F.S. and Theater

Dick Button, during Campbell's: "It takes so many years to develop theater. That's what this sport is so wonderful about, and we keep losing it too many times."

Dick Button is a gem. He can be crockety as heck, but he's been around for so long, both as an athlete and a commentator for the sport for a reason. He's an interesting personality, and he's interesting to listen to. Everyone once in a while, more often than not, he comes up with the perfect statement. This time, it was about the sport of figure skating in general.

In the next few days, I want to write a post about why I love figure skating. Dick describes some of the reasons here. Theater. He's right, it takes years to develop. From what Dick said at the Olympics, one of his biggest concerns about the new scoring system is that it will take away some of the theater, as skaters spend more and more time on "tricks"--spins and jumps and the like--and not enough on the performance part. I understand his concern. It would be a shame if the sport lost it.

Some skaters get the theater part right away; I think Michelle Kwan got it early on. Some skaters never get it. Kwan has a way of putting her heart on her sleeve and letting everyone see it. She takes us away with us, and it's always breathtaking and brings tears to the eyes. I want that experience every time I see a skating performance, in competition or not. Yes, I love the technical part of figure skating, but to me, that's secondary. For me, it goes beyond mere entertainment. I want to be blown away. That's theater.