Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Bryant Park Christmas Tree Lighting and Dr. Porter

Hi, everyone! It's Jenna and Noelle here.

Our strenuous weekend started out in New York City on Thursday for the annual Bryant Park Christmas Tree Lighting. Driving down New York's famous 5th Avenue, the Haydenettes got in the holiday spirit while window shopping from the bus as we rushed through traffic. We opened the Christmas Show skating to "Let it Snow" and "White Christmas." We shivered along the boards in our dazzling new dresses, waiting in anticipation for the band to set up. We then warmed ourselves up with some hot cocoa and tea. We got to chat with Michael Weiss and the Reed siblings, a dance team from Japan, while waiting to perform our short program. Closing the show with our short program, we then helped count down to the lighting of the tree. We got one more enchanting look at the city decked in lights before heading to the bus en route to Boston.

Arriving back in Lexington late Thursday night, we headed to a few skaters' houses for various slumber parties. We were woken up early with a delicious breakfast before heading to the airport. We weren't the only sports team boarding the plane to Detroit. The Harvard men's basketball team just cleared the plane's ceiling (literally) right next to us! After arriving in Detroit, we were able to settle into our rooms, have a quick rest and prepare for our unofficial practice ice. We had a strong practice, but we were all eager to hop in bed!


Saturday morning we woke up to muffins and bagels in the hair and make-up room. We got a chance to eat and get ready for official practice at the Ice Cube. Our official practice was extremely strong. The Haydenettes returned to the hotel feeling confident for the night's performance.

For lunch, we headed to downtown Ann Arbor. This year's team is keen on playing "contact," a guessing game we learned from technical specialist and former Haydenette Caite Renzi. Two of our teammates were able to stump us for a whole 24 hours! On the bus ride back, we practiced our countoff numbers in Finnish, French, Spanish and Japanese.

After arriving back at the hotel, we had a little break before starting our competition preparations. After some Haydenette traditions, we arrived at the rink more than prepared to compete! All in all, our short program was thrilling and exciting for us to compete for the first time. Although we struggled to hear our scores, we saw our parents' excitment and soon realized how well we had done.

Sunday morning came faster than expected, and we were up and at 'em quite early. Long program official practice went well. After some reassuring words from Saga and our teammates, we felt ready to take on our next performance. We quickly packed, got ready and headed back to the rink to compete our long program.

Skating to Cirque du Soleil's "Kooza Dance," a burlesque piece, we took the ice first in the second group. We were pleased with our skate and all that we had accomlished this weekend. Placing second overall gave us confidence for this season. With the feedback from the judges and protocols, we are ready to head back to work!


The Haydenettes had a great weekend in New York City and Ann Arbor. We were excited to see all our competitors, realizing that the competitive season has begun! We wish everyone a happy and safe holiday!

We can't wait to see our East Coast teams next weeked at the Cape Cod Classic.

Love,

Jenna and Noelle

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