The 2018-19 season was a good one for
Vincent Zhou.
Coming off a sixth-place finish at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, Zhou finished a career-best second at the 2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships before really making a splash on the international scene, winning bronze at both the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating 2019 Championships and the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019. He would also go on to score a personal-best 299.01 points at that season's World Team Trophy.
He did so performing his free skate to music from
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by Tan Dun and "Rising Sun" by Kiyoshi Yoshida.
That, Zhou says, is no coincidence.
"The program itself is definitely a big factor in success," he said. "The program, the music you choose to skate to, the choreography -- everything has an impact on how you actually perform in the competition. And having music that you feel comfortable with, that you don't feel like you're chasing the music or that you're trying hard to embody something you're not, that's important in having a good mindset in the competition and feeling confident in yourself.
"I would definitely say that that program affected my performance in a really good way."
Zhou is first-generation Chinese-American and, when presented with the idea of skating to music from
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, was immediately taken with the idea.
The program itself fit him like a glove in ways that went far beyond the choreography.
"Growing up as a Chinese-American, I was exposed to plenty of that sort of Asian, martial arts-type films," Zhou said. "And it just felt familiar, and good to skate to. Of course, throughout that season, the program really developed into something special. I love that program, and it felt incredible to skate to because it felt like me when I skate to it."
While training the program, Zhou took the meaning of it seriously. He went to some Chinese martial and performing arts teachers to learn the movements, positions and philosophy of the art, wanting to truly understand it, not just perform it.
"People will skate to that type of music, but they'll do all the stereotypical poses and kung-fu movements or whatever, but it doesn't have an authentic understanding behind it," Zhou said. "And so that's why I went to those teachers, to learn a little and try to have an authentic understanding of it before I took it on the ice. And I think that helped tremendously with how I placed my arms, how I placed my hands when doing the movements."
Choreographer Tom Dickson also assisted in this regard, encouraging Zhou to apply Buddhist imagery to his performance.
"I distinctly remember working with him on specific movements and moments in the program where he would talk about certain imagery related to the theme of the program and try to have me embody that, see it and feel it, and let that feeling translate into the way I move, or the way I tilt my head, or where to look with my eyes," Zhou said. "I think that also helped a lot with expressing the authentic feeling of the program, of the music."
Zhou's parents immigrated to the United States from China in 1992, settling in California. But the rest of his extended family remains in Beijing, the site of the upcoming 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Zhou visited China for several weeks in 2008 and competed at Cup of China in 2017, and the opportunity to compete on the sport's biggest stage in front of his family is not lost on him.
Far from it.
"(It would mean) absolutely everything to me," Zhou said. "I don't want to jinx anything, but assuming that I make the team and have the opportunity and privilege to compete there, that would be the defining moment of my career. That would be the single most significant event in my skating career."
Heading into the Olympic season, Zhou and his team are working to get him on track to reach the levels of success he's capable of. This past season, he finished second at 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America and the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but a rough short program left him 25th at the World Championships.
"Basically we're focusing on removing all the variables so that, when the time comes, I can focus on my own performance and actuate my thoughts," Zhou said. "I'm getting into shape earlier this season. I'm fixing my boots. I'm doing all I can to make sure that I'm training confidence and consistency, not, 'Maybe I can do this,' 'I'm not sure if I can,' 'I know I have the capability but there's just so many variables that I don't know that I can do it in the moment.'
"That's not what I want to be thinking when I'm going into what I describe myself as the most significant single event in my career, right?" he added with a laugh.
For the time being, Zhou is mum on what his 2021-22 programs will be -- and if his
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon program could make a reappearance -- but notes that, whatever his Olympic programs are, they will be chosen very carefully.
"In the Olympic season, it's super important to have programs that you feel comfortable with so that you don't get to the Olympics and you're still struggling to embody the program and still having a hard time skating to it," Zhou said. "This season I will be choosing programs that are very distinctly me, and are very fitting, and when I skate to it, it feels right."
And regardless of what the future holds, the
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon program will always hold a special place in his heart.
"I'm super proud of my identity and I'm super proud to skate that program," Zhou said. "And if anyone feels like that program helps give them a voice and helps people be more aware of the culture and the theme, good for you. I'm proud to skate the program, I'm proud to be who I am. I would definitely not be Vincent if I didn't have my Chinese-American identity and everything that comes with it, including my moral values and my drive for success. Everything that comes with my culture, I'm super proud of."
