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Rollerblading now ready for its close-up
If you’re like most casual observers, you may not have noticed that Rollerblading (the trick-heavy variety sometimes known as ‘aggressive in-line skating’ to non-participants) is action sport’s (sometimes known as ‘extreme sport’ to non-participants) latest Cinderella story in progress. It had it’s moment at the ball at the X-Games back in ’96-’97, but quickly turned back into a pumpkin and took root again underground, where it’s been re-honing its skills and its image for the last decade.
Promising “no boundaries” and plenty of “cool shit,” two films premiering in Toronto tomorrow seek to reintroduce Rollerblading to the outside world as a vibrant and technically developed expression of physical movement that transcends sport, defining a culture for its participants, much like skateboarding, bmx or b-boying before it.
Visual Minority, Canada’s Rollerblade Magazine, presents the World premiere of documentary Barely Dead (see trailer, above) and the Toronto premiere of Mindgame team vid Accidental Machines, tomorrow evening, Sunday November 19th, at Grace O’Malley’s (14 Duncan Street). The free, all-ages screening starts at 6pm, with 19-up after-party kicking in at nine.
If the trailers are to be believed, for Rollerbladers, it’s all about the struggle for something they believe in– which for the viewer boils down to the ability to leap buildings and ride down or up any number of railing-like structures. If these premieres are successful, then perhaps, at least for one night, armchair athletes and Zen masters of asphalt avoidance will be united in presence and in spirit over that universal bond, beer.
