“Rise Up“ with Michelle Kwan and Andra Day, skating on Christmas Day

January 20th began and ended, as every day does. In many ways it was like any January day. Here in England it was raining. Elsewhere, friends and family spent the day in the heat of summer. In Washington we could see snow and sun through our screens. Yet this day was not like others. It is one year after the first case of COVID-19 was recorded in my home country, and on this date we have 400,000 Americans who are no longer with us as a result of this cruel disease. Also on this day a new President, has stepped into office, and with him a renewed hope for the end of this pandemic that is taking the lives and livelihoods of so many. Since her Olympic retirement, Michelle has devoted her entire career to public service, first to the U.S. Department of State, and then to the Clinton and Biden campaigns, as a public envoy for diplomacy and outreach. She expresses here in movement what I am feeling on this day. We shot this in December 2018 in Santa Monica to the beautiful words of Andra Day, and I felt the