A Legend In The Show World

photo from Proskating Historical Foundation

Doesn't she look a lot like Cyd Charisse? Anyway, I'm thrilled to see this article about Cathy Steele featured in IceNetwork.com yesterday.

Click here to read it.

I had the opportunity to work for Cathy in one ice show that went to Japan for a year. She taught me a very important lesson, but unfortunately I didn't realize it until much too late.

So if I can pass this wisdom on to a newbie showgirl reading this, then I'm a happy girl. Here goes ...

I had a step-out (a solo with other skaters with you on the ice) so she worked with me individually. I think Cathy thought I was close to a hopeless cause. If I had been hopeless, she wouldn't have gifted me with her words of wisdom. She said I should wear more make-up, wear a nicer leotard to rehearsal, use a belt to emphasize my waist, and keep my chin up.

All of those "suggestions" were meant for performances, but also for rehearsals and my off ice time as well, for my own good. And at the time I thought ... what a bunch of b.s. Who cares what I look like during rehearsals? I don't want to load up on make-up for rehearsals, that's stupid.

I admit my pride was hurt and I was stupid to ignore it.

By the time of my last ice show, I knew she had been right. It may seem insignificant, but she was right. It was important to look good be it during the show or during rehearsal. It could be as simple as correcting your posture or a darker shade of lipstick. Skating in an ice show is all about how you look. There's no artistic score anymore and certainly no technical score. So when I actually started showing up to rehearsals dressed better, I performed better in rehearsals. That led to performing better in the shows. And that is the goal, always.

It's good to be a nice person, easy to get along with off the ice, dependable and healthy, but the end goal is to perform well on the ice. I strived for more of the first and less of the second. The best of show skaters do both. And she did.

So ladies and gentleman, Cahty Steele with her first skating partner Phil Romayne.

photo from Proskating Historical Foundation

Here's a Reminder

... not that anyone will find out about the Holiday On Ice Reunion from this blog and buy their tickets tomorrow. But I'm just wishing all those that go to the reunion next week have a great time.

The reunion will be held in Nice, France on the weekend of September 11-12, 2010. One event that folks can sign on to via Facebook is the Day at Opera Plage.



The Opera Plage was the hotel in Nice that allowed skaters to use their private beach for suntanning on the Mediterranean. A beautiful place indeed, especially considering skating in Holiday On Ice was usually a ticket out the door, rather than in.

The only other true perk I remember was getting to see the Lido in Paris for free! Free was a big deal, because we couldn't have afforded it otherwise.

Aaah, France. Wishing I could go, but it is not to be. So for those of you that are, please have a great time, sip some good wine, and take lots of photos.

Fountain of Youth

Months ago I saw Jo Anne Schneider Ferris's post about some believing figure skating being the fountain of youth. It makes sense, staying indoors in a cold rink, out of the sun, for years on end ... that definitely helps keep the skin perserved. Too bad there's the trade-off with taking in too many Zamboni fumes. Let's hope that one is more of a myth.

But the fountain of youth? After seeing an old skating friend on my summer vacation who I hadn't seen in over twenty years, I now believe it.

You know how we all say (and especially those of us in the ice show world), "Oh you look great. You haven't aged." What we really mean is "You look good, you haven't aged as much as my non-skating friends have."

But seeing this friend, who was an incredible showskater and now skating coach, I was thinking what I was saying. She hadn't changed, except that her arms were buff. Wow. Makes me wish I could get back into an ice rink and do some push-ups or something.

Problem is there aren't any ice rinks around and I'll be headed to the pool this afternoon. That's not helping. So for those of you coaches around, even though the job can make you feel like a mushroom sometimes (from the mouth of one coach I knew), remember, you'll be a youthful, good-looking mushroom.

Thank You

... fellow bloggers for all of the coverage on the Kim-Orser saga unfolding in front of us: Required Elements, lifeskate , State of the Skate,Axels, Loops, and Spins and even a bit of on-the-ice perspective from Tony Wheeler's Figure Skating Blog, and I'm sorry if I've left someone out.

I know some may want this to go away, but I want more info to spill out. Why in the world haven't David or Tracy spoken out on this? Tracy, weren't you at that meeting? David, you were the only coach who was listening to Yu-Na. Either one of you could put an end to this.

That's puzzling to me. Why their silence?

I don't know, but that means we get to keep speculating, so here goes ...

If you know me, you know I'm biased. I'm Team Brian, although I have no ill will toward Yu-Na Kim. I am sad this has turned bitter. All of the soap-opera aspects could stayed out of the public eye, because skaters and coaches change all the time.

I think Required Elements is doing a great job trying to get to the bottom of this. She posts in her part of her update today:

For Kim's part, there was an interview with one of her representatives before the latest Orser-oriented article. She stated:

A. We (Brian, Yuna's mom, and Yuna) have already known one and another why Yuna has parted with him. We don't feel any need to inform the reason to the outside. Yuna's mom, Yuna, and Brian, all the people, have well understood this reason.

Q. He feels Yuna also does not know why. Is that true?

A. That's only a matter of Brian's feeling. Yuna already knows the reason why this relationship has ended. We always asked Yuna first.

This is the smoking gun, to me. Those are my italics on the last sentence. Suddenly, the "we" in "we always asked Yuna first" takes Yuna out of the we. It sounds like a decision was made and then they went to Yu-Na to ask her. She can't be in on the decision if someone asked her.

I know that there could differing interpretations between the translation of two languages (I've had to deal with Babelfish spanish translating my daughter's school documents and sometimes it's a mess) but I think it's telling and it backs up what Brian said about Yuna not knowing at first.

That would explain why the backtrack of Yu-Na's tweet, makeing it look like Yu-Na was making decisions for herself. Puting DECIDED in all caps for emphasis. But accusing Brian of lying? I didn't like that. That's harsh and maybe that's why the tweet was quickly deleted.

Anyone else want to weigh in on this? Since I have only three followers, hey mom, what do you think?

Anyways, thanks again to the bloggers!

Not the only one

I loved the mug shot ... I think it shows he doesn't take himself too seriously. But what you may not know is Kurt Browning is not the only Canadian figure skater whose car has gone up in flames.

I remember a friend telling me about another skater, Ice Dance Champion from the 80s - Patick Mandley, who on a first date driver her around the city of Vancouver when the engine of his car, an old Soviet Lada, caught on fire.



I don't think the date was impressed. But I was always impressed that Patrick had a Lada. Quite hip don't you think?

So, Brian, if you're reading this, please have your car inspected soon.

They're Doing It Again

Way back in June, 2008, I railed on the theme parks for not showing their own ice shows in their advertisements. Whether it was in print or television ads, there was no skating to be seen.

Here's my short rant in short:

Calling the PR Department of

King's/SixFlag's/Busch'/sSeaWorld's/Knott's/GreatAmerica's Theme Park

Why is it that there is rarely any press/commercial screen time/endorsements of the ice shows inside your park? Are you hiding it?

When I skated for King's Dominion and Williamsburg Busch Gardens, both times the ice shows were the #1 live attraction. Now don't get me wrong, people, I know nothing beats the latest/tallest/fastest rollercoaster for these theme parks, but the ice shows were packing them in -- if nothing else, so people could sit down and cool off -- Virginia in August anyone?

When I was at Busch Gardens, the park orginally scheduled two shows daily. Then the wizards working the numbers and crowd control realized the park would make more money if they canceled the early show and made people who wanted to see the show (a.k.a. the groupies) wait until 9 pm, meaning they would have to eat at the park, rather than catch the early show and head to town for dinner afterward.

Can a rollercoaster do that? Do they have groupies?

Okay, yeah, they probably do.

So today I'm calling out Royal Caribbean Cruises for doing the same thing. Last night I caught a commercial (I'm excited that I now get some American tv stations in Panama) for the cruise ship that never showed one clip of skating. Not the show, not even a passenger on a public session.




I don't get it. Skating is the number one, most popular Winter Olympic sport, in part, because it's so well suited for television. Why? It's got beautiful costumes (usually) on beautiful skaters (usually - which reminds me of another post I'm about to do) and the fast motion of jumping, spinning or plain old stroking. To me, it's more zippy than most anything dancing can do ... yet, they show a clip of one of the musicals (people singing, rather than dancing) in that commercial.

I just don't get it. RC is the only cruise line to have an ice rink and you would think they might want to highlight that aspect more. And I can't imagine that someone in the ad biz can truthfully say that "We tested for audience reaction to skating and they didn't like it" because they've never put the skating in there to begin with!!

There was no skating in the brochures or on TV when I skated in the early 90s too.

So, I'm not done with this rant ... stay tuned.

That Was Quite An Exit

By now you've probably heard of Steven Slater, the jetBlue flight attendant, and his famous exit off the plane last week. I won't weigh into whether or not he should be fired, offered a reality tv show, or talk to Oprah. I'll let the comedians do that.

But one thing, I've got to say, was that's quite an exit. Grabbing two beers before hitting the slide - nice added touch. I'm willing to be that he had already choreographed that finale and he was only waiting for the right moment.

It reminds me of the urban myth of the show skater that quit an ice show during the show with skates still on. That's a great way to go. I never witnessed that, but I did skate in four shows and five different times where a skater or two left in the middle of the night. From Japan, no less. That requires some upfront planning. Or if not planning, running ... as in the juggler and his very pregnant wife with twins, running away from the police in the Tokyo train station.

Or you could ask Kathryn Bertine, from her book, All The Sundays Yet To Come, about the elaborate exit she had planned as well.

But you'll probably never see that carried out in the competitive world. Too much at stake. But wouldn't it be fun to see - for instance, someone who knows the judges are going to give them a raw deal no matter what - end their program with bows and cheers and then hold up a sign that thanks the crowd and says something like, "And now I'm outta here." They would bolt right by the Kiss-N-Cry area.

Tell me, who would you most like to see do something controversial like that? Do you have your own exit planned?