Above: Odessa Akervall, right, and her cousin, Ofelia, sign "I love you."
By Troy Schwindt
When 13-year-old Odessa Akervall of Wilsonville, Oregon, was looking for inspiration for her Excel intermediate-level program this season, she turned to family.
Akervall has relatives who are children of deaf adults, also known as CODAs
“My uncle, his fiancé and my cousin’s mom are all deaf,” Akervall said. “My cousins [Ofelia, age 10, and her baby brother] are both hearing, but are raised by deaf parents, so they learn sign language and spoken language simultaneously — they are CODA kids. I have learned a little about the deaf community from my uncle, who has advocated for the deaf community and public awareness.”
Photo by KrPhotogs Photography
At U.S. Figure Skating’s Excel National Final and Festival, hosted by The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, July 11-14, Akervall created and performed a program that told a story of those in the deaf community and their loved ones.
She skated to “Both Sides Now” from the 2021 CODA movie (a song made popular by Judy Collins in the 1960s). In her program, she landed three double jumps and received Level 3 on all of her spins to secure the gold medal.
Akervall crafted much of the choreography for the free skate herself and included several American Sign Language signs in the program. Her performance was exceptionally expressive and garnered attention from the judges and audience alike. Her connection to the song, choreography and physical performance was heartfelt.
She earned the highest component score in the level, which resulted in a special presentation award from U.S. Figure Skating.
Akervall watched the trailer of the movie first, then spent time thinking about the song before doing her choreography.
“We got a lot of snow one weekend so we couldn’t make it to the rink to practice, so I filmed myself trying out ideas in the living room,” Akervall said. “I moved all the furniture to the side of the room and set up a bunch of closet mirrors so I could see myself.”
“When I transitioned my choreography to the ice, my coaches helped me stretch it out a bit, because I was only using a small section of the ice. My living room is a lot smaller than a rink. They helped me keep the choreography I had while adding more flow and transitions on the ice.”
Akervall watched the entire movie just before coming to the Excel National Festival, where a record of more than 900 skaters from coast to coast competed.
“The movie is about growing up and finding your own path, and family relationships,” Akervall said. “The song is about how two totally different perspectives or 'both sides' can both hold truth. In the movie, I understand that the perspectives can be from inside the deaf community and outside. It can also be a perspective you hold when you are young and another from later in life. The song also talks about growing up, and the ups and downs of life, and that even the highest moments are fragile — nothing stays the same forever. Our perspectives are always changing.”
During her program, Akervall signs one of the early lines in the song, “ice cream castles in the air.”
“As I worked on the choreography, sometimes I started with an ASL sign, and then gradually evolved the sign to be a bigger movement on the ice,” she said. “I wanted the parts that weren’t ASL signs to still feel like communication and storytelling, so I spent a lot of time working out the choreography to help describe emotions in the song like regret, joy and frustration.”
Later in the song, she signs for "love", "feeling proud" and "life."
Akervall’s goal was to convey the emotions of the song and make the audience think and feel.
“I wanted to bring the audience and the judges back to their own memories of life and growing up,” she said. “I wanted to make my performance personal to everyone, not just myself. A lot of the emotion I portrayed came from not just me pretending, but actually feeling it myself. I thought about the things in my life that prompted all these emotions. I think that is what made it feel so real to everyone in the audience — because I was actually feeling it, too."
“I am not part of the deaf community myself, but I understand we need more people to bridge to other’s experiences and their cultures," Akervall said. "This is why I added signs into my program. We are all better when we expand ourselves.”
Akervall began her Excel skating journey this past season; she competed at four Excel series events in the Pacific region and the National Festival. Her coaches are Autumn Morin, Kristen Eirvin and Shannon Young. She skates at Sherwood Ice Arena Monday through Friday, every day before school, and at Mountain View Ice Arena on Saturdays.
Excel's primary mission is to inspire more of young athletes to continue training and remain committed to participating in figure skating by providing them with events that allow them to showcase their strengths.
Additionally, Excel serves as an opportunity for grassroots skaters and coaches to familiarize themselves with the fundamentals of the international judging system. Participants at the National Festival were also given the opportunity to skate in a competitive environment and learn from some of Team USA’s top athletes, including Alysa Liu, Ashley Cain, Andrew Torgashev and Sean Rabbitt.
Akervall said Excel has been an excellent vehicle to showcase and improve her skills.
“I’ve struggled with getting some of my double jumps,” she said. “I’ve worked on them a long time, but it has been hard. The combination of elements for Excel intermediate was perfect for me. Going into the season, my growth goals were to improve my skating skills score and perform Level 3 spins. Excel allowed me to set these goals, work on developing my skating, expression and create a memorable performance — even if I don’t have all my double jumps consistent.”
Akervall has more than doubled her component score since June 2023.
“Excel allows us to explore skating further,” Akervall said. “It’s an opportunity for skaters to showcase their talents and it brings back some of the ‘skating’ part of skating.”
For full results from the 2024 Excel National Final and Festival, click here.
