Courmayeur is a fixed rendez-vous for my friends and me - we always visit the stop of the summer tour there, since the days when B&M trained here and we came here to visit them in the summer. We had no hope of spending quality time with the skaters - they were arriving from the other side of northern Italy, and this meant they would get to the rink very very late. We usually take this as an opportunity to do... nothing! Have a walk around courmayeur, meet Lydia, go & have lunch, chat, have a walk again, sit back and relax at the rink waiting for the cast to arrive.. as usual, that's what we did. I was more relaxed after at around 1am Babi had texted me (okay, when the phone bleeeped when I was finally falling asleep I was not that happy, actually) that her hubby was coming too, so that I did not have to drive her home - I would have enjoyed her company immensely, but I was terrified of how we would fit her suitcase/trolley/costume bags all in my car....
I got a pass
from the owner of the rink - which meant that during the show I could
stay downstairs, by the boards taking pictures, with just a little of
work before - checking the tickets at the entrance when the doors would
open for the public (just the same thing I did last year).
The skaters arrived at around 18.40 (Babi alerted us on the phone) and
we got on the tribunes to watch the practices (that, as usual, are closed
to the public, and we always enjoy this little privilege).
As soon as we were there, Babi appeared in the corridor between the high
tribunes and the rink, and proceeded to free climb over the railing to
come and greet us.. she's an athlete, after all! We chatted a little (like
in Baselga, there's no way I can re-post most of the things we said -
ah! the gossip!), I gave her some mail to read while on holiday, and Lydia
had some presents for her, for her daughter's bithday in June, etc. When
it came time for her to go and put her skates on, she passed me all the
bags and things and started climbing the railing again, but when on top
of it, looking at a big jump down, she spotted René Novotny passing
by and called for help... he courteously obliged, took her in his arms
and started carrying her till the dressing rooms... but she had to stop
him to come back and retrieve the bags I was still holding! He didn't
put her down, just let her get the bags from me, and carried her and her
bags in the dressing rooms' corridor! LOL!!
The practice session was great fun to see, with gorgeous John Zimmerman skating with the cast and all the girls fighting for their turn to try out a lift with him. My friends and I joked with Silvia that she should have sold tickets - they would have gotten rich in a moment! LOL Everyone was in a good mood, and when they rehearsed the opening and the final, instead of doing the proper tricks (jump or spin, or lift etc) they would do in the show, they were all doing downgraded versions... like, Savchenko/Szolkowy did a shoot-the-duck instead of a throw, etc.
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Barbara
is
the first one to skate with John: |
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Savchenko
&
Szolkowy and the "shoot the duck": |
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Before the beginning of the show I went at the entrances to help out checking the tickets when they opened the doors to the public, but as soon as the show started I joined my friends rinkside, taking pics.
The Show - Part I
After
a number of local kids, finally the show started. No pics from the opening
because I filmed it hoping for weird tricks, but they did everything as
planned. The videos is on at
FSVIDS with the vids of the exhibitions from Baselga - or write
to me if the links have expired).
One of the first skaters out there was Karel Zelenka - first he did his usual Safri Duo exhibition. Skated nicely, but I've seen it a few times too many I guess. I always laugh when I hear the crazy screams of the adoring girls that train with him in Courmayeur.. aha ha ah.
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Roxana
Luca
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All the other skaters did the same numbers as in Baselga, so I am not going to write the same comments again... read my other report, if you still haven't. I am posting some more pics this time, as I filmed only Karel's second number, the opening and finale.(on FSVIDS, see above). On a general note I might say that the audience was much much better... they were warmer, made a lot of noise and greeted everyone with enthusiasm. The screaming and cheering was incredible!!
Kovarikova/Novotny/Praga Ice Ballet:
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 The skaters are out of focus... but the flash in the tribunes was very clear! |
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Kevin Van Der Perren's "Matrix" program:
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Silvia Fontana's bubbly "Ricky Martin Medley":
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Savchenko/Szolkowy's Flamenco-ish program:
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Babi & Mauri's "I belong to you" number:
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