For the second issue in my Getting to Know series, Iād like to introduce one of my most favorite lady skaters of all time. She is not exactly underappreciated, but the newer fans might not have seen much of her - which I think is a loss for you guys, for reasons which will hopefully become clear through this post :)
Getting to Know: Shizuka ArakawaĀ Ā Ā
Shizuka is the 2006 Olympic champion, the 2004 World champion, a two-time Four Continents Silver medalist and two-time Japanese national champion.Ā
She is the first ever Asian skater to win an Olympic figure skating gold and she did so against impossible odds. Torino 2006 was the third Olympics that happened during Shizukaās competitive career. She had a sorely disappointing experience on the Nagano home ice 8 years earlier and was not named to the Japan team for Salt Lake City 2002 despite finishing second at Nationals.
She came back in heroic fashion to win the World Championships in Dortmund, Germany (while juggling a bachelorās degree at Waseda) and at one point had seriously considered retiring post-2004. What changed her mind and pushed her forward (plus inspiring her unprecedentedly daring move of revamping both of her programs mere months before the Olympics) was, ironically, her disheartening performance at Worlds 2005, where she finished ninth. During the run-up to Torino, nobody expected Shizuka to win over the medal favorites Irina Slutskaya and Sasha Cohen. In fact, had 15-year-old prodigy Mao Asada been age-eligible for the Olympics that year, Shizuka might not even have made it to Torino at all.Ā
When Shizuka won the Olympic Gold, she was 24 years of age, making her one of the oldest women to ever claim this most coveted title. In a discipline where the clichĆ© has it that one of the most important accessories of an Olympic champion is her birth year, Shizuka is a phenomenon, defiantly, fearlessly so.Ā
If I have just one word to describe Shizukaās skating, itād be: elegant. Her skating is the ideal image I have in my mind when I refer to this sportās female discipline asĀ āladiesā singlesā. Every time Shizuka steps on the ice, it is a lesson in grace, sophistication, serenity, and femininity.
I have never had the chance to see Shizuka perform in person, but those who have told me that the rumor is true: she doesnāt so much skate as float on the ice, her blades emitting no discernible noise, caressing the ice surface in a soundless fluidity.Ā
(That was Shizuka in 2015, half a year after giving birth to her first child)
She is a beautiful spinner. Her doughnut spin in particular is exquisite:
Her spirals are equally dazzling, among which the most outstanding is her Y-position and its trademark unassisted variation. She also has a distinctive backward Biellmann and an excellent take on the arabesque, both of which are demonstrations of her superior flexibility and control.
By the standard of her time, Shizuka was an exceptional jumper. She had a major change-of-edge error on her flip, but asides from that, her technique was impeccable. When she landed her triple Lutz triple toe double loop combination at Worlds 2004, it was a sensation, the first time a move of such difficulty was successfully completed by a lady at that level of competition. Her Lutz technique, to this day, remains one of the best you can ever find in the ladiesā field: just look at the depth on that takeoff edge and the subtlety, the precision of her toe pick.
Of course, you canāt bring up Shizuka Arakawa without mentioning her most well-known of signatures, the layback Ina Bauer, which I do believe that no one else has ever performed better than she does. This moment from her free skate in Torino is to me forever one of the most iconic images in figure skating:
Now, if you want to see more of Shizuka, below is a suggested playlist.
High quality recordings from her competitive career are sadly few and far between. Among what little flotsam and jetsam that has survived on the Internet, here are my recommendations:Ā Ā
The most beloved of all Shizuka programs is her free skateĀ Turandot, the first edition of which won her the World title in 2004, and the second edition, theĀ Olympic title in 2006. Iāve also got a major soft spot for her Titanic program from Japan Nationals 2002.
My favorite short programs by Shizuka are Swan Lake (2003-2004) and Rhapsody on a Theme of PaganiniĀ (2005-2006 - she used this program for the first half of the season before switching to ChopināsĀ Fantaisie-Impromptu for the Olympics)
Must-watch exhibitions from her competitive time are Memory andĀ You Raise Me Up.
Shizuka retired from competition in 2006, but her work as a pro skater since then has produced a diverse portfolio of stunning quality. As the song goes, every little thing she does is magic.
Her interpretation of Yugao from The Tale of Genji deserves a place on every list ofĀ āfigure skating programs to watch before you dieā. It is a masterclass in the harmonious marriage of Japanese aesthetics to the athleticism of skating. Watching Shizuka in this skate feels much like reading a Kawabata musing on the transiency of beauty. Please, if you have time for just one program of Shizuka, this is it.
Shizuka has collaborated with StĆ©phane Lambiel on several occasions, most notably their joint venture in the pro competition Thin Ice in 2010. The pair of them more recently re-united for a skate set toĀ Canāt Help Falling in Love with You, from Shizukaās show Friends on Ice in 2015, and it was as delightful as it was classy. Whichever dark and gloomy thoughts you might or might not be having right now, this will dispel them, I promise.
Shizuka is affectionately known among Japanese fans as theĀ ācool beautyā, and this number choreographed to Madonnaās Frozen can tell you why:
(Incidentally, she is one of very few female skaters who can execute a flawless outside spread eagle with deep edges and picture perfect body line)Ā
Shizuka is a frequent guest star on the Italian show Opera on Ice.Ā Here she is performing a wonderfully mature Madama Butterfly in 2012. Last year, she returned to Verona for the showās new production (rechristened toĀ Intimissimi on Ice) with a sumptuous piece accompanied by Andrea Bocelliās live performance ofĀ Un Amore Cosi Grande:Ā Ā Ā
Some day there might be a match made in a better skating heaven than Shizuka Arakawa skating as Aphrodite, but it is, my friends, not this day:
(Shizuka took time off the ice in late 2017-early 2018 to await the birth of her second child. Her son was born on May 23rd this year, a month after Shizuka was inducted to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.)
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