figure-skating

When I am asked who my favorite historical figure is, I cannot help but say Prince Klemens von Metternich. Throughout my life, the majority of the responses I’ve gotten to this have been incredulous. Most people have no reason to know who Metternich is, and the majority of those who do scoff at the idea that an 18th-century Austrian aristocrat who is most often remembered for his repressive conservatism is a fitting exemplar, let alone one relevant in the 21st century. Well, I beg to differ.

This past summer, I attempted to learn how to skate and immerse myself in the surprisingly exclusive New York City skating community. Since Alexis Sablone, a 2008 Barnard graduate and one of the best professional female skateboarders in the United States, developed her professional-level skating while at Columbia, I assumed that I could at least learn some basic skating skills and perhaps find a skate community to be a part of on campus.

Over the past week or so, with a stomach full of warm dread and a numb mind, I’ve looked several times at a photo on my phone from the night of November 8, 2016: Three friends and I pose, smiling (it was early in the night) somewhere in the middle of a Westin in downtown Denver, the site of several Democratic watch parties.

When the music stops, they’re leaning backwards close to the ground, holding a final pose just above the ice and smiling. After a beat, the applause begins—there is an uproar from the crowd. The two dancers stand still—looking at one another for a few moments, shocked and ecstatic. It is 2010, and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir have just secured gold at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

I didn’t even know they were coming. Like the one freak sunny day in February, I stumbled into them by accident, completely unaware that other people had been anticipating them for weeks. I was sprawled in an armchair on the fifth floor of Wallach on a chilly Friday night, taking a study break with some friends, and turned my head fractionally to glimpse whatever everyone was cooing over on the cracked lounge TV. The sight of the eight-pack abdominal muscles of Pita Taufatofua hit me like a brick wall. They rippled and glistened in the subzero weather. A chorus of appreciative (and objectifying) murmurs went up from the people around me as the Tongan athlete swooped the opening ceremony flag from left to right.

Seven feet tall and cast in bronze, Henry Moore's Reclining Figure will be enviably positioned at the heart, or brains, of campus life at Columbia. The sculpture will stand as a symbol of our school's dedication to the liberal arts, languishing in front of Cicero, Sophocles, and sleep-deprived students, representing all the progress academia has made from the classical period through the 20th century.

Students discuss what it's like to stand naked in front a crowd of artists as life models.

You probably remember Sasha Cohen just as she was then, in Winter 2006, on that icy rink in Torino, Italy: a red dress, a tight bun, and a shiny Olympic Silver Medal in hand. You may not recognize her, however, on a snowy day on Columbia's campus, walking in her jeans and boots to class. Cohen already has an awe-inspiring series of championship titles and medals under her belt, and is now in the process of adding to her résumé a Columbia degree from the School of General Studies. BROOKE ROBBINS sat down with Cohen to discuss the Sochi Winter Olympics and her time at Columbia.

Since we've officially Halloweened, it is perfectly acceptable, officially, to enjoy the holiday spirit! Break out the Christmas music, sugary holiday foods, and procrastinate on your homework so you can start shopping for gifts! Another lovely tradition of the holiday season is ice skating. Luckily for us, some new company is celebrating a product launch and is graciously/self-promotingly taken over the Bryant Park skating rink and is providing free ice skate rentals, hot chocolate, and bag check from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. So go out there and procrastinate on those late midterms!