Post by dante on Sept 21, 2007 7:58:21 GMT -5
Dante Itazura was born to a French figure ice-skater mother and Canadian father; who works in Tokyo,Japan as an architect for Dasic Architects.
Being around high rise structures from as far back as he could remember, Dante soon became found of heights. At 5yrs old, giving his parents the scare of their lives when security reported to have found him sitting comfortably on the ledge of the roof talking to birds. That quickly became the last day Dante went to work with his dad.
Off to the ice rink every morning and evening, he sat with his nana as his mom skated, ever so gracefully. So smoothly as if she were on a conveyor belt. Dante wanted to move like that, minus the "girlie" routines. Sometimes his mother would hold him in her arms as she skated. There was nothing like that feeling... the cool rush of air, dancing through his hair pasted a full smile on young Dante's face. By 6yrs he convinced his parents to get him a pair of skates and he practised as much as he could. In the beginning he did alot more falling that actual skating but his dream was to float as his mom did.
A few months later while practising in the park his parents had turn to buy some ice-cream for the three of them when They came... It was about 4 of them. Extreme skaters; this group was good, real good. In a flash they appeared in the semi crowded parkway but, they somehow managed to weave through the human traffic in the most remarkable ways. Some grinded rails, sidewalks, other jumped, hand-sprung over people, while the leader of the group crisscrossed her legs as she skated backwards right over Dante. Then.... in an instant they were gone. His parents returned to him with the icecream somewhat oblivious to what had just occurred. His mom just wondered where the sudden wind came from. That night Dante drew a series of pictures of what he saw.
Three years later Dante's memory of that day was still as clear as ever, and he kept those very sketchy pictures as well. It became his new driving force. Who were They? Where did They come from? How do They move like that? He worked tidious at honing his skill. About six months ago he started where his skates everywhere, driving his parents crazy. He had no time for anything else. He lived to skate and find Them. He figured maybe he could get their attention and they would find him. One night he took a bunch of spray paint cans and varying nuzzles and painted what he had seen that day in the park. Skating and painting, he created five murals as tall as he was. Hands dripping with paint and exhausted Dante started off for home when a breeze kissed the back of his neck. But this was different from the usual early morning breeze. It was Them.
"Niiice work but, I dont think you captured my best side, kid.... Here! Surely you dont expect to keep up with us in those skates, do you?"
That year I spent 8 months on foot before I even got to try on my new skates... skates They called AirTrek [self propelled shoes equipped with powerful suspension, air cushion systems and ultra small motors in the wheels]. They introduced me to 'parkour', a french discipline like martial arts. But it's really the art of free running. Getting from point A to B moving from point A to point B as efficiently and quickly as possible, basically using the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls. At least that is what they told me. I did even more falling in that year, than I did on my skates. But the freedom felt by just running, jumping, scaling, sliding, climbing without stopping was unbelievable. It felt like closest thing to flying without leaving the ground.
However, one day They chose a harder route than usual and told me especially to bring my ATs on this trip. We ran rooftop to rooftop, dropped a few stories, wall ran a short distance, climbed back to the roof and jumped off. This was the day I flew, I never saw the city from this high. It was amazing. I felt the air just as I did when I skated with mom, just as the first day I met them. So lost in my own mind I didnt notice the ripple in the sky. A ripple which came towards me and engulfed me.
Being around high rise structures from as far back as he could remember, Dante soon became found of heights. At 5yrs old, giving his parents the scare of their lives when security reported to have found him sitting comfortably on the ledge of the roof talking to birds. That quickly became the last day Dante went to work with his dad.
Off to the ice rink every morning and evening, he sat with his nana as his mom skated, ever so gracefully. So smoothly as if she were on a conveyor belt. Dante wanted to move like that, minus the "girlie" routines. Sometimes his mother would hold him in her arms as she skated. There was nothing like that feeling... the cool rush of air, dancing through his hair pasted a full smile on young Dante's face. By 6yrs he convinced his parents to get him a pair of skates and he practised as much as he could. In the beginning he did alot more falling that actual skating but his dream was to float as his mom did.
A few months later while practising in the park his parents had turn to buy some ice-cream for the three of them when They came... It was about 4 of them. Extreme skaters; this group was good, real good. In a flash they appeared in the semi crowded parkway but, they somehow managed to weave through the human traffic in the most remarkable ways. Some grinded rails, sidewalks, other jumped, hand-sprung over people, while the leader of the group crisscrossed her legs as she skated backwards right over Dante. Then.... in an instant they were gone. His parents returned to him with the icecream somewhat oblivious to what had just occurred. His mom just wondered where the sudden wind came from. That night Dante drew a series of pictures of what he saw.
Three years later Dante's memory of that day was still as clear as ever, and he kept those very sketchy pictures as well. It became his new driving force. Who were They? Where did They come from? How do They move like that? He worked tidious at honing his skill. About six months ago he started where his skates everywhere, driving his parents crazy. He had no time for anything else. He lived to skate and find Them. He figured maybe he could get their attention and they would find him. One night he took a bunch of spray paint cans and varying nuzzles and painted what he had seen that day in the park. Skating and painting, he created five murals as tall as he was. Hands dripping with paint and exhausted Dante started off for home when a breeze kissed the back of his neck. But this was different from the usual early morning breeze. It was Them.
"Niiice work but, I dont think you captured my best side, kid.... Here! Surely you dont expect to keep up with us in those skates, do you?"
That year I spent 8 months on foot before I even got to try on my new skates... skates They called AirTrek [self propelled shoes equipped with powerful suspension, air cushion systems and ultra small motors in the wheels]. They introduced me to 'parkour', a french discipline like martial arts. But it's really the art of free running. Getting from point A to B moving from point A to point B as efficiently and quickly as possible, basically using the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls. At least that is what they told me. I did even more falling in that year, than I did on my skates. But the freedom felt by just running, jumping, scaling, sliding, climbing without stopping was unbelievable. It felt like closest thing to flying without leaving the ground.
However, one day They chose a harder route than usual and told me especially to bring my ATs on this trip. We ran rooftop to rooftop, dropped a few stories, wall ran a short distance, climbed back to the roof and jumped off. This was the day I flew, I never saw the city from this high. It was amazing. I felt the air just as I did when I skated with mom, just as the first day I met them. So lost in my own mind I didnt notice the ripple in the sky. A ripple which came towards me and engulfed me.