◎She will come closer to the birthday wish she made◎
The music chosen by Ji Tiantian was beautiful Sicilian dance music.
She raised her chin, straightened her chest, assumed a starting position, and began to dance to the beautiful cello music.
She danced to The Emeralds, a work by the famous neoclassical choreographer Balanchine.
Neoclassical ballet works are often used as references in ice dance. Neoclassicism weakens the characters and plots, and emphasizes the expression of music by dance. As the beat changes, the dance also presents the same tonality. The perfect fusion of dance and music presents a coherent and intoxicating artistic masterpiece.
Ji Tiantian stood on her toes and danced lightly. Although she spent a lot of time skating in the past, she will never forget the feeling of dancing on her toes.
The pointe shoes seemed to be an extension of her body.
And "Emerald" was also the song she often danced to in her previous life.
She danced to the music naturally and smoothly, lightly lifting one leg, stretching her arms, and standing on one leg toe to do arabesque (spreading wings to the wind).
Then, the power leg grabs the ankle of the main leg and does a toe rotation.
The swirling wind blew away the sweat beads falling from the temples.
The rotation was like a switch. Suddenly, she felt her body become unobstructed. The road in front of her, which was originally a chaotic place, also became spacious.
Ice dance training did bring some resistance to her floor dancing, but at the same time, it also brought her many benefits.
For her, who could walk on the ice as if it were flat ground, spinning on it was easier than drinking water.
A single-foot forward twist on ice can be full of accidents. Falling, colliding, losing control of the blade... But a spin on the ground is just a spin.
Even though she hadn't pirouetted for a while, she was now spinning more steadily than before, more lightly, more quickly, and more brilliantly.
Compared to her previous life, her rotation has also made great progress.
After overcoming the initial resistance, she will face a smooth upward path.
The other students subconsciously held their breath as they watched Ji Tiantian dancing happily.
Although Ji Tiantian was only wearing an ordinary ballet jumpsuit, everyone seemed to see her wearing a flowing long skirt when she spun. The beautiful skirt flew away with her light posture, enveloping her like a halo of gemstone.
The morning teacher couldn't help but open his eyes wide.
Ji Tiantian, who was doing basic movements with everyone during morning practice, was like a novice who was unable to adapt.
But when the dance music started, she became a different person. It was as if a secret switch had been turned on and she began to soar.
Ji Tiantian's legs are straight and strong when she lifts them high, her knees are outward when she squats, and her rotation is even more eye-catching. Figure skating has given her strong physical strength and the tenacity to get up after falling down again and again.
She danced to the master's piece with impeccable movements and a perpetual smile on her face. She was not out of control.
She still has some upper body problems, but in the coherent and smooth performance, these problems seem to be no problem at all, but become a unique style.
Everyone will bring their own style to the same performance. Perhaps because she is a competitive athlete, Ji Tiantian's movements are more powerful and larger. But this does not affect her elegance.
Before this dance, she was like a gem covered in dust, but once she started dancing, she would not let anyone cover up her brilliance. She was the most dazzling gem.
Soon the four-minute dance was over and the classroom was silent.
The classmates who had been whispering and questioning Ji Tiantian before the dance started now stopped talking, their eyes widened with a look of disbelief.
"Ji Tiantian, are you 13 years old now?" In the silence, the principal was the first to speak.
"After April, I will be 14." Ji Tiantian replied while panting.
"I... I've never seen a 13 or 14-year-old dance like this." The morning training teacher spoke haltingly, with surprise still in her eyes, "She... she dances very smoothly..."
“It’s more than just smooth. At such a young age, you’ve captured the essence of Balanchine and were able to become one with the music.” The principal gave Ji Tiantian an appreciative smile, “The work you just performed was excellent. You look like a professional dancer who is ready to step onto the stage.” After saying this, the principal clapped his hands gently.
Seeing this, other students also started to applaud. For a moment, the whole dance studio was filled with warm applause.
The applause was accompanied by murmurs of discussion.
"That's amazing... This is the first time I've heard the principal give such high praise to a student..."
“But it’s definitely worth it…”
"So Ji Tiantian's basic skills are not weak...but she already has her own style..."
"A bronze medalist in ice dancing... and a professional dancer... is this called living on both ice and land? An all-around queen in the art world?"
Amidst the heartfelt applause, Ji Tiantian lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly.
"But Ji Tiantian," the principal approached Ji Tiantian and spoke, "since the teacher said that your basic skills are not solid, you should pay more attention to this in the future."
"No, no, maybe I don't understand her." The morning training teacher immediately spoke before Ji Tiantian opened her mouth, "In the future, I will treat her the same way I train professional dancers... Let her consolidate her foundation while maintaining her own style."
The principal nodded and continued to talk to the morning practice teacher: "I heard from the national team coach that Ji Tiantian only learned ice dancing last year. In less than a year, she and her partner won the national silver medal in December last year, catching up with the experienced adult group. Earlier this year, she won the world bronze medal in ice dancing, which our country has never won. The figure skating team and the Sports Bureau have high hopes for her, so they repeatedly told me to train her well. Our school has no experience in training similar talents before, so as teachers, we should be humble, move forward with our students, and learn from each other."
The morning exercise teacher lowered his head and said yes repeatedly.
"Ji Tiantian, we also need to learn a lot from you. If the teacher and I do anything wrong, you must point it out directly." The principal turned around and spoke softly to Ji Tiantian.
"Okay." Ji Tian nodded.
"Then we have a deal." The principal gave Ji Tiantian a kind smile, "On behalf of all the teachers and students in our school, I welcome you to join us. No matter how busy you are with training, please remember to visit the school."
Some students took the lead in applauding, and this time it was welcoming applause.
"Thank you." Ji Tiantian smiled brightly. She looked around at her classmates standing around. She no longer saw any questioning expressions.
Ji Tiantian secretly exhaled. The first day of formal classes was a little more tortuous than she had imagined, but it was also full of surprises.
In just one dance, she made everyone accept her.
Surrounded by applause, she felt an unprecedented calmness.
The bell rang, and the morning practice ended. The dance school students were about to leave and prepare to go to cultural classes.
Perhaps Ji Tiantian’s work just now was so shocking that no one left immediately for a while.
"Congratulations on winning the bronze medal." An enthusiastic student came over and shook Ji Tiantian's hand tightly. "I watched your game. You and Tang Yi must always be together."
"Okay, okay." Ji Tiantian pondered the meaning of "together". Should it mean competing together?
"By the way, Ji Tiantian, there's one more thing." The principal suddenly stopped Ji Tiantian. "At the end of the semester, the Capital Ballet will perform a neoclassical ballet. It's a combination of several short plays, including Balanchine's work. Our school has a close relationship with the dance troupe, and this time the school will select three or four outstanding students to participate in the performance. I want you to go. You're familiar with Balanchine and you dance very well. And more stage experience will be good for your competition, right? What do you think? Can you spare the time?"
"Wow! We're going to perform on the first day of class!" The students surrounding Ji Tiantian couldn't help but exclaim in envy.
But their eyes were full of admiration. Just now, Ji Tiantian had already proved her strength.
Ji Tiantian stared blankly at the principal, whose eyes were shining with expectation, and was a little stunned for a moment.
The performances with the dance troupe are different from the small-scale performances organized by the school. Tickets are sold to the public. Such performances are the dream of many dancers.
In her previous life, she only had the opportunity to perform after graduation.
Nancheng Dance School occasionally has a few spots to perform with the dance troupe, but they are usually taken away by more outstanding children.
However, in this life, a precious performance opportunity suddenly came to her.
"Are you too busy to have time?" The principal looked into Ji Tiantian's eyes. "This is not a request. You can refuse."
"No, I will definitely participate." Ji Tiantian held back the sourness spreading from her nose and nodded vigorously.
If she were to live her life over again, she would seize all the opportunities she had not seized.
In the next few days, Ji Tiantian took extra lessons at the dance school.
The one-week rest period passed quickly, and she and Tang Yi returned to the national team's ice rink again. This also meant that the days of going to school in the morning and skating in the afternoon were back.
Compared with the past, Ji Tiantian faced a bigger challenge this time. She occasionally had to go to the rehearsal site of the Capital Ballet to prepare for the performance. Of course, this was informed to her parents and coach.
At present, the new season's rules and short dance rhythmic pattern dance have not been released, but Xu Chi has already asked choreographer Clara to come up with free dance themes for the two children.
“Do you have anything you want to express, or a role you want to play?”
After a practice session, Clara grabbed Ji Tang and had a small meeting on the edge of the ice.
Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi didn't speak for a while.
"Tiantian, do you have any ideas?" Clara called Ji Tiantian.
"I..." Ji Tiantian was a little confused.
"The lolita in our country is much more active than you. They can act out Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty without even opening their mouths." Clara shook her head and sighed, "And Tang looks like a prince. Don't you want to act out a story of a prince and princess with him?"
Ji Tiantian thought to herself: "Thank you, I really don't want to."
In fact, she was somewhat powerless. Every time Clara grabbed her for a soul-searching discussion, she didn't know how to respond.
After all, she is not a loli in real life, and she knows very well that there can be no love fairy tale in reality.
"Can you two be more energetic? Why do you always sound so sad when talking about the free dance theme?" Clara was a little mad looking at the silent contestants in front of her. "Don't you yearn for a muddleheaded campus romance? A young secret crush, a passionate love, don't you want to give it a try?"
Ji Tiantian was silent for a long time before she spoke softly, "I don't quite know...what it feels like to fall in love with someone and be loved."
Tang Yi looked at Ji Tiantian silently and didn't say anything for a while.
"I'm sorry, Clara, I didn't mean to embarrass you." Ji Tiantian blinked and spoke to Clara sincerely, "If you want, I can try to act in anything."
“Tiantian, can you feel it from the free dance last season? Only when the dance is truly suitable for you can you perform better and infect the audience more.” Clara sighed and spoke to Ji Tiantian.
Ji Tiantian fell silent again. Of course, what Clara said was right.
But she suddenly found that there seemed to be a huge problem ahead.
Last season their free dance expressed their steadfast comradeship, so in the new season...what else can it express?
Is there any relationship or role that she identifies with from the bottom of her heart and that can move the audience?
Is the theme from last season going to be repeated?
"I really want to take you to see our country's ice dance performance." Clara sighed silently, paused and spoke to Ji Tiantian again, "Tiantian, does your dance school have any performances recently? Art is always interconnected. Maybe you can get some inspiration by participating?"
"I should be able to participate in the dance troupe's performance at the end of the semester," said Ji Tiantian.
"That's great! So cool! I want to go and see it!" Clara nodded vigorously, then turned to look at Tang Yi, "Tang Yi, are you going too?"
Ji Tiantian also looked at Tang Yi. In her previous life, Tang Yi had never seen her performance.
Although he was busy with work, she thought he probably had no interest in dance performances.
I'm a skating dancer, so seeing anything dance-related would probably be a bit boring.
"Tang Yi is going to take the high school entrance exam, so he might be very busy." Ji Tiantian said to Clara.
"No." Tang Yi said in a low voice, "I will go and see it."
Ji Tiantian stared at Tang Yi in a daze. His firm answer surprised her a little.
In this life... a lot of things are really different, she thought silently.
Although the theme of the free dance has not been decided, the two are still training in an orderly manner, and they will practice all the difficult movements included in the free dance.
A few days later, the final competition of the 2010-2011 figure skating season - the World Figure Skating Championships for adults - also came to an end.
Wei Xiao and Chang Yu finished 15th in ice dance at the World Championships, securing their ticket to the next World Championships. Of course, there is only one spot.
So the current situation is that the youth group can send two places to the World Youth Championship next year, but there is still only one place for the World Championships.
But no matter what, this is much better than the situation in the past when it was difficult to even get a direct ticket.
The 2010-2011 season finally came to a successful conclusion.
In the blink of an eye, it was April and Ji Tiantian’s birthday.
Ji Tiantian, Zhang Lilian, the coach and everyone from the national team celebrated a lively birthday together on the ice rink.
On the exquisite strawberry cake, there is a candle with the number "14", which also means that Ji Tiantian in this life has officially entered the 14th year of her life.
"I say, has Tiantian grown taller?" Jiang Lin looked Ji Tiantian up and down with joy in her eyes.
"Ah, I think so too. It turns out it's not just my illusion." Zhang Lilian said with a smile, "Come and measure it carefully!"
There happened to be a tape measure nearby, and several adults immediately surrounded Ji Tiantian and measured her height.
Ji Tiantian is now 164cm tall. Everyone also measured Tang Yi, who has also grown taller, and is now 183cm tall.
"That's great. In the next season's World Youth Championship, you will be a graceful young lady." Jiang Lin smiled and touched Ji Tiantian's head.
"Our ice dance group will definitely be full of handsome men and beautiful women in the future!" Xu Chi was also very happy.
Ji Tiantian looked at the people close to her and couldn't help but smile. In this way, in the next season of the World Youth Championship, she shouldn't be treated as a primary school student, right?
She is looking forward to next season's competition.
Amid the birthday song, Ji Tiantian made a wish to win a gold medal, then puffed up her cheeks and blew out the candles. The next step was to divide the cake.
"Gao Zhe, you're tall, eat more." Ning Huai, the men's singles skater in charge of cutting the cake, handed a large piece of cake to Gao Zhe from the pairs skating group, "You are the one who least needs to lose weight here."
"Of course I don't need it. Pair skating also requires coordination of the male and female body shapes!" Gao Zhe looked at the large piece of cake in his hand, a little worried. "It's so big, I can't finish it. Tang Yi, you should eat more. You look too thin." Then he stuffed the cake to Tang Yi.
Tang Yi looked at the cake in his hand silently. He didn't like sweets, but Xu Chi did.
He looked at Xu Chi, who was sitting not far away eating a large piece of cake, and silently handed the cake to him.
"The piece in my hand was just given to me by Tiantian." Xu Chi looked at Tang Yi and smiled, "You two have a good understanding of each other. Your relationship will definitely be better than mine and Jiang Lin's in the future."
"Eat yours." Tang Yi put the cake next to Xu Chi.
"You little brat, you don't know how to respect your teachers!"
Tang Yi didn't listen to Xu Chi and turned to look at Ji Tiantian.
Ji Tiantian was playing with the singles player Ye Yido. The two of them were smearing cream on each other's faces and laughing from time to time.
At this moment, they looked like two carefree little girls. Honor, quota, and pain seemed to have never troubled them.
Tang Yi couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth and smile.
This was Ji Tiantian's first birthday in the team, and the coaches of the four sports were more tolerant. Considering weight control, I'm afraid there won't be such a happy day of eating cake in the future.
A few days later, the International Skating Union announced the competition rules for the 2011-2012 figure skating season, which included new season requirements for the short ice dance.
Figure skating competitions have a season starting from August of one year to March of the following year.
Before the start of each new season, the International Skating Union will randomly specify a rhythm and a pattern dance for the short dance of the adult and youth groups of ice dance. Once the rhythm and pattern are determined, the basic framework of the short dance will be established.
The national team's adult and youth ice dance athletes and coaches gathered together to hold the first meeting of the new season in accordance with the new regulations.
At first, no one in the two groups spoke.
"Then let those who have won medals speak first." Coach Feng, the head coach of the adult group, spoke first and looked at Ji Tang at the same time, "I want to hear what the two rising stars have to say about the competition."
"Yes, yes." Wei Xiao and Chang Yu from the adult ice dance group also nodded repeatedly, looking at Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi with starry eyes.
In the past, ice dance team members have long been on the edge of the four events, so everyone often huddles together for warmth. Coaches and contestants from the youth and adult groups often visit each other to encourage each other, and the atmosphere is very harmonious. But there is a sense of desolation in the harmony.
Of course, with the birth of a bronze medal, this situation is now slowly changing.
"Maybe... Clara's choreography is more suitable for us." Ji Tiantian looked at Tang Yi, pursed her lips and smiled, "We don't have much experience in short dances... Tang Yi and I also want to stabilize this season."
"It was the first time for these kids to participate in an international competition. They were probably confused and couldn't tell us anything. In the end, they got that result because they had good talent and good luck," Xu Chi continued.
"You're just showing off." Coach Feng looked at Xu Chi resentfully.
Xu Chi was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Yes, I was just showing off. Well, let's not worry about last season, it's all in the past, let's discuss the new season."
"The rhythm of the short dance in the new season is Latin American melody. Cha-cha, rumba, samba, mambo and merengue all meet the requirements. The contestants can choose one or more of these rhythms, and then choose one or more dance styles to complete the short dance according to the rhythm." Jiang Lin looked at the information in her hand and said, "The pattern dance for the adult group is rumba, and the youth group is cha-cha. It is still the same as last season. The short dance must include a pattern dance... The beat of the rumba pattern dance is 176 beats per minute, and the cha-cha is 116. From this point of view, the pressure on the youth group is indeed less."
After Jiang Lin finished speaking, the conference room fell into silence.
Coach Feng, who was in charge of the adult group, was the first to light a cigarette and began to puff away smoke.
Latin American dance is not an easy dance to master. It is also very difficult to perform on the ground. It not only requires fast dance steps, but also requires the rhythmic frequency of the dancer's upper body.
Transplanting it to the ice surface, the difficulty coefficient increases exponentially. The skating speed and the change of upper body dance posture directly affect the use of the blade.
If you use the blade incorrectly, the deductions from the basic GOE points will be piled up.
In comparison, the Golden Waltz, which is known as the most difficult of the waltzes, is only fast in speed, but the upper body dance posture is not so strict. The upper body posture of the waltz is usually relatively fixed. When skating the Golden Waltz, the contestants only need to pay attention to their feet.
For Asian countries with relatively poor dance history, Latin American dance is indeed a big challenge.
But Latin is, after all, a major category of sports dance and ice dance rhythm. You can't escape it, and it will happen sooner or later.
Coach Feng looked at the new ISU rules in front of him and pulled at his few hairs in annoyance.
"Old Feng, stop pulling, just say what you want to say." Xu Chi spoke to Coach Feng.
"Our Old Feng has been very anxious recently. Why don't you tell us more about it first?" Wei Xiao said to Xu Chi.
"Okay, let me say a few more words." Xu Chi flipped through the new rules for the season in his hand and said, "This year's pattern dance clearly stipulates the key points, which will be reflected in the sub-score table in the end. Take the Cha Cha of the youth group pattern dance as an example. The Cha Cha pattern dance is divided into two parts, front and back, with the middle dance step as the boundary. The two parts are counted as two technical movements. In each part, three dance steps are set as key points. If you make a mistake in a key point dance step, you will be demoted from level four to one level. If you make two mistakes, you will be demoted to two levels, and the basic score will be reduced accordingly."
"In other words, if you skate according to the pattern and hit the six set key points, you might be able to get level 4 for two technical moves?" Ji Tiantian asked.
"Yes, you can say that." Xu Chi nodded. "If the key points are correct, you will get a Y mark in the sub-score table. If you want to be rated as Level 4, you must get 'YYY'. If there is a step error, you will get an N, such as 'YNY'. This will only be Level 3. But please note that if the beat is wrong, you will get a T mark, similar to 'TYY'. And T is the same as N. If you get one, you will be downgraded."
Having said that, Xu Chi couldn't help but take out a cigarette and started smoking.
"Ah... In addition to using the blade, we also have to consider the beat..." Coach Feng sighed deeply and continued to pull the hair, "Who can dance Latin dance so accurately?"
Ji Tiantian silently looked at the cha-cha dance pattern in her hand.
The Cha Cha pattern dance consists of 38 steps in total. It is divided into two parts, front and back, and placed in the short dance. To get the highest grade in the pattern dance, you need to ensure that the six key difficult steps are used correctly.
The front outside edge cannot be turned into the front inside edge or the flat edge, and it must be in rhythm. If the rhythm is wrong, using the right edge will still result in a downgrade and deduction of points.
Many people think that ice dancing is not a strenuous sport, and that the contestants look light and cheerful as they glide on the ice. However, few people know how much effort is required behind this lightness.
If you are not careful, all your efforts will be wasted.
The world of ice dancing is the world of top blade masters.
Ji Tiantian clenched her fist subconsciously. The challenges of the new season are not easy.
But she will not retreat. She will move closer to the birthday wish she made.
Until it is realized by yourself.
-over-
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