Rio Nakata column: next season’s programs, his influences, reflections on the Olympics, and more.
Here are the main points I got from machine translation. Please kindly correct me if any of this is wrong; I tried to compare two different machine translations, but I don’t speak Japanese myself.
- Short program is choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne. The music is similar in vibe to Shoma’s “Great Spirit,” and Rio thinks it will be a signature program for him.
- Rio confirms he will be keeping/reworking his Gladiator free skate. He’s thinking of incorporating a straight-line step sequence as an homage to Yagudin and classic skating.
- Exhibition program will be “Give Me Love,” which Joshua Farris once skated to and Rio has always wanted to skate to.
- Rio names past skaters that have influenced him: Yuzu, Yagudin, Plushenko, and Joshua Farris (!).
- Rio describes being surprised by the men’s event at the Milan Olympics and says maybe there really was a “demon” (魔物) at the Olympics 😭