He’s such a nice guy and really great to skate with. I am excited to skate with Brian Joubert when he comes to Toronto in the next few weeks. The new faces always bring some new energy to the club and bring some excitement to the training. The first time I will skate my programs for monitoring will be at Champs Camp later this month. My first competition this season is the Japan Open and I am doing my best to show a lot of improvements. I’ll be sure to keep you all updated!
Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your summer! 🙂
All my love,
Adam Rippon