Champion skaters on and off the ice

[Mathman]

I once attended a show where the last skater was Yuka Sato, and she skated so wonderfully to soulful music that I was bawling my eyes out as I left the arena.

The first person I ran into was Jason Dungjen. All I could manage to blubber out was, "Your wife is so beautiful!"

 

[Tonichelle]

I once attended a show where the last skater was Yuka Sato, and she skated so wonderfully to soulful music that I was bawling my eyes out as I left the arena.

The first person I ran into was Jason Dungjen. All I could manage to blubber out was, "Your wife is so beautiful!"

 

[Olympia]

I once attended a show where the last skater was Yuka Sato, and she skated so wonderfully to soulful music that I was bawling my eyes out as I left the arena.

The first person I ran into was Jason Dungjen. All I could manage to blubber out was, "Your wife is so beautiful!"

I'm sure it was the best thing you could possibly have said to him.

 

[Bluebonnet]

I once attended a show where the last skater was Yuka Sato, and she skated so wonderfully to soulful music that I was bawling my eyes out as I left the arena.

The first person I ran into was Jason Dungjen. All I could manage to blubber out was, "Your wife is so beautiful!"

Then when you went back home, did your wife ask, "Why have you gotten a black-eye, honey"?

 

[PolymerBob]

The few times I have met someone famous, I talked to them like they were normal people.
It has always worked out well.

 

[Jaana]

I've never met a skater, but I did once meet one of my favorite poets when he signed books after a reading. I said to him, "I've been reading you since I was 14 years old." I thought he would be pleased, but his reaction was something like, "Oh." I wished I hadn't said anything! In retrospect, maybe the idea that his poems appealed to a teenager was offensive. Who knows? Anyway, the encounter certainly didn't add to my appreciation of his work!

Maybe he was just surprised that his work appealed to young persons and did not find a right expression to answer quickly? Writers may be like that (refering to some Agatha Christie books with Mrs. Oliver), kind of inward people. It must be difficult to meet masses of people who have more expectations from you than just to sign a book.

 

[Olympia]

I've never met a skater, but I did once meet one of my favorite poets when he signed books after a reading. I said to him, "I've been reading you since I was 14 years old." I thought he would be pleased, but his reaction was something like, "Oh." I wished I hadn't said anything! In retrospect, maybe the idea that his poems appealed to a teenager was offensive. Who knows? Anyway, the encounter certainly didn't add to my appreciation of his work!

I also met both a cherished opera singer and an adored ballet dancer, and in both cases was completely and totally dumbstruck. In the second case it was especially mortifying as I was attempting to interview him for publication! :

No wonder that nowadays I avoid such encounters and just focus on what they put out in public!

That sounds like a grand assortment of people, Spun. I'd have been equally un-poised, because I also love poets, opera singers, and ballet dancers. As for the poet, I think he probably was just taken aback, or maybe as Jaana suggests, he wasn't the talkative type. I've met a few authors who were downright reclusive and tongue-tied. If I were lucky enough to be a successful and published poet, and someone claimed to have been reading me since the age of fourteen, I'd be thrilled and greatly honored. Maybe this poet felt the same way, but he just couldn't express it. One of the great things about such a meeting is that art gets to be a two-way communication for a moment. I think that's a wonderful gift we recipients can give creators or interpreters, including skaters.

At one point, I had the opportunity to go to a lot of author signings. I found them very rewarding. It's different when you go to an event like that, which is similar to a meet-and-greet in skating. For one thing, you and the people involved are both prepared for the encounter. For another, there are usually other fans present, so you or I could keep quiet and still enjoy the full benefit of the occasion. It's the unexpected encounters that usually give us the chance to behave with no grace whatever!

 

[Spun Silver]

Thanks, Jaana and Olympia. You are probably right that the poet was introverted or taken aback.

It was very different with the ballet dancer. This was Helgi Tomasson, in case anyone knows him. (He now directs the San Francisco Ballet, I think, but then he was a principal at the NYC Ballet.) He was very sweet and quite flattered that someone would be so overwhelmed by his presence. I kept looking down and trying to assemble my thoughts. Every time I looked up, he would be smiling at me, and I would lose my train of thoughts again. It went on and on like that. He was most good-looking and a stunningly sensitive dancer. I had no idea in advance that he would affect me like that (or I wouldn't have asked for an interview!).

After my previous post I remembered I have met two skaters, one encounter being accidental. In that one, a stranger who helped me negotiate an unfamiliar train station soon after we moved to our present home turned out to be a retired ice dancer who had skated for a foreign country and won their championship. She was a total sweetheart and gave me some inside skating gossip. She lives in my neighborhood, but I haven't seen her again, although I often run into a mutual friend who gives me updates. I'd love to meet her again because she's so friendly and might be willing to give me some tips about ice dance.

The other one was a singles skater, and my encounter with her was something like the one with the poet. She was performing in a small venue with a smallish crowd, and when I saw her in the eating area, I went out of my way to go up and greet her, thinking, "Well, skating isn't that popular any more, the skaters must like to know that someone really enjoys what they do." Her response was more or less, "Thanks, bye." Of course she's still a really good skater, but it took a little edge off my appreciation of her. That's another reason for me not to try to meet them. If they're busy, or having a bad day, I don't want that to affect my judgment of them as skaters.

 

[Olympia]

Helgi Tomasson? Wow! I'd forget how to speak at all in his presence. Years ago I had a crush on him just from a photo. No wonder your thoughts were all chaotic. A wonderful and important dancer.

I understand your reasons for being reluctant to meet skaters. You don't want to lose the magic in any way. I have to say, I've held back from events in which I would meet people I admire for that reason. I fear that either I will act like a jerk or the celebrity will be, as you say, having a bad day. Now, if I could instead send the Dream Me--you know, the one who sings like an angel, has the poise and swanlike neck of Miss America, and always moves with perfect posture and grace--then I'd be a lot more comfy about meeting people I've revered for years.

Years ago I was present at a sort of public event to benefit a charity, and several theater stars were at a long table, ready to give autographs for a donation. You could pay a few dollars to get your favorite's signature or pay for the whole table to sign. I paid the full amount (it came to about ten or fifteen bucks and was for a good cause) and worked my way down the table. I was very calm that day, because I felt I was helping out in something that mattered a lot to the celebrity participants. Everyone was at least friendly and sometimes enthusiastic, with one exception, the great Julie Harris. This woman has won five Tony Awards and is considered a legend. She didn't even look up; she looked so uncomfortable to be there, whether from shyness or feeling unwell that day or whatever. God bless her for donating her time and efforts anyway, but she clearly couldn't muster up that extra inch. I just thanked her for taking part and moved on. I treasure the encounter nonetheless, but if I had been younger and less confident, it would have left me with a very awkward memory.

 

[ryanbfan]

At nationals in Spokane I was walking down the concourse behind Ashley Wagner, who actually is a skater I want to meet. However, she was with a friend and I didn't want to disturb her or seem rude. But cool nonetheless!

 

[Wildstorm]

Meeting all of the skaters at Skate Canada was amazing, I met SO many amazing skaters that day! I walked right past Tomas Verner who was watching the competition before it clicked who I had just walked by. The friendliest skaters by far were Elijah Balde, Paul Poirier, and Kevin van der Perren because they went over and above what was expected of them when meeting and greeting fans. So did Patrick, Tessa and Scott, and Kaitlyn and Andrew. They stayed on the ice for ever after their warmups, the announcer kept telling them to 'please leave the ice' and they held up the zambonis for ever so they could sign autographs. You should have seen the mob we were stuck in near the kiss and cry while getting the ice dancers' autographs. Thank god we were at the front but I felt very chlosterphobic. Everyone was extremely friendly at skate canada. Daisuke and Akiko laughed at my camara because I had it on burst mode and it was clicking like mad
So basicly I had a great experience meeting champion figure skaters!

 

[Becki]

Meeting all of the skaters at Skate Canada was amazing, I met SO many amazing skaters that day! I walked right past Tomas Verner who was watching the competition before it clicked who I had just walked by. The friendliest skaters by far were Elijah Balde, Paul Poirier, and Kevin van der Perren because they went over and above what was expected of them when meeting and greeting fans. So did Patrick, Tessa and Scott, and Kaitlyn and Andrew. They stayed on the ice for ever after their warmups, the announcer kept telling them to 'please leave the ice' and they held up the zambonis for ever so they could sign autographs. You should have seen the mob we were stuck in near the kiss and cry while getting the ice dancers' autographs. Thank god we were at the front but I felt very chlosterphobic. Everyone was extremely friendly at skate canada. Daisuke and Akiko laughed at my camara because I had it on burst mode and it was clicking like mad
So basicly I had a great experience meeting champion figure skaters!

Oh yeah I also saw Tomas in the parking lot! I almost didn't recognize him until someone said, "Tomas, let's go!" lol he's pretty tall and good looking.

 

[R.D.]

At nationals in Spokane I was walking down the concourse behind Ashley Wagner, who actually is a skater I want to meet. However, she was with a friend and I didn't want to disturb her or seem rude. But cool nonetheless!

My encounter with her (and Zawadzki) at the Weiss show is one of my favorites, and I imagine will always be.

 

[R.D.]

Alrighty...so as I promised in my Caesars Tribute thread, I'll post my experiences from that M&G here in this thread...this post was originally typed yesterday morning on my way back, cutting and pasting it here.

[The show producers] thanked us for coming out, and since I did the VIP thing I was going to do the meet & greet portion as well…made my way to the ballroom (seemed like it doubled as a basketball court, but there were no hoops). Wow, was it a madhouse in there…they had refreshments, etc. and then about ten minutes later the skaters slowly filed in- again, didn’t know they were there until I started recognizing a couple of faces, lol. I didn’t get to everyone, due to the madness I was able to get only autographs from some and not a pic or extended convo. I think I went to Yuka Sato first- had her sign my program, told her great performance, and also mentioned that I’m impressed by the progress that her pupil Alyssa Czisny has made since the Olympics. No pic though. She was appreciative, friendly if not a bit shy (a personality thing). Think I got to Shizuka Arakawa next. Got to say, she is really in person…wow. I then saw Sarah Hughes and I thought, I MUST get to her no matter the cost or time…but looked around and saw that Miki Ando had fewer people around her and decided to go over to her. Overheard a few women talking about how “gorgeous” Ando was, and I really couldn’t disagree with them, seeing her up-close. Actually, I thought the language-barrier would make her a bit shy and reserved but she was actually quite outgoing and friendly to all of us. She was the first one I was able to get a picture with…unfortunately the person who took our photo didn’t hit the right button…thankfully Ando was nice enough to take another one with me. Didn’t come out the best, but I figured it was good enough, lol.

NOW it was time to try to get to Sarah Hughes, who still had a bit of a crowd around her…I swear, these little kids are so aggressive man Now, I must admit I wasn’t sure how Sarah would be like, as I’ve heard stuff about her in the past, not so flattering things about her. But she was very talkative, very outgoing here- and I have to say she is the only one I was actually able to get a little talk time in with! I was also concerned I would possibly get that dreaded “star-struck” feeling in front of her, but she was so outgoing it really put me at ease (just like with Tanith) and made me feel like I was just talking to “someone else” so to speak. No blank-out moments on my part! I was able to get a pic in with her- so much stuff was going on though, that shortly she had to go get a pic with some other folks…wasn’t really able to catch her attention again after that, but still a moment I’ll remember. Some skatefans like to dump on her- until tonight, wasn’t sure how I felt, although I’d defend her from time to time- but for me, she was the nicest out of the entire bunch and I wasn’t even expecting that. Anyway, after Hughes left to take her pic, I scanned around..I saw Joannie Rochette, she had a crowd around her though…also saw Nicole Bobek and Liz Manley. Someone else wanted to get a pic with Hughes and asked me to take the pic, but I don’t think she was ever able to get her attention…at least not while I was there.

Eventually I went to Rochette, who was talking I think with some of the Ice Theatre performers. Eventually I was able to get an autograph but she was just heading out at that point, so no pic. Same with Tara Lipinski, a bit of a let-down that I nearly missed her like that but at least she saw me and signed my program quickly, then she was on her way. (I think I told you guys before, I’m not much of an autograph person- I tend to treasure the encounter and pic/convo more, although autographs are cool, too). Saw Bobek- she seemed a bit pre-occupied at the time but signed my program anyway. Didn’t get the pic obviously- but later on I saw her and decided I would try to get one. One of the people she was talking to saw me and told me to come on over- she definitely opened up much more this time and was willing to take the pic with me (and here, from first-hand experience, is why fan experiences w/famous people vary…it’s all about the timing!) I also caught Liz Manley as she was wrapping up- she was definitely very friendly and appreciative when I told her I enjoyed her

Last encounter I believe was with Nancy Kerrigan. Now it was super clear to me that she was ill- she had almost no voice at all…still, she was very gracious and friendly to me when I approached her, told her I liked the show, and posed for a pic. I told her “feel better” at the end…I really felt sorry for her.

 

[Buttercup]

R.D., I appreciate your account of the M&G - I suspect you're right, it really is about the timing. I mentioned the Orange Team interviews earlier, and that's a good example; they wisely did them on the morning of the gala practice, after the competition was over.

Now, one more thing: I think I'd appreciate your post even more with some paragraph breaks. That's a lot of unbroken text you have there...

 

[R.D.]

ok ok, I'll fix it. Thanks

 

[Olympia]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, R.D.! How nice of you to share your experience with us. It's great to hear that everyone was so pleasant. I'm especially thrilled to hear about Yuka and Shizuka, two of my have skaters ever. You did a great thing remembering to praise Yuka for Alissa's progress, too; I'm not sure I would have had the presence of mind to do that in such an atmosphere, and you know how important that must be for Yuka to hear from a fan.

I suspected that Miki would be beautiful in person. She tends to wear her hair in an unflattering style, but if you look at her bone structure, it's exquisite, kind of feline, like Sophia Loren's. And of course Shizuka must be a knockout.

I'm glad you have good things to say about Hughes. Probably these days she's more mature and patient and also perhaps values her place in the skating world more, because she's been out of it for awhile. (Eek! Almost ten years.)


Again, thanks for giving us a peek at the event. Someday I'll make it to one!

 

[CoyoteChris]

Interesting description of a meet and greet. Thanks! Actually, I kind of feel sorry for the skaters in these situations...I wonder if they kind of feel hunted? I think most of them that attend the Friends of Figure Skating breakfasts can relax a bit more and be themselves as it is a different group. I guess fame has its price. Todd Eldridge and Brian Boitono have to leave their seats during breaks at nationals to avoid being mobbed sometimes.....
It is interesting that I dont recall Tara being mobbed at an event....

 

[R.D.]

You did a great thing remembering to praise Yuka for Alissa's progress, too; I'm not sure I would have had the presence of mind to do that in such an atmosphere, and you know how important that must be for Yuka to hear from a fan.

Right- and she responded by telling me Czisny works hard. I bet she does, alright. It's pretty clear from her skating that she's made impressive strides.

I'm glad you have good things to say about Hughes. Probably these days she's more mature and patient and also perhaps values her place in the skating world more, because she's been out of it for awhile. (Eek! Almost ten years.)

That's a good point you bring up and I never really thought of that. Actually, I didn't mention this in the report but I went back to where Hughes was talking with (one of her friends?) and she said something real interesting- she wanted to get out of the limelight, start all over again [when she went to Yale]. She made it sound like it was HER decision to get out of the skating world and have a new life so to speak. (Some were speculating that it was her family pushing her, etc.) Can't really blame her, as I assume the skating world can be rather insular. She also mentioned something about a book...Is she writing a book?

 

[sorcerer]

Thank you again R.D. for this report!!
So you're keeping your pic with Miki to yourself?