I'm watching pairs skating--long program--on television tonight as part of the Olympic coverage. One of the pairs from Canada is skating to "The Way We Were" which is one of my favorite songs, for a number or reasons. This particular pair used to be a couple and the announcer said that this was the only song they wanted to skate to in Vancouver.
Oh gosh. Their lines, their in-synchness, their facial expressions--the pain! the sadness!--everything is just gripping me and keeping my eyes totally focused on the screen.
You can tell that this resonates with them on a personal level.
Figure skating is supposed to be perfect. It's all about perfection. The skaters are focused on lines and tricks and height and scores. Sometimes I watch skating and the skater's expression is fierce, and you just know s/he's thinking about winning and getting the score they want. This....this was all about emotion.
Sure, it's the Olympics. They're hoping for a medal and they're hoping for high scores. But this was so much more than that. I found beauty in their mistakes and falls--it was like watching their relationship play out on ice for four minutes. You saw their initial passion and attraction for one another. You saw them grow together and find their footing with one another. And you saw their faults in their stumbles and spills, but they got up, figured it out, and eventually parted ways.
Beautiful.
I just loved everything about this, I really did. It was exquisite.
I saw that performance and it was heartbreaking. Even though she fell, at the end you could tell he was telling her it was okay and didn't seem upset in the least. It really makes me wonder what happened in their relationship, because on ice they're perfect together.
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