Photograph by Melanie Heaney
It was an emotional afternoon on Sunday, March 2 because the determine skating group, together with Washington, D.C. first responders, got here collectively to honor and keep in mind the 67 folks, together with 28 members of the determine skating group, killed within the crash of American Airways Flight 5342 on January 29. The present’s hosts, Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi, welcomed the near-sellout crowd, noting that “whereas you will need to mourn the misplaced lives, it’s also essential to rejoice them” and the impression that they had.
With every heartfelt efficiency, the skaters shared each grief and resilience with the viewers within the area and people watching on-line world wide. Becoming a member of the skaters on the ice was an array of previous champions – Nancy Kerrigan, Paul Wylie, Scott Hamilton, Kitty and Peter Carruthers, Richard Dwyer, Peggy Fleming, Michael Weiss, Johnny Weir and Nathan Chen assisted Boitano and Yamaguchi with tributes and skater introductions.
Among the many significantly transferring performances was Junior skater Sofia Bezkorovainaya’s sleek skate to “Someplace Over the Rainbow.” To honor her coach Inna Volyanskaya and coaching mates Everly Livingston and Franco Aparicio, and their households, Sofia wore the identical costume worn by Everly this season. Following her solo, Sofia was joined by Washington FSC clubmates in a gaggle quantity to “You’ll Be in My Coronary heart,” ending with Sofia holding a bouquet of flowers upward, in reminiscence of their coach and mates.
Newly-minted 4 Continents bronze medalist Jimmy Ma gave an emotional efficiency to “I’ll Fly Away,” the music Jinna Han, one of many 4 Skating Membership of Boston members misplaced within the crash, skated to this season. Fellow SCOB members and U.S. pairs champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov instantly adopted Ma with a lyrical skate to “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” that had the viewers spellbound.
However the greatest emotional moments got here from Max Naumov and Isabella Aparicio. Max, U.S. pewter medalist, selected to honor his mother and father and coaches, 1994 world pairs champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadym Naumov, with a strong program to their favourite track, “The Metropolis That Doesn’t Exist.” In his introduction, Wylie defined that each time the track can be performed, Evgenia and Vadym would “leap up and sluggish dance collectively as a result of it had such a deep emotional connection for them.” There was not a dry eye within the area as Max poured his feelings into his skating, ending on his knees wanting up towards the sky with tears in his eyes.
Franco Aparicio’s sister, Isabella, summoned unimaginable braveness to skate a transferring tribute to her father and brother. Skating to a recording of her father enjoying Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”, Isabella gave a sleek efficiency whereas preventing again tears. Most within the viewers additionally had tears of their eyes as they gave her a standing ovation.
Johnny Weir’s “Reminiscence”, in tribute to the College of Delaware FSC members – coach Sasha Kirsanov and ice dancers Sean Kay and Angela Yang and their moms – misplaced within the crash, and Ilia Kulik’s “Gabriel’s Oboe” tribute to his pupil Olivia Eve Ter of the Ion FSC, showcased their lovely skating. Sarah Everhardt’s refined program to “I’ll Take Care of You” by Beth Hart, skated in tribute to the Skating Membership of Northern Virginia members misplaced within the crash – Brielle Beyer and her mom, Edward Zhou and his mother and father, and Cory Haynos and his mother and father – confirmed a powerful connection to the music. She ought to contemplate this style of music for a aggressive program.
Different skating highlights included Amber Glenn’s lyrical and highly effective skating to “Rise Up”, Jason Brown’s present model of “Unimaginable Dream”, Andrew Torgashev’s brief program to “L’Enfer” by Stromae, Alysa Liu’s “Hero” (in tribute to the primary responders), Camden Pulkinen’s “On the Nature of Daylight”, Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ “As soon as I Was Cherished” and Ilia Malinin’s “Hope”. Group numbers “Halo”, a re-creation of Yebin Mok’s choreography class at this 12 months’s Nationwide Improvement Camp (NDC) and ending with a trio skate of Ashley Cain, Gracie Gold and Mok, “Think about”, and Capital Theater on Ice’s tribute to their teammates Everly and Alydia Livingston to Vivaldi’s “4 Seasons” and “Flying” by Cody Fry had been additionally deeply transferring.
From the present’s first notes to the finale to Woman Gaga’s “Maintain My Hand” that ended with the forged holding fingers in a coronary heart, the underlying theme was of unity and shared energy. Moments and gestures interspersed all through the present – Naumov encircled by Ma, Efimova and Mitrofanov as they raised a candle collectively, a second of silence with viewers members holding up their telephones with flashlights on, the acknowledgment and applause for the lots of of first responders on the crash scene – emphasised that nobody grieves alone and people misplaced won’t ever be forgotten.
And there was additionally resilience. In a short video previous the “Halo” quantity, Kevin Coppola, director of this 12 months’s NDC, affirmed, “The 2025 Nationwide Improvement Group will without end have 151 members in our hearts and we are going to hold gliding for you.”
