Skaty Katy

Ketto by Bonobo

It’s funny that I’ve never talked about figure skating on this blog, when it is easily the activity I am most passionate about in the world!
I’ve been figure skating as long as I can remember, since the age of 3. I picked up ice hockey at the age of 7, and the influence that hockey has had on my figure skating (and vice versa) should not be overlooked. One day I’ll write a post about hockey, too. In any case, I’m sure people would understand me better if they could see me on the ice. It’s not an exaggeration to say that many aspects of my personality can be directly tied to the fact that I am a figure skater. After all, it’s what I love most. Me in my element.

Figure skating is a rush of cold wind. The skip of my heart when I take off for a jump. Taking one push and suddenly being in motion. The adrenaline of quick footwork— rockers, counters, mohawks, swing rolls! It’s about knowing my edges, knowing how far I can push myself before I fall. It’s about going as fast as I can while not running into the boards. Skating is nailing a huge jump-- one that I thought was too big for me to handle but then I find myself standing up, surprised, on one foot. Skating is coming out of a jump with more speed than I went into it with.
Skating is magic.
It’s dazzling performance, enthusiasm, and making the audience feel like a part of the program. When I smile I can feel it gliding through my body, extending to each stroke. Skating is bursting energy. Physics. Spinning like a top and the world turning into a blur. It’s knowing how to maintain balance even when I’m too dizzy to see anything.
Figure skating is full of crazy maneuvers, from flying camels to shoot-the-ducks to axels to salchows to flips and lutzes. “Ice speak” could be its own language. Here are a few maneuvers so you can get a taste of what I love so much!

My double loop + double loop combination

My layback spin into a pull-down spin I kind of made up

My flying camel into catchleg spin

To me life should be like a good skating routine— it should be equally as fun as it is polished. That being said, figure skating might be the reason I’m so into things that are vibrant, elaborate and embellished. Being a creative process, figure skating helped me develop a love for art. I would even admit that my artistic style reflects the figure skating aesthetic, colorful and pretty. The ice is also where I developed a taste for music and found out how I could express myself in a kinetic way (this surely has been therapeutic). At the same time, skating is the reason why I’m obsessed with thrill and sensation. Maybe why I live so “fast”. It’s why I love to go out and why I can never stop dancing. I’m always chasing the feeling of being on the ice, a hundred miles per hour, music blasting, adrenaline pumping, feeling every part of my body alive, engaged!
I have worked so diligently in skating throughout my life that it is second nature. It is no longer work but complete artistic freedom,
the clean ice as a blank canvas. My sanctuary.