sweet valentines and a little indulgence

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
 ~Emily Brontë

Since it's Valentines Day I thought I would do a little bit of indulging and share with you two of my favorite skating performances. You might know that I love Figure Skating. Perhaps you're a fan too. If not I warn you ahead of time that this is a Figure Skating tale and I hope you will allow me a little indulgence today.

In my humble opinion the greatest pairs team figure skaters of all time are Ekaterina Gordeeva (Katia) and Sergei Grinkov. They were 4 time World Champions and 2 time Olympic Champions. Paired together as children in Moscow, they went on to win the '88 Olympics in Calgary when Katia was only 16. They fell in love, married, had a daughter and came back to win gold again in the '94 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. They were perfection on ice and their real life love story only added to their exquisite fairytale.

This is one of their most beautiful programs, performed to Vocalise by Rachmaninoff and inspired by Rodin's sculpture The Kiss. Watching them is mesmerizing. They seem to literally float on the ice and their artistry was breathtaking. I never tire of seeing any of their programs.

Most everyone in the world of figure skating knows this pair's heartbreaking story. In November 1995, the year after winning their second Olympic gold medal, Sergei Gringov collapsed on the ice during rehearsal and died of a heart attack at 28. It was said that he died in her arms. Katia was a widow at 24 with a 3 year old daughter to raise on her own.

Now I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news on the radio that Sergei died. I remember what I was doing and how sad I felt. My husband and I were newlyweds and he would tease me about how I would go on and on about Sergei and Katia. I couldn't believe how sad it made me feel. But hubby, a die hard hockey fan, was also sweet enough to take me to watch a skating competition to make me feel better and  he actually even enjoyed the show.

Sergei and Katia were skating with Stars on Ice when he died in Lake Placid just before the show was scheduled to open. The following year Katia returned to SOI as a solo skater and started to try to put her life back together.

In 1998 a young Russian skater named Ilia Kulik won the gold medal in the mens competition in Nagano, Japan. Later that year he also joined Stars on Ice. He was quite a star and women, especially young girls, loved him because he looked a lot like Leonardo de Caprio. He even tried a little bit of acting and had a part in a film called Center Stage, about students attending a New York ballet academy.

Katia and Ilia were paired together for a few numbers and during the 1999-2000 season they performed this program, which to this day is still one of my very favorites. I always watch it around Valentines Day. Maybe it's her red dress but I love the story behind it and I also love the 2 Spanish ballads they used for the program.

This was skated during the early days of their romance, when everyone was still speculating whether they were or were not a couple. It turned out they were and this number reflected the story of how they fell in love. They were married 2 years later and also have a daughter who is already an amazing skater.

Ilia is not a pairs skater so you have to think of the intense amount of training he had to put into doing this routine. Over the years there was so much debate about this program not being 'real' pairs skating and of course it wasn't. It was a beautiful romantic duet featuring two Olympic champions.

Despite the tragedy in her life it seems that Katia Gordeeva was blessed to find the love of her life not once but twice. I know there are Sergei and Katia fans who, to this day, still have a hard time picturing her with anyone but Sergei. She has said before that her life with Sergei was a part of her past that will always stay in her heart, but she now has another life with someone who had enough courage to help her heal and love again.

Katia and Ilia still skate but as single skaters. Ilia is beyond amazing to me and I was lucky enough to see him skate 2 years ago. This year Katia is skating with Stars on Ice again and they're coming near my city this week. I'm hoping my mom and I can go and see it. I would love to see Katia before she retires and my absolute dream would be to see her and Ilia skate this program again one more time. A fan can still dream.

Anyway thank you for letting me indulge a little. If you're a skating fan you probably already know this story, and if you're not and you read through this post (and even watched the videos) maybe you'll see why I find this sport so beautiful.

I wish you and your love the sweetest and loveliest Valentines Day, whether that love is your mate, your kids, your furry babies or all the above. Tell me then dear friends, who do you consider to be the most romantic couple? Someone from literature, a famous Hollywood pair, a prince and princess or someone you might even know.
Or maybe it's simply you and your very own love.

♥

Happy Sweet Valentines Day