Ye-lim Kim Skates to Christina Perri’s ‘A Thousand Years’
Christina Perri’s ‘A Thousand Years’ provides the musical arc for Ye-lim Kim’s An Evening with Champions exhibition. The 2023 recording connects sustained vocal lines with movement across the ice.
An Evening with Champions is associated with Harvard’s skating community. The benefit-show setting frames Kim’s routine as part of an event where expression and athletic performance share the ice.
Kim’s skating follows the music’s phrasing, giving the ballad a visible shape. The familiar melody helps viewers follow changes in movement even without knowing technical skating terminology. A turn or change of edge can align with a musical transition and make it easier to notice.
A song that builds gradually can support long lines across the rink. Sustained gliding lets a movement complete before the next one begins, keeping the musical phrase visible.
The unhurried sections allow smaller details to register. Viewers can follow the routine without a scoring sheet, noticing how Kim places each movement within the music. The deliberate pace leaves room for a glide or turn to continue through the phrase.
Watch the performance
Figure skating combines technical control with musical interpretation. The routine is most expressive when the elements appear connected, so the movement supports rather than interrupts the song’s phrases.
Watch Kim’s upper-body movement alongside changes in direction. Arms and shoulders help translate musical phrasing into the space of the rink and contribute to each complete line.
The glide is another expressive tool. Sustained motion can echo a long vocal phrase, making continuity visible without requiring a dramatic element at every moment. The skater’s path across the ice can therefore follow the length of the music.
The familiar song is an accessible starting point for viewers new to skating. Its melodic shape helps the audience follow the routine as it moves across the rink.
A charity exhibition has a different frame from a scored competition. Kim’s routine contributes to a shared event, and its expressive qualities become part of the audience’s experience. The benefit setting brings performers and spectators together around skating.
The setting does not lessen the technical demands. Balance, timing and control allow the movement to appear unforced, and those qualities remain part of what viewers are seeing.
The softer passages reward close attention. Continuity and detail carry the movement, giving these moments their own musical purpose rather than serving only as pauses.
As the song expands, the routine can make greater use of the rink. That change in physical scale is clearer because the earlier movement has established a more restrained pace.
The recording works best as a complete sequence. Its emotional shape depends on transitions, with each motion preparing for the next rather than relying on one highlight. Watching from beginning to end makes those connections easier to follow.
The camera’s movement helps show how Kim uses the available space. Direction and distance become part of the performance as the skater travels through musical phrases, with the framing revealing changes in the route across the rink.
Kim’s ‘A Thousand Years’ brings technical skating into a musical exhibition. The familiar soundtrack and complete routine let viewers follow both the movement and its phrasing.
More videos to explore
Veronika Zhilina’s ‘Hallelujah’ exhibition offers another skating performance to familiar music. It provides a separate example of movement following a ballad’s phrasing.
Alexandra Trusova’s Skate Canada 2019 gala exhibition gives another view of skating in a non-competition program. Compare its presentation with Kim’s benefit-show routine.
Further listening source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8htyCI7JSiQ
