{"id":2458832,"date":"2020-05-26T00:08:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T06:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/dancing-desires-ahs-senior-klara-kowar-puts-aside-college-to-chase-figure-skating-dreams\/"},"modified":"2020-05-26T00:08:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T06:08:01","slug":"dancing-desires-ahs-senior-klara-kowar-puts-aside-college-to-chase-figure-skating-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/dancing-desires-ahs-senior-klara-kowar-puts-aside-college-to-chase-figure-skating-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Dancing desires: AHS senior Klara Kowar puts aside college to chase figure skating dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/figureskater-atd-052620-1-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/figureskater-atd-052620-1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/figureskater-atd-052620-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/figureskater-atd-052620-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/figureskater-atd-052620-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/05\/figureskater-atd-052620-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Klara Kowar skates inside the Aspen Ice Garden as part of a commercial she did with Black Hills Energy. The Aspen High School senior intends to take a gap year to pursue a professional career in figure skating.<\/strong><br \/><em>Elliot Ross\/courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">When injuries got in the way of Klara Kowar\u2019s acrobatics, local figure skating coach Teri Hooper suggested she take to ice dancing. One of the three Olympic disciplines in the sport, Kowar instantly latched on to its more artistic side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cShe has done a great job taking it a long way in a short time. Most of all, she\u2019s just got beautiful lines on the ice,\u201d said Hooper, who runs the Aspen Skating Club. \u201cShe is gorgeous on the ice. If she is out there skating in a session with other skaters, she is one who stands out and you notice her because of her beautiful extension and expression.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Kowar, who often goes by her middle name, Belle, is a senior at Aspen High School and one of nearly 140 set to graduate Saturday at Buttermilk Ski Area. While many will jump right into higher education, Kowar is taking a different road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A model student \u2014 she\u2019s one of only a handful to graduate this year from the AHS International Baccalaureate program \u2014 and a devoted violinist, Kowar wants to see where figure skating can take her. She\u2019s deferred her enrollment and scholarship at Syracuse University in New York and will train full time this next year to chase her on-ice dreams.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019ve always loved skating and like many sports it very much has a time limit on it, so it\u2019s not something I can do after college,\u201d Kowar said of her decision to take a gap year. \u201cI just want to explore my options and give it a try and take a more competitive, serious route and know that I explored that option, even if it doesn\u2019t go how I hoped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Kowar\u2019s first step is to move to Denver \u2014 she already travels there for training multiple times a week \u2014 to maximize her ice time. Along with Hooper, Kowar has worked the past five years with 1984 Olympian Carol Fox, who is based out of Denver. With school not in the equation, Kowar will have the chance to make figure skating a full-time job over the coming months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cShe could go the distance in the sport, for sure,\u201d Fox said. \u201cShe has a great track record. She\u2019s a very positive girl and she sets goals and she works hard to achieve them. That certainly can be seen in her academics, as well. It\u2019s always been a pleasure to work with her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Unlike pair skating, ice dancing doesn\u2019t include many of the physically demanding jumps and tosses, which Kowar has difficulty with because of the knee injuries she sustained in middle school. Olympic-level ice dancing does, however, require a partner and mimics traditional ballroom dancing in a way. And while the male-to-female ratio in the sport can make it difficult for women to find a partner, Fox said those with the right ingredients like Kowar will often rise to the top and standout.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cNow she\u2019ll be able to have full devotion to the sport,\u201d Fox said. \u201cSo even though there might be hundreds of girls looking for an ice dancing partner, who has some of the best techniques and who has shown themselves to be a very consistent mind, body and soul skater? Whose reputation is stellar as far as standing out?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Kowar jumped head first into ice dancing early on in high school and has competed at nationals every year, making the podium nearly every time. Her big highlight came as a freshman when she won a national championship in juvenile free dance at the National Solo Dance Final in Delaware.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She\u2019s only ever competed solo, however, so competing as a pair would be a new experience for her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cShe is a good candidate to hopefully get matched up with somebody and take her skating to a whole different level,\u201d Hooper said. \u201cShe\u2019s got an inner confidence about her. She puts it out there when she needs to. I\u2019m excited for the opportunity she\u2019s going to be able to have this year. I can\u2019t wait to see how far it takes her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">While her gap year means she won\u2019t be on campus anytime soon at Syracuse, Kowar did say she plans to take some online classes in the fall to at least get started on her higher education. She\u2019s been admitted into the university\u2019s business program and wants to minor in product or industrial design, and knows her figure skating detour could be short lived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Certainly, the novel coronavirus pandemic isn\u2019t making her plans too clear at the moment. She\u2019s trained in Denver over recent weeks mostly because the local ice rinks in Aspen have been closed, and many of the upcoming figure skating competitions have been canceled or postponed because of COVID-19. With no clear path forward, Kowar will train as much as she can and simply see what unfolds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhen someone is young, that\u2019s when they need to pursue their sport and to be able to have that opportunity and to never have regrets,\u201d said Bonnie Kowar, Klara\u2019s mother. \u201cTo have that opportunity to pursue that dream is such a gift and that way looking back she can always know she gave it everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:acolbert@aspentimes.com\">acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/dancing-desires-ahs-senior-klara-kowar-puts-aside-college-to-chase-figure-skating-dreams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Klara Kowar skates inside the Aspen Ice Garden as part of a commercial she did with Black Hills Energy. The Aspen High School senior intends to take a gap year to pursue a professional career in figure skating.Elliot Ross\/courtesy photo When injuries got in the way of Klara Kowar\u2019s acrobatics, local figure skating coach Teri [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-17 01:19:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458832\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}