“I really gave it my all, and an unprecedented number of people were involved in this ice story. I am filled with gratitude.” Yuzuru Hanyu about his show “ICE STORY 3rd ‘Echoes of Life'”
Yuzuru Hanyu about his show “ICE STORY 3rd ‘Echoes of Life'”
original source: sportiva.shueisha.co.jp
Yuzuru Hanyu’s ice show, “Yuzuru Hanyu ICE STORY 3rd ‘Echoes of Life’ TOUR,” reached its final performance on February 9 at LaLa Arena Tokyo Bay in Chiba. In the interview posted on Web Sportiva, Hanyu talks about this experience. Here’s a translation of his comments (machine translation.)
“I really gave it my all, and an unprecedented number of people were involved in this ice story. I am filled with gratitude,” Hanyu told.
The story, written by Hanyu himself, follows “Nova,” a character born alone in a ruined world, who continues a journey seeking the meaning of life and existence.
The highlight of the first half of the show was him skating on the ice for an extended period to a piano collection of five pieces, leading into “Ballade No. 1 in G Minor” which featured a difficult layout of jumps with a triple axel and consecutive jumps, expressing a desire to believe in fate.
“I really struggled from the beginning, with the old scoring rules of the short program requiring two jumps in the second half. Realizing anew the difficulty of that being a triple axel and a quad plus triple jump. The tension in the short program is different than in the free skate. The absence of recovery time is characteristic of the short program, making it packed with various elements and thereby more difficult than the free, something I felt throughout this tour.”
“Furthermore, before even reaching the piano piece, performing four songs was already tough enough, as I felt its difficulty while performing. I requested the lighting to be adjusted to my preference, and though it was challenging due to changes in rink sizes depending on the venue, I managed to do it thanks to everyone working hard, including the ice-making professionals.”
After a 30-minute ice resurfacing break the second half of the show begins. On the ice, projected visuals of aqueous vistas set the stage for “Aqua’s Journey (Piano Solo Ver.),” enchanting with its gentle skating hinting at the birth of life.
“In the story, that scene begins to recognize that life, nearly extinct in that world, is finally about to sprout. It’s more of a prayer – hoping that each burgeoning life around me thrives. As Nova, the strongest prayer was that everyone continues to live. In the end, the words ‘everyone, live’ were spoken.”
“It was a desperate performance. I skated continuously with the image of praying with my whole body. That prayer includes those at the roots of ‘Danny Boy’ – a prayer for the departed as well as prayers for hope for everyone attending the venue. It involved my personal wishes for happiness, prayers for the staff, and though all these elements are somewhat intertwined, I was praying earnestly, mingling everything together with the music.”
Through the seven performances of the tour, a story was completed. “Writing this story and completing the tour deepened my own thoughts, but the biggest takeaway is that no one really knows the future. That was true even during the Beijing Olympics. No matter how hard I try, sometimes my efforts aren’t rewarded, and even if I do good deeds every day, unfortunate events can still occur. That’s the nature of the future. Therefore, it’s not easy to describe such a way of life. However, I want to live in the present, straight on, believing in my own heart and justice.”
Through performing, he also felt a sense of growth: “I have started new training techniques as well. It’s not just about increasing flexibility or extending my range of motion, but also about how quickly I can move my body and recover. I started practicing how to enhance my own characteristic grace and beauty just before the Hiroshima performance, and I feel like it’s finally coming together now. So, I have a real sense now that I can continue to change and evolve.”
Related topics: Yuzuru Hanyu
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