Magazine
Live performance on roller skates: "This was a bit of a challenge!"
Magazine
Live performance on roller skates: "This was a bit of a challenge!"
Kája Procházková skating in the live charity cultural event. (Credits: Kája Procházková - 2020)
A synchro skater from the Czech team Olympia, Kája Procházková, took part in a live charity cultural event organised by the Police Symphony Orchestra [Police is a town in north-eastern Bohemia, ed.]. As a part of the event, she skated a solo performance on roller skates accompanied by the orchestra.
When the Police Symphonic Orchestra decided to put on a charity concert to supports arts in their region, one of the organisers contacted the Olympia coach, Katerina Urbanová, looking for someone to perform on roller skates. She asked Kája to be that performer. “I didn’t even think about it much before accepting,” she says. “I like trying new things and this was a bit of a challenge.”
The concert took place in the beautiful 14th century Broumov Monastery which has been a Czech national cultural heritage site since 1995. The monastery and its gardens were renovated in 2014 and nowadays house an educational and cultural centre, which organises concerts, science talks, or art exhibitions. “It was a great experience, skating in such a gorgeous a place that you can’t usually access” says Kája about performing in the monastery. “We have often thought during rehearsals that the monastery has probably never had someone roller skate in it before.”
The concert took place in the beautiful 14th century Broumov Monastery which has been a Czech national cultural heritage site since 1995. The monastery and its gardens were renovated in 2014 and nowadays house an educational and cultural centre, which organises concerts, science talks, or art exhibitions. “It was a great experience, skating in such a gorgeous a place that you can’t usually access” says Kája about performing in the monastery. “We have often thought during rehearsals that the monastery has probably never had someone roller skate in it before.”
The hour-long event combined live music by the orchestra, a choir, and other musicians with performances from various dancers including Kája’s roller skating. Throughout the evening, you could hear music ranging from old classics to famous film scores, such as the theme from the movie Forest Gump to which Kája has performed. “I was very happy to skate to the music I was assigned. It’s a beautiful piece and given how small the venue was for skating, I was glad for a slow song.
”When asked about her preparations, she says it took her about a week to get ready to perform. “The biggest issue was getting the figure skating style roller blades. Viktoria Fischer, a skater on the new team Melodia luckily owned a pair that was my size and lent it to me. I would like to extend a huge thank you to her this way, because it was only thanks to her skates that I could do many of the elements!”
Kája says she had to get used to the roller skates and adopt the different skating style at first but that she quickly got used to it. The choreography you can see in the video was largely an improvisation with some pre-determined elements in between, but due to the small manoeuvring space and the slippery floors, Kája had to make adjustments in the routine every time she skated it. “The floor was so slippery that any sharp turn meant a certain fall. But I think that the final live skate turned out really well and I will remember it fondly.”
”When asked about her preparations, she says it took her about a week to get ready to perform. “The biggest issue was getting the figure skating style roller blades. Viktoria Fischer, a skater on the new team Melodia luckily owned a pair that was my size and lent it to me. I would like to extend a huge thank you to her this way, because it was only thanks to her skates that I could do many of the elements!”
Kája says she had to get used to the roller skates and adopt the different skating style at first but that she quickly got used to it. The choreography you can see in the video was largely an improvisation with some pre-determined elements in between, but due to the small manoeuvring space and the slippery floors, Kája had to make adjustments in the routine every time she skated it. “The floor was so slippery that any sharp turn meant a certain fall. But I think that the final live skate turned out really well and I will remember it fondly.”
Kája Procházková is a synchro skater from the Czech team Olympia. (Credits: Kája Procházková - 2020)
The 26-year-old has been a skater on Team Olympia for 7 years and plans to continue skating with the team during the upcoming season. She has previously skated as a soloist and started doing ice dancing when she was 12. “I really enjoy the atmosphere at competitions and practices,” Kája says on skating with Olympia. “We’re a great team and we get on so well with one another. If I’m feeling down, my team mates instantly get my mood back up. An amazing thing about synchro is that all the emotions are magnified, so it’s really easy to get carried away on a wave of euphoria and fully enjoy the practices.
”When she’s not practicing and competing with Olympia, Kája works as a coach for solo skaters and ice dancers. “Sometimes it’s a little difficult, spending my whole day on the ice, knowing that when the other coaches go home, I have to go to the gym and then back on the ice with Olympia. But thanks to the amazing team of skaters and coaches, I forget about all that in the first 5 minutes of practice.” During spring she creates choreographies and her summers are packed with skating camps.
”When she’s not practicing and competing with Olympia, Kája works as a coach for solo skaters and ice dancers. “Sometimes it’s a little difficult, spending my whole day on the ice, knowing that when the other coaches go home, I have to go to the gym and then back on the ice with Olympia. But thanks to the amazing team of skaters and coaches, I forget about all that in the first 5 minutes of practice.” During spring she creates choreographies and her summers are packed with skating camps.
Kája Procházková used the Team Olympia's dress for her performance.
The club of which Olympia is a part of has recently rebranded to Prague Synchro and started expanding further with the creation of a new Advanced Novice team Melodia which is to start competing in the upcoming season. Last year, they introduced a new junior Team Harmonia which has then represented the Czech Republic at the WJSSC in Nottingham, finishing 11th.
The remaining teams of Prague Synchro are a Mixed Age team, Euphoria, and a Juvenile team, Minnies. “Our coaches have created a great synchro base,” says Kája about the club. “Olympia members frequently help train the youngest skaters, and we are trying to encourage them to keep skating all the way to the seniors.”
The remaining teams of Prague Synchro are a Mixed Age team, Euphoria, and a Juvenile team, Minnies. “Our coaches have created a great synchro base,” says Kája about the club. “Olympia members frequently help train the youngest skaters, and we are trying to encourage them to keep skating all the way to the seniors.”
The live online concert was organised on May 31st in support of culture in the Czech regions around Broumov and Police and proved to be very successful, raising over 560 000 Czech crowns (21 000 EUR). The money that was collected was then split in half, with part of it going to the Development Agency for the Broumov Region, and the other half going to the Police Symphony Orchestra, both of which had stop their activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
