Lucia Dimango may be a new face on the Bont Park Stars Team but to anyone following Argentinian roller skating she is no unknown face. As Argentinians faced a strict lockdown it got quiet around a lot of skaters during Corona. So we decided to knock on her virtual door to hear what’s she’s been up to.
Hi Lucia, please introduce yourself.
My name is Lucia Dimango. I’m from Argentina. I learned to skate with a roller derby team but got bored for all the team stuff so I quit. Ramp skating was very new here. Some girls from the team started it, and one day I tried it, too. It’s been a lot of solo morning skating in the beginnings.
Recently, you posted a video of you skating/destroying your apartment. This was pretty cool. How is quarantine in Buenos Aires right now? I read Argentina has some of the most strict quarantine rules in South America.
It’s been SOO LONG and full of restrictions, but they start to loosen the rules a little bit. Now, we can go out a few blocks around our area at the weekends with kids. You can work from home, or if you work in essentials. I’m not working. The ramp where I used to skate is closed. Sometimes it is difficult, other times it’s like home vacations, like an emotional roulette. But that’s how it is for me. I know a lot of people are struggling with the economic situation. That’s no fun.
Do people follow the rules?
In the big picture yes. Of course, not everyone. In my neighborhood you see old people shopping groceries all the time, it’s the only thing we are allowed to do during the week.
Are you allowed to go out and exercise or even skate?
No, no, no and no, and noooo. A few days ago, I went skating to pay my rent, it was nice, but we can’t do it.
How are you spending your days? You are a mom also, so I guess you have plenty to do.
Playing, eating, and cleaning, a LOT of those three things.
Before Corona lockdown you have been skating a lot with Barbie. You make a pretty solid crew. What’s great about skating with her?
We have fun together, laugh a lot, and push each other to do stuff. She is a friend and it’s always great to skate with a friend. I may not see her as everyone else does, she’s more real flesh and meat for me. Maybe like a second big daughter who sleeps over a lot… awww I miss those times, we always talk about how we feel, we complete each other. I learn and get inspired a lot by her fearless energy and skate level, and she’s always like “you can do it Moco!”
Who else is inspiring you?
Caro from Buenos Aires is one of the few people like Barbie that I skate with and get that awesome skate rush and am completely in the moment, and that’s not an easy thing to find! I really like Leon West’s style, always gets a smile on my face.
Lucia, you made the Bont Park Star Team this year. Congrats on this again! I saw you are not skating their shoes yet. Are you still waiting on them?
The thing with shipping to Argentina is that we have to pay a LOT of taxes to get things. It’s like 30% of the real price, no matter if it’s gifts, and with big packages like a Bont sponsorship you can’t get your way, you have to pay and I don t have money haha! Before the Corona thing we already planned a way to get them. Bont sent them to a friend and he will bring the skates. But borders closed and no skates for me! We have to wait until all this ends, I hope to have them this year! Hahaha
Anything else you want to say?
Sometimes, not skating is good for the body and the mind, and if you think about the moves and visualize them, maybe when you go back you will have new and better skills. That happened to me when I was pregnant.
Interview by Marta Popowska
Photos by Ioni Epembaum