L’Apprenti Sorcier in Champéry. Key word: magic. Key word: light

Did this really happen? L’Apprenti Sorcier in Champéry, Switzerland – this thing of magic, at the beginning of August, did it really happen?

I have a brochure with the schedule and a badge that says it did, it happened.

But why does it feel like a dream though?

…well, because it was indeed a dream. A source of joy, excitement and glorious emotions. The work of a sorcerer, no doubt.

And they were two – two sorcerers from Valais canton in Switzerland, even sharing the same high school (Harry Potter vibe, anyone?)

The skater, coach and choreographer, and Valais’ darling, Stéphane Lambiel.
The pianist and the composer Beatrice Berrut.

Artists par excellence, joining hands, ideas – and putting together a show about magic, through magic, in Champéry, this August.

“We’ve been working at it for a year, and we’ve been dreaming about it for seven”, Beatrice Berrut said during the first night of L’Apprenti Sorcier, on August 8th. And a visibly emotional Stéphane Lambiel will share little stories about the show, its magic threads, throughout the night, deciding: “In my 32 years in Valais, there was never a show like that”.

What was L’Apprenti Sorcier, you ask?

The classic music lovers will say without a doubt: a piano recital, first and foremost, with Beatrice Berrut’s repertoire la pièce de resistence. A precious part of Rencontres Musicales de Champéry, reaching its 25th edition this summer.

The figure skating lovers, on the other hand, will say: a skating show – and what a show! Also: a celebration of Skating School of Switzerland, established in Champéry 10 years ago.

To us, it was both – and even more.
Half skating show, half piano recital, half magic, half an adventurous journey through emotions.

[Yes, we are very much aware about the exceeding number of halves…]

Stéphane said it simply at the end: “I felt like Nijinski while preparing a show”, a Ballets Russes hint he keeps on giving ever since his project of heart, Ice Legends.

But L’Apprenti Sorcier felt different than Ice Legends, and it was. It “borrowed” the skating stars and the live music, but put them on a pedestal. Quite literally.

All skating was performed to the piano music played by Beatrice Berrut for the entire 1 hour and 15 minutes of the show, and all programs followed a thread, a story, an adventure: the apprenticeship of a future sorcerer.

The apprentice? Yakov Poltorak, one of the promising young skaters training in Champéry.
The sorcerer sharing his wisdom? Coach Angelo Dolfini, in a role that suited him so well.

But the thing is, all skaters taking the ice of Palladium de Champéry this August were skating sorcerers in their own ways, trying to teach little Yakov precious lessons of life and love.

Care to come back, care to relive the magic?

There you go.

***

by Florentina Tone
with photos by Alberto Ponti, Champéry

***

We first see the rink, inside the sports center Palladium de Champéry, when it is early still: on the 8th of August in the afternoon, when the operations room is full of monitors and people in black shirts fine tuning everything.

When a man sitting on a stool close to the rink carefully tunes the Bösendorfer grand piano, to keep it in good shape in such a freezing atmosphere.

When the stands are completely empty and the rink has a particular echo that makes your heart tremble with anticipation.

And just how lucky we are to have this teaser of a view, this dive into the forthcoming, much-expected magic, while searching for the photographers’ places near the ice.

Minutes after, when we find our way back to the light and the special place that Champéry is, surrounded by the mountains and the white, fluffy clouds, there comes the first surprise: our (collective) heart had spontaneously decided to stay inside.

No worries, we’ll be reunited just two hours later, when all the lucky owners of tickets to L’Apprenti Sorcier head to the rink.

At 18:30, a diffuse red light embraces us all, making us feel like the happy recipients of an early Christmas presents. [But where is Santa? Where are his reindeers?]

And how come this (usually) small rink, stands on one side, gets to receive so many people? How come it looks so big, so welcoming?

Well, it now has three additional row of chairs on the ice, for this show only: the seats of the VIP-ticket holders, the hardcore fans, with blankets and all, bouquets and all, here for the skaters and their one-of-a-kind performances, as carefully envisioned by Stéphane Lambiel and Salomé Brunner, to the selected repertoire of Beatrice Berrut.

In the stands, on the other hand, you feel there are predominantly locals: couples, families with children, groups of friends. They may be classic music lovers, they may be longtime skating fans and Stéphane’s fans, tourists staying in Champéry for a couple of days or coming for the music festival itself.

What do they have in common? They feel at home, they talk as if they were at home.

There you have the two ladies looking at you and saying words in French that you don’t understand, and you smile back, the world’s most common language, people coming to the ice rink mistakenly wearing their summer clothes, shirts and skirts (soon to find out they also needed jackets for this show), the man stopping mid-row, in search for his place and for his wife, blocking others’ access (hence the looks, the hasty voices trying to make way) – and even the senior couple standing beside me and looking at the clock with obvious impatience: “Dix minutes de retard…”, it’s time to start already, while I remember this harmless joke from a Swiss friend: “In Switzerland, people eat dinner at 6 pm and put their kids to bed at 7”…

“AUTOUR DE LA MAGIE”, STÉPHANE SAYS

But then it starts, it starts – Santa Stéphane and the incredible cast of L’Apprenti Sorcier are on the ice, and no better piece to begin with than the one giving the title and the whole concept of the show: L’Apprenti Sorcier, the symphonic poem composed by the French Paul Dukas in 1897, transcribed and played at the piano in Champéry by Beatrice Berrut.

The rhythm of the piece sets up the atmosphere already: the skaters resemble the small figurines in a carousel, dancing a dance that almost feels chaotic, waving their magic wands, casting spells, throwing spells, flying, falling.

A playful dance – or is it even menacing at parts?

We just don’t know, but we are eager to find out.

And we don’t know (yet) who the wizard is, sitting in the middle, at a table, writing, hat and all…

You know by now: it’s going to be a journey, and Stéphane Lambiel takes the ice, the microphone, to guide us in.

This show?

A celebration of 10 years of Skating School of Switzerland, of 25 years of Rencontres Musicales de Champéry.

The way it was imagined?

Autour de la magie / with magic as the key word.

Featuring les plus beau patineurs du moment, some of the most beautiful skaters of the present times – Stéphane’s words and we agree –, with a wonderful purpose at hand: Devenir un grand sorcier, becoming a great sorcerer.

And this might even be a metaphor for the whole process of training to become a well-rounded skater, the whole process of guiding a young athlete to become a master of his craft. And the very essence of Skating School of Switzerland, if you allow this train of thoughts.

Somehow, we’re reminded of Stéphane’s words at the end of an interview for Inside Skating a couple of years ago:

“The skaters should own the process. We are there as coaches, we are there to guide them, to educate them, to give them as much vocabulary as possible, so once they are out there, they’re free. Free to express themselves. So do it. Do it. Show us your colours”.

Do it, learn to become a sorcerer.

And, for the next hour or so, this show teaches little Yakov how it’s done.

…WITH THE PIANO AS A FAITHFUL COMPANION

In the half-shadow of the rink, Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis, together with Beatrice Berrut, offer their version of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2.

And that’s a wonderful choice for the Finnish ice dancers who thrive on classical music pieces, piano in particular: Juulia and Matthias found good homes for their skating in Schubert, Mozart, Ezio Bosso throughout the years, the seasons.

With the next piece – Beatrice Berrut’s own composition: What the Forest Whispers – we feel as if we’re travelling into a forest filled with fireflies, Marin Honda the shiniest of all.

And she’s indeed a firefly on skates Marin – Lucciola!, someone whispers in Italian, and, there, we found the perfect word to describe the beautiful artist that Marin is, and the effect her skating has on us.

And then Yakov, the apprentice, meets a femme fatale, embodied by the Swiss skater Giulia Isceri, also a coach in Champéry, at Skating School of Switzerland, and we’re all travelling with them on the waves, the turbulence of the Bipolar Mermaid, another piece by Beatrice Berrut.

Une œuvre aquatique, Beatrice describes it, and we’re thinking about the goddess Circe luring Ulysses with her songs – this version involves skating, and it’s equally powerful.

With the next piece, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, we’re reminded just how much we miss Satoko Miyahara on the world stage. But also just how lucky we are to still have her perform in shows, indulge with the incredible atmosphere she creates while skating.

The way we see it, for years and years, skating seems to have found in Satoko Miyahara one of the most brilliant messengers of all.

And when Satoko’s prince and companion is Stéphane Lambiel himself, well, there you have it, one of the highlights of the entire show.

And Stéphane-the narrator gives us the key: that’s when the young apprentice meets, finds, understands love, the kind of love that we’re all dreaming of. L’amour ideal.

And there are roses, and sweet, soothing gestures – and their whole performance feels like an embrace.

What’s next, you ask?

“The double World champion and three-time Olympic medalist Shoma Uno, training in Champéry for the past five years…” (Stéphane’s words), is on the ice, ready to bid farewell to this magical place that has been his home for the last and most successful part of his prodigious career.

And he’s not skating to just any piece, but one that surrounds him like a wizard’s mantle: Shoma turns into Harry Potter, on the famous music composed by John Williams, arranged for the piano solo by Jarrod Radnich and masterfully played in Champéry by Beatrice Berrut.

And this particular encounter – the skater, the music, the place – has something magical about it, because, guess what?, we’ve always thought of Shoma Uno as a skating sorcerer.

Ever since his first performances on the international stage (remember his “Blessed Spirits” short program at Junior Worlds in Sofia, in 2014?) and then again and again during his senior years, Shoma Uno seemed to have discovered this genie in a bottle side of him, that kept us glued, that kept on giving.

And to have that side of him fully recognized in a program, with the Japanese literally embodying a magical character, well that speaks mountains of just how much Stéphane knows his student.

And even more: with all its nuances and layers, all the piano highs becoming skating highs, this would have made an incredible short program had Shoma decided to continue his competitive journey.

But more than the short program that didn’t happen and the bittersweetness of it all, this Harry Potter impersonation was truly a stand-out moment of the entire evening in Champéry, one to come back to, one to feel grateful for.

And we also feel grateful, as Stéphane-our host points out, for the “beautiful comradery between Shoma and Koshiro”, while Koshiro Shimada is the next to take the ice, performing his already trademark Danse Macabre.

Koshiro has been in Champéry for 7 years already, and his work with Stéphane Lambiel and the entire Skating School of Switzerland transpires in every move, every performance. He has truly become an artist here, found the best version of himself in this tiny village nestled in the Alps.

A SHARED MOMENT OF PASSION AND JOY

And there you have le sorcier par excellence: the host, the narrator, the very heart of Skating School of Switzerland.

Stéphane avec sa sensibilité, says Beatrice Berrut, introducing this particular slice of magic, accompanied by the wonderful Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.

You see Stéphane skating to Mahler and you feel as if a feather were caressing your skin.

Soft. Smooth. Beautiful.

A journey of the heart, for the heart, when time stands still and we’re all floating in the air like magic particles.

At the end of it all, emotional voice, Stéphane tells us what this was, what this is: a shared moment of passion and joy.

And then, as Yakov the apprentice travels through life experiences, he reaches this northern place where the Firebird lives.

A burning red magical creature, fully and thoroughly embodied by Deniss Vasiljevs, the Latvian skater whose career overlaps with the most part of those 10 years in Skating School of Switzerland’s existence – Deniss came to Champéry in 2016, only two years after the school was born.

But, wait, that’s not Deniss anymore – he has become the bird, Stravinsky’s Firebird: you see the wings, the feathers, you feel the soft breeze coming to you while he flies, and then the flames, the power, the intensity.

[And this too would make for an incredible short program for Deniss, should he and the team decide to bring it on the competitive stage at a certain point.]

And then they’re all birds, golden birds: the entire cast of L’Apprenti Sorcier is on the ice, while Yakov’s apprenticeship has concluded.

It’s now the time of joy, collective celebration, and Higitus Figitus – one of the songs the Sherman Brothers wrote for the Disney film The Sword in the Stone, transcribed for the piano by Beatrice Berrut – really feels like the most appropriate ending to a show that left us all enchanted.

Some words to live by coming from Stéphane: what a privilege skating to live music is. There’s really nothing like it, and you leave the arena feeling elated.

Just like that little girl carried on the shoulders by her father – the corridor is full of people, but she’s out there, in the air, like a bubble of magic floating above our heads.

We’re all that little girl at the end of L’Apprenti Sorcier.

❤

…while outside, the most beautiful sunset awaits for us all.

You know what?

The magic is real.

AND THAT’S NOT HOW IT ALL ENDED…

Another treat comes when we least expect it: a day after, on August 9th, we attend a practice that wasn’t supposed to happen – but it does, it does!

And what a joy this is: we’re in the factory of diamonds during the making-of, a favorite place and time to be, when Stéphane Lambiel and Salomé Brunner, the creative minds of L’Apprenti Sorcier, polish and refine, exactly like you do with diamonds.

And there’s a diamond on the ice just when we enter: an unmistakable silhouette wearing all black – it’s Satoko Miyahara practicing her part in the show, the Sleeping Beauty, and every tiny detail of her presence is worked, and worked, and reworked, to match the layers of Tchaikovsky’s music, its almost palpable intensity.

And then you know: Satoko Miyahara is as hardworking as she is gifted for the sport.

She won’t let anything adrift, she’ll polish her performances until there’s nothing else to polish.

Watching her create the layers of her magic, you are stunned: she flies on the ice with so much ease, and beauty, grace – and you can almost see a royal mantle on her fragile shoulders.

She is the #tinyQueen, remember?

In the meantime, you might notice you are completely frozen: the first row of chairs, for the VIP-ticket holders, now for the lucky attendants of the practice session, are literally on the ice, covered with just a fine red carpet.

Those seats offer a wonderful proximity to the skaters, the show as a whole, but this comes with a significant layer of Alpine frost.

No worries, the organizers have thought this through: on each and every chair there is this soft, comfy blanket for you to cover with – and, witnessing the practice, you might feel the urgent need to fold that blanket around your neck, just like a collar.

And you might do just that, in spite of the telling eyes of the ladies nearby: “We’ve been folding those for two hours now…”, a needed preparation for the second night. [I’ll publicly admit: I have used the blanket as a collar. And, yes, I folded it back perfectly at the end.]

And when Stéphane takes center ice, after he had meticulously tied his skates and put his guards down, all of a sudden it’s all quiet in the rink: the master of ceremony has arrived and he asks nothing but perfection from his students and invited skaters.

One particular arm movement, from the final number of the show – when all skaters become golden birds, to Stravinsky’s iconic piece – is practiced until there’s nothing left to practice.

It has to be a certain way, to follow a certain inner rhythm, as Stéphane imagined it.

You hear him say, arms carefully descending: “Slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly… Perfect! The reference will be my movement, every person needs to be very aware when I bring my arms down, so we go all together – exactly!”

And when everything seems to finally be in tune, all cast of L’Apprenti Sorcier becomes this flock of birds, perfectly synchronized, in what is meant to be the final reverence to the audience.

As for the Firebird itself, Deniss Vasiljevs run-throughs his program almost on silent mode, with carefully controlled moves, more like a recap in his mind, his body taking the shape of an embrace during the spins.

During this slow-mode practice, Deniss’ blades are barely touching the ice – is it as he were floating, as if the bird inside had found the way to rise above the rink and use its wings.

And much to our joy, Deniss Vasiljevs gets to spend his birthday on the ice, surrounded by love, by warmth and admiration.

When the official practice is over, all skaters are free to enjoy themselves, try something new, challenge themselves with things they never did. Shoma and Marin emulate a pair team, with Shoma’s almost being thrown in the air, to everyone’s laughter, especially Koshiro’s. Stéphane said it well during the show: there’s such a beautiful comradery between them, and that will surely continue even if Shoma Uno’s training days in Champéry are now over.

SWEET FAREWELL

And then there’s that: testament to his attachment to the place, the rink, the show, coach Stéphane himself, Shoma Uno remained in Champéry, practicing for L’Apprenti Sorcier, when all his teammates from the Japanese Olympic team in Beijing went to Paris, on August 7th, to be awarded their long waited Olympic medals.

They had Shoma’s name on their fingertips during the ceremony near Tour Eiffel, while Shoma stayed true to the place and the people that kept his passion for skating alive.

Because that’s the thing with the Skating School of Switzerland in Champéry: it’s such a good home to skaters, to dreams, to excellence, to staying true to one’s self.

A good home to what figure skating should be, should look like, should always come back to: its essence.

Happy 10-year anniversary, Skating School of Switzerland – from all of us at Inside Skating.

❤

[Story by Florentina Tone
Photos by Alberto Ponti and Florentina Tone,
Champéry]

MORE TO READ: When Shoma Uno came to Champéry

Stéphane Lambiel: “Do it. Show us your colours!”