It appears very few of my friends follow the Valentine’s capitalist rush with any diligence. We all know love is about more than gifts and one certain day (which was actually based on the story of two male lovers…- I didn’t know that until this year).
My winter break in Brazil wouldn’t be complete without me turning into a student and learning some new stuff, and my focus has now become Skate Dance. Rio based ICP instructor Erika Cordeiro has been my teacher in this field for over a year now and I continued my learning with hours and hours of private dance classes, either in a dance studio or outdoors on Rio’s streets and rinks. Last year everything was new and this year I was more clear about what I wanted to learn and what I needed to practice.
Mixing holidays with work is something my job allows and I was delighted when Erika (local ICP instructor in Rio and my skate dance teacher) asked if she could do the ICP Level 2 course. She has been teaching skating for over 10 years having completed her ICP Level 1 in USA before that. Erika has developed her teaching further than ICP1 and mixes elements of her physical education degree together with her dance background and skating knowledge. However, she wanted to move onwards in the ICP ladder and take advantage of my time in Rio (it’s not every day an ICP Examiner is in town). Read the rest of this entry »
For about 5 days now, the Cariocas (people from Rio) have been complaining about the heat. I didn’t think it was anything unusual until I saw this photo in the newspaper. In downtown Rio the temperature hit 49 degrees yesterday.
As I type this, I do so to the sound of Michael Jackson (Thriller) coming through the open windows from the neighbouring hostel across the way. They have been playing the same CD every morning for weeks. Luckily, after watching the movie ‘This is it’ I am left with greater (renewed) respect for the man who was a genius. At 50 he could still dance like a legend.
He is certainly cool; you could call his old-style sailor hat trendy, just the young is missing from the usual description of an inline-skater. Leslie is 82 and he’s decided it’s time to get rolling.
Last Saturday’s Halloween skate in London was the warmest in many years and finally dressing up didn’t mean freezing your bits off (as is usual at this time of year). This is one of the best skates of the year as the skaters really do go for it with the dressing up, make up, fake blood and scariness. It is always fun to try and recognise who is who, especially those wearing creepy masks (but looking down at people’s skates is always a dead give away).
It was a great surprise to find that my next lesson was Ursula from Skate Nation’s Roller Rockets. I thought she was very brave to venture outdoors in her artistic skates. Rough concrete and roads with cambers are a far cry from the smooth indoor surfaces she has always skated on. Her brother was also in the lesson as he is also an artistic figure skater. We did a bit of jumping work on the grass, as I felt that their jumps looked a bit rushed and they both needed more downward knee bend before a take-off. I always remember my coach telling me “the more you go down, the more you will go up” in the jump. Most skaters have a favourite discipline, either jumps or spins and Ursula is definitely a spinner, she has great skill and dexterity with spins.
I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a close relationship with the skateschool MadridPatina in Madrid since june last year. I first went in june 2008 with ICP to certify over 25 instructors in that one school. They are by far the largest, most organised and professional skateschool in the world, enjoying the meteoric rise that inline skating is experiencing in Madrid and all over spain. The fact that I speak spanish obviously helps and has meant a continued working connection with them.
