Slippery When Wet

I had a whirlwind weekend that included rehearsing Bach, Beowulf in IMAX 3-D, Katsuhama and a very well attended performance. I capped it all off with a ridiculously spectacular fall on the ice at a public session which left one arm basically useless (I'm typing this one-handed). I have to laugh at myself here (when I'm not crying from the intense pain): as a former figure skater who once spent up to 5 hours on the ice daily, shouldn't I be able to avoid these catastrophes? I was actually giving an impromptu skating lesson at the time of the disaster. At least someone learned how to stay upright on skates.

Although I can still play (albeit gingerly; I tried briefly this morning), I'm taking it easy until I have to figure out how to drive myself to teaching later this afternoon. I've been watching a lot of old Stockhausen lectures online and reading about Carter's opera What Next?. I missed the recent Miller Theatre performances, but I heard Barenboim conduct an unstaged version in Chicago several years ago and would have liked to see a fully realized production. What's next for me? Probably some x-rays.

I Wish I Had a River...

Another wintry image from my Thanksgiving break jaunt to Lake Placid. I spent summers there as an aspiring figure skater, but hadn't been back in years. Not much has changed, still frigid, obviously!

While there, I resumed an old family tradition and went to the premiere of this season's Smucker's Stars on Ice show. The performance's quality was far inferior to what I remembered seeing in the tour's heyday, when the featured skaters were Scott Hamilton, Kurt Browning, Kristi Yamaguchi, Gordeeva and Grinkov etc., but it was still exciting to watch my former sport live. Sasha Cohen really needs to work on her triple toe loop though. I was most impressed by the Canadian skater Jennifer Robinson, who landed a very clean triple lutz and triple salchow in her program, although her attempts at acting in the first half of the show were painful to watch.

Choreography is incredibly important in a performance setting like this, and the overall look of the show didn't live up to the standard set by its former director/choreographer Sandra Bezic, who is a genius when it comes to blending music and skating. The one innovative number featured Cohen playing a mannequin (minus skates) being lifted by 3 of the male cast members. It showcased her flexibility beautifully, and since she wasn't actually skating, she didn't fall like she did in each of her solo programs.

On the way into town, we stumbled upon the Swedish Hill winery near the ski jumps. $3 for a taste of 8 wines, including souvenir wine glass! Apparently they have a sister store on Main St. where one can try 8 more varieties for 99 cents. Next year we'll have to start earlier in the day. And hire a driver.