January 14, 2003
HALLMARK SKATING SHOWCASE (Tucson, USA)
by Natalie
Well, I had no idea this was a Valentines Day show. Anyhow, my sister and two kids went. I had to show up at the arena to pick up the tickets as they were in my name. I scouted that arena the day before and saw a long tour bus, they were cleaning it likeyou wouldn't believe! The parking people said they were inside practicing. I begged to go and watch but no way. They wouldn't allow it.
The day of the show I noticed adorable little girls in tights and tennis shoes which I thought would be picking up all of out roses we prepared to throw-they wouldn't allow them in! One man who looked very professional and had a "Hallmark" jacket was standing near the doorway. I sent my sister and oldest daughter over and they asked about any signings afterward.
He said only a "banquet" for Hallmark associates only and who were they interested in. They said Ekaterina and he asked what needed to be signed! They handed over my Letter for Daria book and a picture of Ilia & Katia performing. He said to wait right there, it might be a little bit. About 20 minutes later he came back. I was weak from excitement! She signed both and on the book wrote, "Best Wishes, Katia Gordeeva". What a thrill! About an hour before all of that happened we snuck into the building (top of the arena) and could see the rink.
Everyone was practicing. Poor Jenny Meno fell so hard and she didn't hop up too fast either. I saw Rene Rocca and she looks exactly the same. Saw Anton and Elena too. He was doing that move where his leg is over her body while they spin. It was so exciting. Then a lone figure with a gray sweater and black tights. A tiny long pony tail skating fast around and around. I knew it was Katia when her little hands went sideways in that perfect pose. She is adorable. But, too far away to really know. She was the fastest. Then, a security man started climbing up towards us and asked us to leave! RATS! It was cruel!!!!
First, let me warn you, we know nothing about technical skating, etc. Only artistic and how they look in real life! I like to know about Katia as a person first and it's great that she skates so well. My daughter will post next to tell you about everyone and their meeting Katia!
I have one picture of her with the girls. It was midnight and she was about to get on to the elevator with Angelika and what looked like Deb Nast. The kids waited outside of that banquet room for an hour. It was only because they were so cute and caught the eye of a security guard that even called headquarters for them to see where the skaters were. It paid off. Anton was outside at one point leaning over the railing chatting in Russian with another skater (Angelika's partner?) and smoking cigarettes.
Wait, let me back up, the place didn't have hardly anyone for the show. The VP of Tucson figure skating was giving away free tickets! She raced up to me and tried to give me tickets as well. She was real nice and said that the skaters (most of them) were real nice. She had to drive them from the hotel to the arena and she kept hearing all of this Russian chatter with "Phoenix" or "Tucson" every now and then. She said Angelika was real nice. I of course asked about Katia. She said that her friend picked her up from the airport the day before and that she was real nice. Wow, wish I could've helped out and picked her up!! Okay, back to the banquet.
My daughter walked past the open door and saw Katia sitting at a small table chatting with Angelika and (Deb Nast? we aren't sure if that was Deb Nast or not). She is so tiny. I've always wondered about her, just how tiny is she?
I'm sure there are nuts like our family that are a little obsessed and want to know petty things like did she smell good, have make-up, what was she wearing, etc., etc.! Well, I finally got to grill the girls (one is 21, one 18 and a mature 13 year old!) They even took notes for me!!
Anton and Elena felt aloof. Not at all like you'd imagine. All the men looked very chiseled. It's no wonder they can throw these girls in the air, their huge and the girls are miniature!
All of the skaters left the banquet. Only Katia and the two ladies were left. As they came out of the hallway, Angelika and Deb got onto the elevator. The girls approached Katia and asked for her autograph. She was embarrassed! Although she looked used to fans, this might have taken her aback, it was after all, midnight. She asked the others "do you mind" very embarrassed and grateful for the bright pink roses. (They went back to the car for them). Katia had on a lambswool sweater in gray (a tank with a long sleeve matching over it) simple black slacks (like Banana Republic)hehe and tan very pointy shoes, with small heel. She felt conservative and extremely cute. They said she felt "motherly" with them. Her hair was in a low ponytail. She had a little makeup on and looked like clear skin. She looked healthy. Very toned. HER WEIGHT?!? Please, I will never talk about it again! She is tiny. I mean tiny. Not like you think. It's creepy almost. Everyone tells my daughter how short she is (5'1" and 115 pounds) and she looked smalled than her. You don't know how those legs can do any thing!hehe I will ask my sister-in-law to take a picture of our picture of her and the kids to post. Unless, anyone knows of a place where we can go and scan the picture. I had it blown up. It's my pride and joy. She is so tiny. You get a feeling you could squeeze her. My daughter felt like she could even pick her up! She felt timid and vulnerable and extra happy that the flowers were for her. She had a pretty big sized plastic cup filled to the brim with wine. I think she ate pasta salad at the banquet. She signed their program for them (it wasn't the best program, just a crummy little $3.00 one with a darking picture of her in her fragile dress!) My daughter had to put her hand underneath the program and balance it while she signed it. She even said "sorry" because it was sloppy.hehe (Like I care!) She said her hand was soft (probably from wearing gloves alot) and when they had the picture taken, she felt the back of her ponytail and it was real soft hair. (i'm so jealous)
On a different note, she smiled and everything, but I sensed that she was lonely. And, at one point during the performances, Anton comes up to her and gives her a rose and it was uncanny, like a ghost, it looked so much like Sergei. I know she misses Sergei no matter what anyone says. And who could blame her. It felt wrong to have her there without someone. So, for us romantics, that miss that G&G thing, I thing she does too. She definately looks like someone that has gone through something tragic. You can feel it.
I vaguely remember SOI coming to Tucson when Sergei was alive. (I think).
You know what else was wierd? I showed the picture of Katia standing next to the girls and it's so odd, she fits right in. He kept looking at the pic to see who stood out and nobody did.
She feels like the type you could take to the mall with you. She's real quiet and shy. My sister, who's pretty quiet herself, said she felt "in-charge" of her. Like it was no big deal.
Also, when she came onto the ice, it looked like a living doll. She is very dainty. Just a doll. Her skating is the best. They couldn't hear her skate hardly at all. It was real quiet. They said Jeni Meno was real loud with her skates and the ice dancers too. Jeni and Todd were in their own world, very good. Jeni felt a little like Katia. Jamie and David were real charismatic crown pleasers. At one point, Jamie pointed to my sister and then put her hands together to get her to clap! Maybe youll see it on tv. They thought Gorsha and Rene were soooo good. Ballet on ice. VEry artistic. Gorsha was the handsomest believe it or not. Anton didn't seem as nice off ice. He did seem cute with Elena dancing in the beginning on the ice. They weren't crazy about Elena. At one point they called Anton (they were only 10 or 15 feet away) and he didn't turn around but she did and gave them a cold look. Didn't seem like a good "hey fans" look.hehe Maybe she is dating these days.
Katia had to redo her jump on both of her performances. It took her a couple of tries. She practiced first, and the announcer said "ok Katia, about 20 seconds in, we'll start the music and you can pick up where you left off". She did it fine. Then they said she needed to do a quick costume change and when she came out again she was skating and lacing her skates on the ice at the same time! They said something to her and she stuck her arm in the air to gesture she was going to practice first. She felt extremely professional. She made that one and it looked beautiful. And on the 2nd one it was 2 jumps and she fell on that one. So they redid that one. Everyone was saying, "you can do it Katia". She looked a little embarrassed. If you watch it on tv you may hear the girls screaming every time she went by the "K" in hallmark.hehehe!
I think I've covered everything and she won't have to post again. I hope you can see the picture soon. It's real cozy to look at her!
She looks like one of the girls. I'll give you their measurements to compare with Katia!hehehe
Hope this wasn't a waste of space Su-jan! I know we are terrible on describing anything technical, but we were able to offer girls stuff! You can email us if you have any question, jog our memories!
Take care all!
the G&G corner - Copyright © Su-jan Yip, September 1996 - 2007