I’m a fan of figure skating and last weekend was an exciting one because it was the U.S. National Championships, and teams were chosen for this year’s Olympics in Sochi. I’ve been following ice dance closely and have been amazed at how much that discipline has evolved. I watch it with as much enthusiasm as I used to watch pairs back in the day 😉
One of my absolute favorite pairs programs was the one skated by Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev to Dream of Love. There are a lot of great pairs programs out there, but of them all, this is the one that made my heart sigh and sing like no other. The choreography was beautiful and the artistry of Natalia and Artur breathtaking. It didn’t hurt that Natalia had a jaw-dropping flexibility which they used to great effect, or that Artur was a commanding and masculine artistic presence on the ice. Together they skated one of the most sublime performances I have ever seen in pairs. The end of the program, in particular, is one for the ages.
They won gold with Dream of Love at the 1992 Olympics, but it was their performance at the World Championships a few weeks after that put a resounding stamp on the iconic beauty of this program and these skaters.