By MyongSool Chang
Translated by SeungYoun Woo


The golden medalist of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics figure skating, Kim Yuna, performed in Boston for the first time, in a charity show at Harvard University. The packed show was held for two day sat the Harvard University Bright Hockey Center. It reflected Kim Yuna’s popularity.

Kim Yuna was invited as one of the performers of An Evening with Champions (EWC), the annual charity show held by Harvard University. The tickets were all sold out within a day.

Kim Yuna, the last performer of each day’s show, performed with the title of “Fever,” showing elegant and gorgeous moves. The audience was impressed by every movement that made her seem like she had matured. However, her performance lasted only 4 minutes and she did not show any highly skilled moves, such as jump and spiral.

One of the American audience members, Alice McCauKi, said, “We enjoyed the show and she was fabulous. That was worth coming to see her. We have been coming here for years and there were a lot of talented ice skaters but you (Koreans) have to be proud of her.”

Min-seok Kang, an Arlington Catholic High School student, said, “She was very beautiful. Although she didn’t perform any high level movements, I’m still glad that I saw her with my own eyes.”

Many Koreans very much expected to see Kim Yuna’s overwhelmingly highly skilled performance that she used to do in the past; however, her performance at the show was rather simple and plain.

An Evening with Champions, the 41st show this year, was hosted by 1992 Olympics silver medalist Paul Wylie, and the U.S.Olympian ice skater and Harvard senior, Emily Hughes. In the show, there were other famously known ice skaters, such as a Canadian Olympics ice skater, Shawn Sawyer, and U.S. national championRachel Flatt. 1994 Olympics championOkxanaBaiul’s performance was devoted to the earthquake victims in Japan.

Oleg Protopopov and Ludmila Belousova, the 1964 and 1968 Olympics champions and a married couple in their 70s, received a standing ovation by showing very graceful and artistic moves.

The charity ice skating show, an Evening with Champions, performed by worldwide figure skaters, has raised a total of $2.5 million during 41 events, and has donated it to the Jimmy Fund. This year alone, they raised more than $100,000.

“It is a big event and it’s kind of known within skating as a prestigious event to be invited to,” said 2003 U.S. Collegiate champion Braden Overett, who did a comical performance with a rose, in the interview with Harvard Crimson.

On the show days, many Koreans visited Boston from New York, Connecticut, and New Hampshire to see Kim Yuna’s show.

Fans responses to her performance
Ee-seok Kwon
from Connecticut
“I drove here for 3 hours to see Kim Yuna with about 50 of my church members. I’m a little disappointed that the performance hour was quite a bit shorter than I thought it would be. But I’m still proud of Kim Yuna. The fact that most Americans know about her means a lot to Koreans in America.”

Hong
a student at Harvard University
“It was a surprise to see Kim Yuna’s power to impress everyone in the seats even without performing any highly skilled jump. I’m very proud of being Korean like her. Her every move was very fascinating.”

Myong-Ah Kim
“I’ve been waiting for a long time outside and inside of the stadium. I knew that Kim Yuna would be the last performer, but I didn’t think the performance would be that short. Also, I’m sad that I didn’t get to see any of her jumps and other highly skilled techniques.”

ⓒ 보스톤코리아(http://www.bostonkorea.com), 무단전재 및 재배포 금지