Cha taking inspiration from iconic Uno Shoma program
Cha's exhibition program isn't the only place this season he has been inspired by other figure skating greats, however.
The 23-year-old's free skate routine this year is set to
Astor Piazzolla's tango,
Balada para un Loco (Ballad for a Madman), the same music which soundtracked
Uno Shoma's free skate in a 2016/17 season in which the Japanese won World Championships silver.
"I know Shoma used
Balada para un Loco also and his program is one of my favourites too," Cha says.
"Shoma used this program very iconically, but I think you have to keep using great music because I think that's figure skating and skaters can go very different ways making the program even if it's the same music."
Aside from it being 'great music', Cha says he was influenced by the new direction he is taking his programs in – and that Bourne was completely on board with the choice. "I think why I chose it is I really want to skate a totally different way than I did before," he explains.
"The first time I [heard] this music was I think a different version of this [song], I was searching a lot of different versions and then the Milva version really came to me and I asked Shae-Lynn, 'how about this song?' And I think she really loved it too."
Cha does have one minor regret about the choice of music though – that he didn't give Uno a heads-up beforehand that he was reprising music.
"I met Shoma during a show in the summer, but I didn't tell him that I used it! I don't know why I did that," he says, laughing.
