Bradie Tennell: A magical statue in a garden, as the seasons go by. And not just any statue: Le Penseur/The Thinker by Auguste Rodin
To tell you the truth, we’ve become very attached to this particular way of showing you photos from the Grand Prix circuit – those photos that speak to us, and hopefully speak to you as well.
…and if statues could speak, if they could come to life and start wandering through their gardens, their parks, their alleys in the museums, they would maybe resemble Bradie Tennell in her free skate this season.
Bradie is Auguste Rodin’s Le Penseur – she was created as “the last defense against the climate crisis”, waking up “after being asleep since the beginnings of time”, as the skater herself pointed out in a recent interview for Skate Info Glace.
With a concept imagined by Benoît Richaud, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons arranged by Cédric Tour, Bradie enters a journey of contrasting emotions and, at the end of it, when the crisis has been solved, and the world’s equilibrium has been restored, she comes back to her usual self, the sleeping statue of Rodin, until the end of time.
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With stops in Norwood (USA), Mississauga (Canada) and Angers (France), we’ve now reached Sheffield, for the newly inaugurated 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy.
And we’re asking you to join us in being in awe with the performing qualities of the skaters taking part in the fourth Grand Prix event of the season.
Are you ready to #feel?
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Irma Caldara and Riccardo Maglio: Eyes like Iron. Woodkid’s Iron.
Oona Brown and Gage Brown: Engaging dance, literally, to Cha-Cha rhythms
Mai Mihara: A snowflake flying in the air and then landing on your forehead. Can you feel it?
Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha: Abandoning themselves to The White Crow’s story
Young You: A winter fairy
Roman Sadovsky: Opening new paths / Angel flying
Alexia Paganini: She’ll tell you a story, and then another story, and then another story – because she is Scheherazade
Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer: Remembering someone they loved
Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii: Tenderness / Una sombra más
Daniel Grassl: Struggling Brain, his opening music says, and he embodies it to the fullest
Gabrielle Daleman: Contagious charm while skating to “Dark Eyes”
Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri: Creating intriguing, almost gothic shapes in the air
Gabriella Izzo: As is she were a petal flying in a storm of petals
Koshiro Shimada: The beauty and the quietness, the soft arms in the air – as if he were a feather
Koshiro Shimada and coach Stéphane Lambiel: Grateful for the beauty of the moment
Letizia Roscher and Luis Schuster: Boldness, openness – and a very successful debut on the Grand Prix circuit
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson: How is that even possible? So effortless it feels – and, yet, so difficult to do
Young You: The exquisite lines of a tango danced in Buenos Aires
Shun Sato: Those fingers moving in the air, creating a moment by themselves
Natálie Taschlerová and Filip Taschler: Emphatic skating, contagious skating
Nicole Schott: Red-and-black layback spin, as if Nicole were an eye-catching spinning top
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier: On the wings of time
Edward Appleby: Ready to leave those scars behind and head for the sky
Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya: Hello, she said
Deniss Vasiljevs: A sign from The New World / Who else to skate to Symphony No. 9?
Ekaterina Kurakova: I’m a balloon, a dream and a surprise / Catch me if you can, and I will bring you joy
Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer: Represent, represent Cuba!
Irma Caldara and Riccardo Maglio: Don’t Be So Serious / All in for this gorgeous pose
Isabeau Levito: Can you feel the gratitude? We can – we surely can
Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker: Look at me there / Look at my swagger
Julia Sauter: Flying with the wind
Irma Caldara and Riccardo Maglio: The trust, the confidence, the beauty of this lift
Gabrielle Daleman: Diamonds’ Delicacy
Deniss Vasiljevs: Allowing a part of his soul to travel with the free skate
Natálie Taschlerová and Filip Taschler: Commitment to big causes
Shun Sato: The Red Violin
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko: Eyes on her, eyes on them
Isabeau Levito: Red flying petals on her back / Una noche más
Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya: Can’t escape those eyes
Jimmy Ma: As if he were, indeed, a volcano erupting
Young You: Breathing power
Letizia Roscher and Luis Schuster: Explosive debut / This has been a terrific season for these two
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson: Stamina and strength to keep up with the boldness of their skating
Tomoki Hiwatashi: Lines in the air
Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri: Pantera en Libertad
Mai Mihara: Casting a spell on us while skating to El amor brujo by Manuel de Falla
Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha: Don’t you dare look away / We don’t, we won’t
Alexia Paganini: The way she makes us feel
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko: Follow me, she said
Irma Caldara and Riccardo Maglio: Eyes are pleased with this soft palette of colours in their costumes
Julia Sauter: Passionate green bird wandering in the forest
Mariia Holubtsova and Kyryl Bielobrov: Leaning on each other
Young You: Grace and gaze, and flowing red layers
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier: You feel they’re putting everything into their skate
Daniel Grassl: A Silhouette in blue
Anastasiia Metelkina and Daniil Parkman: Eyes – hers, his – are telling a story
Isabeau Levito: Pursuit of Happiness
Jimmy Ma: Trusting those edges, making them work
Charlène Guignard and Marco Fabbri: Drama, their arms say
Tatsuya Tsuboi: Finding the way
Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker: Jumping into the story, the Phantom of the Opera’s story
Koshiro Shimada: Pure excitement
Natasha McKay: Gifting us with her skating
Oona Brown and Gage Brown: Arms heading for the (Big) Sky
Roman Sadovsky: The ice might be Cold, but his skating isn’t
Anastasiia Metelkina and Daniil Parkman: Aspirations
Gabriella Izzo: You can’t stop her
Corey Circelli: Pulling an imaginary curtain and entering the big stage
Isabeau Levito: Almost a straight line-spiral – and so comfortable presenting it
Natálie Taschlerová and Filip Taschler: For the Planet
Tatsuya Tsuboi: High-strung, the music says, his posture says
Isabeau Levito: A flower-pirouette
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier: I’ve got this, we’ve got this
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson: Born This Way
Young You: Stop from whatever you are doing – and look at me
Sara Conti and Niccolò Macii: Enchantment
Anastasiia Gubanova: Slumdog Millionaire
Ekaterina Kurakova and Lorenzo Magri: Arms full of toys / Signs of love and appreciation
Nicole Schott: Arms, feathers, wings
Tomoki Hiwatashi: That split though!
Mai Mihara: Embodiment of gratitude this season
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier: Victorious
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson: As if they were Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony
Natasha McKay: Eyes, power, focus
Young You: Letting it go, abandoning herself to this gorgeous Ina Bauer (which is almost a Korean trademark by now)
Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya: The world may be mad – but we are trying our best to live it
Mai Mihara’s arms to the sky, now that’s an image of hope
[Photos by Alberto Ponti at 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield
Selection by Inside Skating]
SEE MORE:
Photos that you feel: 2022 Skate America