November 2008

Mid to Late November 2008
Mazurka

When did I last do a mazurka jump? It must have been fifteen years ago or more. I never liked mazurkas. It feels like I am going to get my legs tangled or trip myself. Basically a mazurka is a sideways bunny hop. People who don’t like them do side hops and optimistically call those “mazurkas”. A mazurka leaves the ice like a toe loop. The counterclockwise skater glides backward on the right back outside edge, opens the hips and shoulders to face outside the circle of travel and taps the free toe pick into the ice. The skater vaults from the toe pick, kicks across the left leg with the right, lands forward on the right toe, and exits by pushing forward onto the left foot. Ideally, the legs scissor in the air creating a sideways split position. The mazurka is a great jump for action photography because the skater is clearly airborne in an attractive position but not blurred by rotation. A side-hop consists of the same steps without the scissoring action. The feet merely come together in the air.

I teach my students to perform all half jumps in both directions, though I only require one to pass a test. Now I am teaching Basic 8, the highest United States Figure Skating basic group level. The mazurka is a required element. I needed to get on the ice and polish mine up a little. I walked through it in both directions with a pronounced kick so the students would be able to get the idea. Since I did not feel comfortable doing a solitary mazurka from backward crossovers, I used it in combination with a waltz-toe loop: waltz-toe loop-mazurka. By the time I got to the mazurka, I just jumped and kicked without thinking about how much I used to hate this silly jump. Fine. It made a good demo. I would like to master a really good mazurka with a recognizable split position, but I have not worked on it yet. My first priority was to teach the jump competently without landing on my backside.

To get a split position, I will have to push strongly off the toe pick to get some height. This will require practice, something I have not been doing much of lately. Maybe it will get me motivated.

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