- components

One of the tougher things to decide when you are a performer is what to include in your "exhibition" program. I'm not referring to your IJS short program here, where you have required elements. You do skate in a couple of shows though, don't you?

I suppose a large part of this decision derives from how you view your skating... is it a demonstration for the judges, or is it a performance for the audience? Is it impossible to combine the two?

I suppose what I am alluding too is that, sure, certain moves get popular because all the other gals are doing them, but I still don't feel that a pancake sit allows for any particularly elegant way to transition out from beneath it.

Choose the moves in your program because they are elegant, they transition well, and fit your music. Don't select a move just because you feel that you have to prove that you can do it. And often some of the simpler moves are still elegant and appropriate to the music anyhow, so include them! Your program will be much more alluring if you place your expressive principles above your desires to "impress."

- sides

Trick question: how many sides does an ice rink have? Yeah I know it's an oval shape. The trick is that I am not asking for a geometric count, but rather a tally of its personalities.

At nine in the morning on a Wednesday at the rink I meet Janet, a skate coach here. Otherwise the rink is completely empty even though it is open for public ice. I suppose this runs typical for a mid-week morning.

Rinks have such jagged up and down spiky sessions: if you were to walk into a rink totally at random half the time it would be vacant, empty except for the staff performing random chores, cleaning the rental boots, fixing the boards. This is the personality of the rink that the employees know; it is their grounding.

The other half of the time the place is a zoo, eighty kids going every which direction, or a rough and tumble roaring hockey match.

The difference between figure skating and hockey is matched by the stark contrast between when the rink is empty and when it is full. Figure skating and hockey are two distinct personalities.

So empty, hockey, figure skating... an ice rink has three sides.