Watching Yuna's Turandot-Nessun Dorma, for me it's like watching a beautiful bird being let out of her cage. For so long at competitions under CoP, Yuna was constrained by required tricks and executions under constant scrutiny of the judges. She mentioned at times it was not possible to fully express herself and the music, because she needed much concentration for technical elements. Such is the nature of the sport she chose.
But I think this skate tells a different and poetic story.
The music begins with a dramatic and foreboding harmony between violin and percussion. It feels like a procession to the inevitable end of an epic journey. There is a sense of fear and anxiety, but also understanding of the gravity of the moment and the responsibility to finish one's job. It's at this point I'm reminded of something I thought about often when I saw Yuna's "Send in the Clowns" this season: saying goodbye involves two parts. First, there is the wistful and nostalgic part -- we look back at the memories, the good times and bad, and wish each other well. I think those feelings were beautifully portrayed in Send in the Clowns, as well as the Adios, Gracias videos Yuna taped for All That Skate.
But the second part of saying goodbye is the getting on with it, as the British might say. We mustn't linger too long and spoil the moment ... eventually we must turn around and walk away.
The first half of Yuna's Turandot-Nessun Dorma dramatizes this quite well. The music and the skating convey a sense of epic finality, right up until the orchestra slows, and the skater slips into a brief moment of somber introspection. Is this the end? Is it all over?
No!
The orchestra begins to play Nessun Dorma(!), and like a phoenix rising from the ashes, new life is born. As someone who has experienced the darkest lows of hopelessness in life, I cannot express in words how beautiful I find the last one minute and thirty-five seconds of Yuna's skate. Without a doubt, there is a sense of triumph and celebration, the culmination of fate and life.
Vincerò! Vincerò!
And then finally comes the crescendo, which unveils the true ending of Yuna's story -- this is a new beginning. The cage's door opens, and the beautiful skater finally gets to spread her wings. Yuna flies around the ice with the kind of happiness and joy that cannot be imparted through a smile. There is freedom and abandonment in her skating, something she never showed before, a true sense of "letting go". It's the best I've ever seen her skate!
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And so with that, as one Christian to another, I wish for Yuna to fly away, far away, and live her life with freedom and happiness, according to her heart and dreams. I hope she will find purpose in life beyond figure skating, and continue to do good in the world.
God bless you Yuna, and thank you for all of the beautiful masterpieces you gave us over the years.
I think as to the "Selfie King" title, D10 also has stiff competition from Han Yan who apparently had the time of his life posing with his skating idols in "All that Skate."
