The Island of Dreams

by Gregory James Clark

  “That is a superb lift,” Yvonne remarked to her setmates, who sat at ice level towards the top end of the rink. “Did you see how well that turning lift was checked?”

  “They can do it clockwise and anticlockwise as well,” Elena added.

  “Its absolutely brilliant,” Anne whispered to herself.

  “I’m looking at the head positions of the girls as they are lifted,” continued Carl. “The girls’ heads are all totally straight, the ascent was totally straight and they are looking firmly at the one opposite for exactly four beats whilst they flick the cards. Then they come down, all do a perfectly synchronised toe loop, and are perfectly placed for the next lift in the next position. Talk about right first time every time. Jobine has really gone to town on that with them.”

  “We have our high point too,” Michael reminded them.

  “You know I think there is a little bit of internal competition going on between those five Kamchatskiy Auto trainers,” said Connie, as she observed the fact that after both of the first two performances one particular trainer cheered more than the others.

  “Oh?” said Gary.

  “Yes. There are five trainers, right?”

  “Right.”

  “They all work together, but don’t you detect that by the way each of them responds to each of the performances they are in fact trying each to outdo the others? When one trainer cheers more than the others it must be because that is going to be that trainer’s adopted set.”

  “You might be right there,” said Carl. “But it’s clear that they all want the performances to be exemplary.”

  “That’s for sure,” Connie replied. “But it shows that internal competition is far from dead in a society that prides itself in supposedly eliminating it. There is clearly some satisfaction for the trainers in adopting a particular set and seeing it do something that distinguishes it positively from the others.”

  “I wonder which one we will get?” Anne asked.

  “I think it will be that small fair-haired lady on the end of the row next to the Kamchatskiy Aerospace trainers,” Terry answered, as he pointed to the lady who had applauded, but so far not cheered excessively, at the other performances, as well as studying her position relative to the other trainers, and noting the sequence of the higher cheering levels.

  There was now just one more set to perform before Gary’s set would be ready to take to the ice. Gary and the others knew that this set had worked especially hard on their showpiece maypole lift, which was their equivalent of the shuttle lift that had given Gary and the others, and particularly Yvonne, so much difficulty. Joanie presently introduced them:

  “Now, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our third Kamchatskiy set, the very special toys from our magical Island toybox, skating to the music of ‘The Maypole Dance’ by the ever popular Russian band Toytown.”

  In this routine, toys were brought to life by a fairy who descended from above by means of a harness, then became detached from it and subsequently became part of a vibrant scene. The maypole lift formed and reformed over the roof of the Kamchatskiy, such that each man took hold of one of the girls’ feet and lifted her. She then laid back with her hands raised so she could link with the girl opposite. The whole formation then turned clockwise until it had completed four revolutions around the car. This centrepiece was like a chorus figure, with the verses consisting of synchronised movements representative of the dolls, puppets and marionettes that their costumes depicted. After each verse the maypole reformed, turning faster and faster as the routine progressed. The last verse took the form of a miming act designed to add variety and simulate fairground magic. Then, to finish, after the maypole lift had dismantled for the fifth time, the toys froze so as to provide the appearance of motionless toys waiting to be rewound.

  When they had finished yet again there was the ecstatic applause of the audience and trainers with this time, predictably, a different trainer applauding and cheering more avidly than the others. Also, predictably, this trainer was not the small fair-haired lady.

  As the setmates left the ice Gary’s set prepared to step out to give the performance of their lives.

  “Thank you skaters,” said Joanie. “How did you like that?”

  The audience cheered.

  “A wonderful routine full of magic and charm. Now, to commemorate the launch of this fabulous new car, I will ask our fourth set to take to the ice to perform ‘Silver Shadow’, which has been specially composed for us by the Russian band, Silhouette.

  Dressed in their silver catsuits, the setmates took their starting positions with Yvonne, the Silver Shadow, taking her place on the bonnet, and the others assuming various positions around the Kamchatskiy. Nerves were evident but not dominant, and no more apparent than they had been for the previous three sets, each of which they had seen manage to complete the tough routines that Jobine had choreographed for them with very few imperfections.

  With Gary’s set Jobine had placed the emphasis on maintaining a complex lift for a lengthy period of time, which required a high level of stamina. Yvonne, who had never been accustomed to being the centre of attention, suddenly found herself in a position where all eyes were upon her. She started on the bonnet, whilst the others began in fixed positions around the car. Then, when the music started she slid down and shadowed the other skaters with contrasting movements, as they all showed the trainers that they had a firm grasp of all of the standard single jumps, upright spins and step sequences comprising basic dance steps joined together with and without the aid of a partner. This continued for the first thirty seconds of the routine, before the six men lifted Connie, Claudia and Graca to form the shuttle that would be continuous for the next three minutes, with the girls being lifted so that one man held her shoulders and another her feet. They would then be interchanged such that the girl at the rear end changed first with the centre girl, passing under her, then with the front girl passing over her, and back again, to the centre position. Meanwhile a new girl was ready to join the line at the rear, so that eventually all of the girls would have participated in the shuttle.

  It was fast, complicated and difficult to perform as it had to be sustained for a longer time than any of the lifts that the other sets had to perform, and indeed any lift that would normally be seen in a skating show. When they were not in the shuttle, the three skating girls had to return to the demanding solo skating in unison that Jobine had choreographed for them. This was the case for all of the girls except Yvonne, who, as the Silver Shadow, had her own special moves that had a higher degree of difficulty, but, at the same time, would earn the highest level of admiration from the trainers and the audience, making her stand out and feel special, which was something that Jobine had strived for as a matter of necessity to ensure that this particular setmate would not be lacking in confidence ever again. It was therefore the case that Yvonne’s moves outside the shuttle, as well as the shuttle itself, would make or break the routine. She thus had to skate at a wider radius from the car than the others, which demanded more energy, and her step sequences were necessarily longer, more complex, and composed of harder elements. Once out of the shuttle she had to dominate the scene, almost overshadowing the shuttle itself. Like a phantom she had to be fast, furious and almost aggressive, completely outside her comfort zone, as well as perform every single step, jump, twizzle and spin excellently and consistently.

  Three-and-a-half minutes into the routine the shuttle disbanded and the finale began in which all of the skaters except Yvonne joined together in a circle around the Kamchatskiy ready to lift and turn Yvonne before placing her gently onto the bonnet into the pose that she had had at the beginning.

  Throughout the routine the entire set had to make the highly difficult appear like simplicity itself. In the shuttle one tiny error could make the entire movement collapse with no chance of recovery, as they had found in training. Jobine, however, had made sure that no such error was ever going t
o occur on her watch. In addition she had ensured that imperceptibly the body language of all of the setmates had improved immeasurably since they had begun their training eleven months earlier.

  Throughout the routine Yvonne was focused on her task. Coolly and carefully she avoided the panic attack that she had feared. That had been drummed out of her weeks earlier. By the time this night had come she was ready to be lifted, swung round, thrown and shuttled. For her, and the others, fear was a thing of the past. The entire set showed off its talents with pride, determined, like the others, that they were worthy of wearing the Kamchatskiy badge and making the most of the opportunity that had been given to them to have the life and career that they cherished, and a year ago never dreamed that they would ever have. Once into the performance nerves were quickly replaced by a collective determination to at least match the other sets that were in the same position as themselves.

  As the setmates bowed to the audience and to the trainers they could not help but notice the small fair-haired lady bouncing with delight on the trainers’ bench, gesturing to them as if to confirm that it was she who would be their new trainer.

  “What a performance,” said Joanie. “The magnificent Silver Shadow, Kamchatskiy’s finest to date, launched in spectacular style. Well done skaters, that was great. Now, let us welcome back onto the ice our first set, who had the honour of performing the company dance, to perform our fifth and final demonstration before the interval, skating to ‘Robotic Manoeuvres’ by British pop orchestra Ever Living.”

  “Wow, We’ve given our first performance for Kamchatskiy,” Anne shouted as the setmates returned to their seats, hugging each other as they sat.

  “Well, we didn’t disgrace ourselves, did we?” said Gary. “Our turns were mostly clean, our changes of position all worked, nobody fell and we actually got that difficult lift right in the end.”

  “Only because Jobine pushed us,” Carl reminded them. “She knew that she was going to have to really drive us to make sure that everything came off and that we all had enough confidence on the night to overcome any fear of failure. I give full credit to her.”

  “I agree,” said Connie. “And Yvonne, you were brilliant. Aren’t you glad now that all of that hard work has paid off?”

  “I really enjoyed that. It was fantastic,” Yvonne confessed. “The satisfaction is indescribable. I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been, and all through one man that I just happened to meet one day walking along a beach after a skating session.”

  Now Gary’s set could relax a little as Marie’s set, now changed from the glossy red Kamchatskiy Auto uniforms into robots, prepared to skate their piece, which had a style all of its own, intentionally mechanistic yet flowing as the skaters turned and interacted together as if they were one coordinated unit. They gestured to the car as well as to each other as if to communicate that they were at one with it. They maintained a deliberately rigid posture throughout performing like machines with a centrepiece of a clambering lift whereby the girls were not lifted but rather clambered over the backs of the men, insect-like, until a complex pyramidal lift formation had been assembled over the car, with three girls forming the base that supported another two, with the star, Marie, raised to the top. Her head then turned, like the head of an android that moved, like some alien being across the ice, becoming eventually detached from the prop so as to overshadow it. The girls then twisted and turned around one another simulating screwing and locking actions that gradually unwound the structure. The subtle partner changes demanded considerable concentration and, as with Gary’s set’s shuttle lift, this was a prolonged movement, which, also like the shuttle lift, could easily fall apart with one small error. There were no such errors though, Jobine had made sure of that, and all of the difficult turning, interlocking and crawling moves were performed impeccably.

  “There’s something different for you,” Joanie commented at the end of the routine. “It has to be seen to be believed. Thank you skaters. That was a stunning way to conclude our five fabulous Kamchatskiy Auto demonstration dances. Great trainers of Kamchatskiy Auto, I present these five sets to you.”

  *

  With the resurfacing of the ice came an opportunity for the Kamchatskiy Auto setmates to meet their respective trainers for the first time. The Usherette brought each of the setmates that had performed champagne and luxury cheese biscuits as the trainers came over to introduce themselves.

  “I’m Rodnina Malenkov, pleased to meet you,” said the short fair-haired lady to Gary’s set as she shook the hands of the setmates. “We are going to get along famously. That was a lovely display of skating, and a three-minute long lift. I have never seen that before. Jobine raises the skill level every year. I have come to say that after the show I have arranged for you to meet my set from last year with whom you will mostly be working and training with on the tour. They are in the audience with all of the other setmates from last year. The Kammie will take you down to The Cat and Fiddle.”

  “Won’t you be coming with us?” asked Jose.

  “Alas no,” said Rodnina. “All of the trainers have been invited to stay at The Royal Palace with the company directors, but we will get to talk a little bit more tomorrow. Today the Kamchatskiy Aerospace and Kamchatskiy Logistics sets were able to relax and watch. Tomorrow it is the other way around. The other setmates will give you an insight into what to expect next year though, and are probably better placed than me to explain it to you.”

  The remainder of the interval provided the skaters with an opportunity to remove their skates and outfits before taking their places to watch the five Kamchatskiy Maritime performances and their company dance to ‘Viva Kamchatskiy’. For these demonstrations a scaled down replica of Kamchatskiy Maritime’s latest yacht was unveiled as the prop around which the routines would be based.

  The Kamchatskiy Maritime routines, unlike those of Kamchatskiy Auto, made use of special effects to augment the performances, such as computer-generated imagery that provided the audience with the illusion that the boat was actually moving as the skaters performed on and around it in a series of sea-based themes. Thus, there was swimming with dolphins, sailing to magical islands, a slow-tempo romance at sea, a comical sketch depicting life at sea, and a yacht race to finish. At the end the image of Ken, The Mariner and first King of The Island, was projected looking over The Stone Boat that the setmates had come to know so well, and which also served as the emblem for Kamchatskiy Maritime.

  In these routines the lifts were somewhat simpler than those that had been performed by Kamchatskiy Auto, but to compensate for that elementary use of the harness had been incorporated into the routines. Kamchatskiy Maritime therefore used a mixture of lifts and harness moves so as to demonstrate that its sets had mastered both types of skill in equal proportions.

  “Bravo. Bravo,” Joanie said as the last routine ended. “A familiar face to us all. Much loved and much remembered.”

  *

  After the show, at The Cat and Fiddle, Gary and the others met Donna from Switzerland, Gerry from Cardiff, Michelle from France, Ally from Toronto, Tara from Australia, Alexander from Croatia, Francesca and Manuel from Portugal, Maria from Greece, Juan from Ecuador, Rhianna from Inverness and Paolo from Italy.

  “So, what’s it like one year on?” Carl asked Rhianna.

  “Unbelievable,” she replied. “We have learnt such a lot going on tour, seeing the world and of course living our dream of being skating celebrities. The Kamchatskiy trainers expect a lot, but they know that with Jobine we have had the best grounding possible. Last year we really surprised ourselves with what we were able to accomplish. I expect you feel the same.”

  “Absolutely,” Gary’s set nodded.

  “Your routine was very polished and no sign of nerves at all,” added Maria. “And Yvonne, how did you manage to keep all of that up? So much energy.”

  “It’s because Jobine is a genius,” Yvonne replied. “She knows exactly when to drive a skater, exactly when not to dr
ive, exactly how to give a skater confidence, and how to take away all of those nerves, which we all had.”

  “But didn’t show on the night,” answered Juan. “Yes, it was the same for us. And it has lasted. We don’t get nervous at all with Rodnina. She’s a bundle of fun, very easy to get along with even when she’s pushing us to the limit, and she does, just like Jobine. Life’s a bit more formal under the Kamchatskiy trainers, but the experience is fantastic.”

  “Also, before we came here we learnt that all of the current skating sets will get an extra year since there won’t be any Queen’s Tickets issued next year with the Royal Acclamation,” said Ally.

  “Royal Acclamation?” said Gary.

  “The approval of The Prince Regent by The Queen’s ministers,” said Alexander. “That’s the name that’s given to the process.”

  “What about life in Kamchatka?” asked Lars. “What’s that like?”

  “Absolutely brilliant,” replied Juan. “The people are so sincere. Nobody will ever do you down. There are so many interdependencies built into the system.”

  “When we arrived,” continued Francesca. “We got a guided tour of the Parliament which was fascinating. They showed us the debating rooms and The Lab where Commander reigns supreme. Of course the master computer is only as reliable as the information that is fed into it, but it is incredible how every element of supply and demand is exactly balanced. There are thirty senior ministers and about another 570 MPs who are appointed by these ministers, prior to standing for election by the method that you will have learnt about. The senior ministers in theory report directly to The Queen and Prime Minister, but in practice The Queen and Prime Minister are really just symbolic characters. How else would they have the time to dedicate to us and this place? It is the thirty senior ministers who hold the real power. Ordinary Kamchatkans have all heard of The Island and what it has done to improve their lives, but that is usually the limit of their knowledge, unless they have been fortunate enough to have visited it, as a few have. Occasionally there are school visits, as with The Karaginsky School for example.”