#LIKEACHALLENGE 

I've had 8 lessons since the start of the year. It might not seem like much BUT I’m very consistent doing it every fortnight. Let’s not forget how much time I spend in the edit with the history series I’m working on. I go to the ice rink every other Wednesday and do a one to one 30min lesson with my coach. After that I stay on to train on my own. It’s an adult session with not that many people around usually, recommend it if you want to practise without bumping into kids ;-)

I’ve certainly had a lot of fun with my ice skating outfits during the pirouette challenge. There’s been some funky sparkling berets, long taffeta skirts and polka dot dresses. I took a lot of inspiration from old photos: back in the days people used to merrily skate in Royal Ascot hats, fur coats and Oscar gowns. I didn’t quite reach that level, but not far from it. Most of the items come from my local charity shop (God Bless this British institution) and flee markets. Day

Just to be absolutely clear, you can wear whatever you like! But here’s a few practical tips, whether it’s regular practise or a one-off xmas excursion. Depending on if you’re skating indoors or outdoors, I normally put a white vest or T-shirt and some thermals on top, plus a coat if it’s really freezing. Mind you, it can still be fairly cold even at a covered rink. For the bottom bits, leggings work best for me, just like the once you use at the gym. Defo no jeans, unless t

If you’ve read my previous blogpost, I was giving myself another few weeks to complete this challenge. I was stuck at three revolutions and struggled to do more. I just couldn’t quite get the ‘feel’ for the right speed and body position that would allow me to spin for longer. I went for another practice yesterday. It was an ice rink at the Polish National Stadium, normally used for football matches and concerts, but during wintertime it becomes the biggest skating venue in W

The moment of truth. It’s 31st December 2017. A few hours till the New Year. Where am I at with the spin after 4 weeks of training? I’ll be honest, even though I’ve been practising several times a week, I’m still on three revolutions. I did manage four a few times. I’ve even started doing it on one leg if that’s any consolation. Trust me, it’s REALLY HARD to do five turns and I frankly didn’t realise how big of a challenge I’ve set myself here. I’m still learning how to get

Straight to the point... after two weeks I’m still at around two to three revolutions in my two foot spin. A lot of ‘twos’ in that sentence, but these are the current figures. I’ve been practising a lot of other ice-skating moves last week, which will eventually help me improve the spin. I wrote it in the previous post that without solid basics I won’t be able to go much further with my pirouetting. I was obviously hoping (wishful thinking..) that it would all happen a bit q

I just came back from a preview screening of 'I, Tonya', the film about the Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding, who, in 1994, was involved in a plot to harm her biggest rival, Nancy Kerrigan. I was only 10 years old back then but I remember the news headlines very well. I was a massive figure skating fan (I still am, hence the pirouette challenge) and together with my grandma I used to be glued to the telly when the skating was on. Probably like most people, I saw Tonya as

Yesterday was my first day at the ice rink. I'm training at the Alexandra Palace , which is an iconic Grade II listed entertainment venue in North London stemming from the 1870s. It's primarily used as an events space for concerts, exhibitions and sports nowadays, but interestingly (at least for me, a telly director) it was a major production centre for BBC. I think they've still got some studios there to this day. I only managed to sort out my skates at the weekend. I t