ADAM SIAO HIM FA: “WE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING CONTEMPORARY – SO WE TOOK A LOT OF TIME TO CREATE THE WHOLE IDEA AND THE MOVEMENTS”
At the most recent edition of the World Championships, in Montpellier, this March, Adam Siao Him Fa entered the highly commendable Top 10 – Top 10 skaters in the world. He finished on the 8th place overall – but not just that: he entered, and stayed in the minds of many with his incredible set of programs: SP to music from “Star Wars”, FS to a Daft Punk medley.
And we’re sure you remember those programs – he made them his.
Eying the next years of his career, leading to Milano-Cortina and afterwards, Adam made some changes during the summer – he is now training in Nice, with Cédric Tour and Rodolphe Marechal – but he didn’t change what he felt it was already working well.
So, once again, it was Benoît Richaud who choreographed Adam’s programs – in fact, a story in two-parts: The One who Makes Mistakes and The Redemption (let’s call them like that), and Adam introduced them on his instagram account just a few days before Lombardia Trophy.
“We decided to create a story between the short and the long. Both programs are connected by the musical arrangement, the costumes and the choreography.
It’s a love story – but, above all, it is a story for everyone. The short program tells a memory of the past between a person and the character I embody. I made a mistake and, one evening, in the rain, after an argument, everything ended and I regret that it ended like this…
Then, in the free skating, I go back to the past to have a second chance: I manage to make up for my mistake and I finally get my redemption.
My SP will be on Rain, In Your Black Eyes by Ezio Bosso, and the FP will be on Horizons into Battlegrounds / Minus Sixty One / Run Boy Run by Woodkid”.
In Bergamo, where Adam started the season, we see, we feel just that: his programs are going to be iconic. From the opening pose, the opening seconds already – with the movements shared in both the short program and the free.
An out-of-the-box concept, that Adam talked about at length at the end of his SP in Bergamo.
“We had so many ideas for the music – and we actually chose the concept of the programs after we chose the musics. Benoît thought it could be good if we created a story in between the programs, if we continued the story in the free – where I go back in the past and change my mistakes”.
And so they did – and the array of movements in both programs really catches your attention and runs away with it. It’s almost a brand new Adam on the ice, we’d say – and he admits having taken dance lessons in the summer to familiarize with the moves, the overall concept.
“The process [of making the programs] was really interesting. Working with Benoît, we wanted to do something completely different, and something modern. We wanted to do something contemporary – so we took a lot of time to create the whole idea and all the movements. It took some time for me to learn this, to adjust to it – but now I feel quite comfortable with it. Of course, I know I can do better, but I feel I’m on the right track”.
As for changing his coaching team, he felt he needed it. “Heading to the next Olympics, I took a lot of time to think about what I needed, what I can work on – and I knew that I needed something new, and that’s why I made the change”.
Going to his new training place in Nice, he discovered along the way that he had a fantastic partner to share the journey with: the American Bradie Tennell. “We train together, yes – and that’s really good. She’s a hard worker, and it’s so good to have someone else who skates at a high level and who pushes herself to her limits. It’s not a competition, of course [smiling], but it’s motivating”.
As for his other aces up his sleeves, “I’ve been working on the quad Flip, and it’s working well, actually. It’s just that, with Lombardia Trophy coming, we focused completely on showing the new programs. But we know that, when we go back to France, I’m going to work on it again. For Masters, I don’t know [if I’ll put the quad Flip in the program], but for Nice [Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur, Oct. 18-23], probably. It will be a good competition to practice at home”.
For this season, “I already had Lombardia, I have two Grand Prix [GP France and NHK Trophy], then Nice, Masters, French Nationals… But there are less competitions than last season, true”, Adam finishes with a smile.
We need to come back to the concept of the programs: the first couple of seconds in Adam’s short and free (identical) are hypnotic: the moves, the air, the atmosphere they create. You see, you feel: there’s a journey in time. When one goes back (in the free) to relive and repair what had been done wrong (in the short). To put it shortly: a love story in which one has the chance to fix it all. And the colours in Adam’s costumes are definitely not by chance – red for his SP and dark green for his FS.
Just like last season, Adam started his season at Lombardia Trophy. But, this time, he heads back to France with a gold medal in his luggage. He did it – broke the chain of silver(s) he used to carry: silver at 2021 Nebelhorn Trophy, silver at 2021 Lombardia Trophy, four-time French national silver medalist.
True, it was not the perfect outing that he wanted from himself, and from the programs as a whole in Bergamo, but Adam Sia Him Fa doesn’t need to be disappointed. As it happens often in life, perfection is not easy to reach from the first try. It is, in a way, the very story of his programs: to reach the good part, you need to go through an initiatory journey. And this journey that Adam embarked upon this season will become something special by the time of Europeans and Worlds. That we are sure of.
KOSHIRO SHIMADA: FEET SINGING, FEET DANCING
The competitive nerves also got to Japan’s Koshiro Shimada, who had a very good chance to win Lombardia Trophy after that beauty of a short program, to “Sing, Sing, Sing”, feet singing, feet dancing. But it was the start of the season for him too, and the most important thing might just be to start from somewhere, try on the programs, have a feedback on it.
Koshiro finished Lombardia Trophy on the second place, knowing for sure he can do more once his mind becomes an ally.
In the mixed zone after the event, after the medals’ ceremony, there’s this bittersweet moment in between Koshiro and coach Stéphane Lambiel, in between them and the few journalists in the room. “How I wish we could celebrate a different medal now…”, Stéphane says, while Koshiro recognizes his frustration. “If only he did a triple Toe instead of a double…”, Stéphane says.
A sip of water, coach telling him to calm down, and Koshiro Shimada is getting ready to open the men’s short program at Lombardia Trophy. And he has the performance of the day, and he leads after SP. Such lightness in his skating, and it’s a joy to see Koshiro like that; and it’s also a joy to see student and coach happy with the performance and the work they put together.
In his long program, Koshiro Shimada offers a lyrical version of Chaplin’s story that fits him beautifully: watching him on the ice, you almost feel he’s floating, flying. Too bad for the mistakes though – he will finish the men’s event second overall, behind Adam Siao Him Fa.
NIKOLAJ MEMOLA: FINISHING 2022 LOMBARDIA TROPHY WITH A SMILE
If it was one skater among the medalists of the men’s event finishing the free skate in Bergamo with a smile – that skater was Italy’s Nikolaj Memola, 18 years of age, who came to this event to test the waters, felt he had nothing to lose, and left with a bronze medal.
And he actually didn’t leave anywhere – IceLab is Nikolaj’s training place. You could see him at IceLab almost every day, watching, cheering, chatting, sometimes holding his cute little dog in his arms.
Yes, Nikolaj was a happy man in Bergamo. And a tall skater too – a slender silhouette, Italy on the back of his sweatshirt, curly hair and graceful, relaxed moves, as if he was inside his dining room at home, surrounded by family members.
Don’t be fooled: this is not the start of the season for Nikolaj Memola, he has already done so much until now. With silver and gold on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, he qualified for the Final in Turin, in December. But until then, there’s this: his blue short program to Prelude No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov in Bergamo. The lines, the elegance, the commitment, the sound of his skates and the piano? All highlights – and a beautiful skate overall.
Now that was glorious free skate from Nikolaj Memola in Lombardia Trophy – to music by Muse and Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah – to the great enthusiasm of the audience. Beautiful, soft arms in the air, attention to details – a great season for him so far. Nikolaj finished 2022 Lombardia Trophy on the 3rd place.
MATTEO RIZZO: “IT’S A LONG PROCESS FOR ME THIS SEASON”
Matteo Rizzo was second on the free skate day in Bergamo, but finished just outside the podium this edition of Lombardia Trophy. His competition at home, we could call it – since Matteo trains in IceLab with Franca Bianconi, his father Valter Rizzo and former competitive pair skater Ondrej Hotarek.
True, this 4th place might not have been the ideal start of the season for Matteo – but he says it loud and clear: this season is not about points and placements, this season is about embracing new challenges, trying new layouts, new music. Finding out what works best for him – during the first season of an Olympic cycle that finishes on home-ground, in Milano-Cortina.
So hear him out.
“This season is not about points. It just matters to me to get used to doing two quads in the short, which I had never done before. And… it’s a long process for me this season, I’m going to have a lot of competitions in the first half, and this is just the beginning. So I really don’t care about the scores, the results – what I want is to get used to this new set-up”.
As for the long program, “Right now, I’m just planning two quads – but two different quads, not like last year, two Toeloops. You could see, I was trying to do the Loop again, which I didn’t do for a while because I had problems with my knees. Now the problems are solved, so the Loop is coming back. But this is just the first step and, after months of non-competition, I was a little bit nervous”.
Deep edges, and a lot of excitement in Matteo Rizzo’s short program, that he chose to keep from last season, to music by iconic group Maneskin. And he’s not focusing on points this season – he’s focusing on challenges, because this is the start of a new Olympic cycle.
Matteo: “Short program is now getting into my legs again. I like this part of the program [the lively second part of his Maneskin SP], because I really… It doesn’t matter what I do in the program, if I do all single jumps or all quad jumps, I know that people would follow me till the end – but I need to bring them with me, I need to put the power in”.
Matteo Rizzo skating to music by Bruno Mars in his long program, experimenting with the layout, trying new things at the beginning of the Olympic cycle. And, just before that, warming-up with a couple of triple Axel (s).
Matteo: “We decided not to change the short program this season – instead we changed the free, because we wanted something new. Even if I really loved the last free program, I had to change it, I cannot keep the same two programs for two seasons.
I built the free program with Massimo Scali, as always – and we chose to do a couple of music by Bruno Mars, which is a very interesting music for me. It’s not really my style, but it’s always a challenge – and the most important part would be after the free skate of Sunday, because I want to have feedback from all of you on the program.
I know what I feel about the program, but the best part from figure skating is always people watching, so I always think if people don’t really like what you do, it’s better to change.
How can I put this: people don’t just want to hear a very famous song – they want to be with you on the ice, and feel everything you do. So that’s the most interesting thing I am trying to do this season – and, also, I am trying to put quads in the programs [smiling]. I am not a jumper, but everyone is doing quads, so I’m trying to keep up”.
And in order to have him try all that, in the most serious and organized way, Matteo’s team has put together quite a schedule. And the 24-year-old is ready for it: “During a regular season I do 6, maybe 7 competitions. This time, I will do 6 competitions before Nationals. I have this one, I will have a national competition in two weeks, I will do the Challenger in Budapest and the two Grand Prix, and then I will choose another one just before the Nationals”.
Let’s wish him good luck, shall we?
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