May 15, 2010
I was invited to an international skating show, WIWA, in Hang Zhou, China from May 1- May 5. We left on April 25 to get to China before the shows for rehearsals.
There were 16 skaters in the show: Laurent Tobel, Stanick Jeannette, and Florentine Houdinière of France, Stuart Widdall of England, Chrisha Gossard of Thailand, Daniil Barantsev of Russia, and me, Richard Dwyer, Joel Dear, Rory Flack, Ryoko Kudo, David Liu, David Pakenham, Jennifer Wester, Indy Wong, and Craig Wilson from the U.S. Richard and I skated a number together called “Singing in the Rain” – it was a very fun piece. I was the youngest skater there, which triggered a lot of funny teasing from Daniil. I also skated a number with the tallest and funniest guy in the cast named Laurent. He is a very good skater and won the French National Champions in the Novice, Junior, and Senior levels.
The show was held in a brand new ice rink in a luxury mall. This was Hang Zhou’s first ice arena so it was a really big hit for the whole city. The show went on for 5 nights and I heard that about 1000 people watched the show every night. We worked very hard for this show. Most of the time we rehearsed 10-12 hours a day. My schedule was very simple: eat, rehearse, then sleep. I was very excited to perform in this show.
The day of the last show was very special for me because it was on the day of my birthday. That morning our whole cast went to Hang Zhou’s famous lake, West Lake. It was a little bit cloudy but the temperature was nice. The lake was beautiful and in it were a lot of lily pads and it’s flowers. There were lots of willow trees surrounding the lake. We saw many traditional Chinese architectural structures. The scene felt completely different to what I am used to but it was amazing. Some people played ancient Chinese flutes and the music sounded beautiful. Then we had a boat ride on the lake where we took lots of pictures. Then I went onto the dock and saw water sloshing everywhere. It was really fun and was a great experience for me.
Then in the evening it was our last show so everybody tried their hardest. That show was my best show. At the end of the show there was a surprise waiting for me! A big and fancy birthday cake was brought out for me on the ice, and the audience started singing “happy birthday” to me. That was the biggest birthday party I’ve ever had. I was happy and I felt really special. After that we had a big goodbye party. I felt so sad to leave. It had been two weeks and the cast made a strong bond. I couldn’t believe the next day everybody would return home. I was sure I was going to miss everybody.
The show was directed by David Liu and Darren Olivero with Solidwater Productions. David was the choreographer and he made the show very fun for me. Lui Yeung produced the show and she was so helpful to me while I was sick for a day – she got me the medicine I needed to get better. She took care of me and all the skaters very well.
The ice arena’s director, Ted Wilson, really supported me. He always wanted to make me happy and bought a lot of stuff for me. He also brought his little dog Kita with him – I played with her a lot! She was a really cute and playful dog and felt really soft. I had a great time with them.
This has been a wonderful experience for me and I had lots of fun. I miss everybody and I hope I’ll see them again someday.
–Nathan