Skating Fridays

ZOOM with Gracie Gold

Recently, I was given the opportunity to participate in a series of Zoom calls with former National Champion, Gracie Gold. Our figure skating club joined forced with another club to host Gracie for a multi-week webinar series.

Nobody quite knew what to expect for our first session. The facilitator turned it into an open Q&A session and most participants were too scared/excited/shy to ask any questions. I boldly raised my hand and asked a question.

Before I did that, I was asked to introduce myself. I told Gracie that we had met previously in Phoenix and again this past March at Adult Sectionals. She said that she remembered me, so that was very cool.

The question I asked her was about her music selection process. She said that often times she isn’t very good at choosing her music, but she is better about reacting to piece and saying Yes or No. Gracie mentioned that her choreographer, Lori Nichol, has an entire wall full of CDs. Lori will go to the wall, find music, play it, and ask Gracie to say yes or no.

In the case of the Firebird program, Gracie shared that it was a piece of music she had used previously when she was at a lower level. She wanted to resurrect it at the senior level, so that process was easier than picking something from scratch.

I’m excited to continue dialing into these conversations to learn from one of our skating greats! Thank you, Gracie, for sharing your expertise and your time with us!