The Curtsy

My husband arrived in London this morning, but not to see the Queen. He'll be stuck in the Heathrow Terminal 4 Hilton all day. I'm a little sad I couldn't tag along to enjoy the celebrations.

I would love to meet the Queen, if only for the curtsy. When else do you get to do that?

I got to thinking that maybe we should loosen up the requirements and not only curtsy for the Queen, but other people you want to impress. The surgeon who is about to cut you open? Time for a big bow? The first time you meet your soon-to-be mother-in-law? That's a good time too. How about your all-time favorite movie star/author/elite skater/etc etc? I think the "We're Not Worthy" salute from Wayne's World is usually applied, but a curtsy is cuter. Don't you think?





And by the looks of this gal, good for your thighs.

After thinking this over some more, I realized this deep-seated desire to curtsy comes from not getting to do it enough as a skating performer. During the big touring shows I did -- only as the understudy. In my day as a competitor? Never.

So maybe I just need to throw in a few curtsies while I'm vacuuming or something and the urge might just go away.

Sylvia Froescher, Ice Show Producer Extraordinaire

... and good friend of Ice Charades. Someone I have always looked up to. That's her standing between Willy and Cathy in a Bietak sandwich.



And here she is featured in this article by Louis Elfman for IceNetwork, proving that you can still have great jobs within the industry when you are done performing. Although the odds are tough. For every thirty or so chorus skaters there is one choreographer, maybe an assistant. There is usually just one producer.

You do the math!

Anyway, congratulations, Sylvia.

Ooh La La

CASTING FOR "CIRCUS ON ICE" in BOULIONE, FRANCE

Looks like fun, only 30 minutes outside of Paris. Wish I had the time (and energy and jumps and/or spins).


Go to this Facebook page for the details:

Nanterre (30 minutes from Paris by RER).

Casting: Chorus Girls, Chorus Boys, A pair and a Solo girl.
Place: Nanterre (30 minutes from Paris with RER)
Rehearsals in Paris and Nanterre from November 7 to Novembe 16.
Skows from November 17 to december 16.
Saturday nov 17: 2 shows.
Sunday nov 18: 2 shows.
Saturday nov 24: 3 shows.
Sunday nov 25: 2 shows.
Saturday dec 01: 2 shows.
Sunday dec 02: 3 shows.
Wednesday dec 05: 2 shows.
Saturday dec 8: 2 shows.
Sunday dec 09: 3 shows.
Wednesday dec 12: 2 shows.
Saturday dec 15: 4 shows.
Sunday dec 16: 3 shows.

Chorus Skaters from Paris:
180 euros for 2 shows
220 euros for 3 shows.
260 euros for 4 shows
Rehearsals 40 euros per day.
Salary net, No hotel for people from Paris.

Chorus skaters not from Paris or from other countries:
2.000 euros net for the period plus travels and Hotel with breakfast.
12 working days.
Real Ice.
Send Photos and resume.

Please Contact:
Francis Demarteau
Global International Shows.
francisjld@hotmail.com


Thank you very much.
Kind regards

Francis

Cruise Ship Question and Comment for the Cruise Ship Skaters

A friend of mine is going on a cruise soon, but is scared that she will be seasick. It's on a big ship and my question is to the skaters that skate on a cruise ship day in and day out ... how does one keep from getting sick?


This weekend it was the Harbor Birthday for Hamburg ... a big event for the city. I think it's Hamburg rival to Munich's more successful Oktoberfest. Hmmm, big boats vs. big boobs and beer steins - which do you think would be more successful?

Anyway, Hamburg has the harbor birthday and the Queen Mary 2 rolled into town. It's big. Although Germany's Aidasol (on the left with the red lips) is pretty big too.

Cruise ships have been in the news a lot lately and most of it bad news. We all know how the Italian cruise line Costa Concordia ended up, but did read the news about the Panamanian fisherman suing Star Princess cruise ship for failing to pick them up? According to a news report from a month ago, the crew was alerted to the problem, but did nothing. That's not good.


So, my comment for the cruise ship skaters would be, if someone mentions something about "stranded fisherman ... waving for help", don't ignore it. Tell the crew, tell the captain, tell the Coast Guard. Don't let Royal Caribbean receive the bad publicity that Princess will.


And finally, let's hope the cruise ships with ice show will never let this happen on board.

Gaddafi’s Son Built a Ship With Deadly Shark Tank Inside

Hannibal Gaddafi—son of the assassinated Libyan dictator—built a ship with a 120-ton sea water aquarium inside. Why? To put six sharks inside, including two bull sharks and two whites, the most dangerous in the world.

Why in the world would you do that?

Yummm!

There is a point in the novel Ice Charades when the protagonist, Sue, carries a croissant in her purse to wolf down as soon as the *weigh-ins are over. Even though eating a croissant or even a hamburger probably wouldn't make you one pound heavier, one hour later, it's the psychological feeling that weighing in when the tank is completely empty gives you the best result.


It's an ongoing theme in the book.


Things don't go as planned during *weigh-ins and that croissant gets smushed before the end of the day. Not smashed, but smushed. I like the sound of smushed much better. See photo above ... although that's a clean, direct smush ... not like the half-smushed, partially-torn greasy-napkin-bleeding-onto-Sue's-wallet croissant I envisioned.


Then this weekend, it dawned on me that my new, favorite breakfast treat for the last three months is ALSO a smushed croissant, called the franzbrötchen schoko. (chocolate french bread)


They have smushed it on purpose. And then - it seems like to me - they fry it with a chocolate glaze and dust it off with powder sugar. Wow, genious. All you need to do is shove a stick in there and you've got the next State Fair sensation.


I never knew of this delicacy from Hamburg, in all of my days touring with Holiday On Ice. That's probably a good thing, since making my set weight was hard enough with the regular croissants and struedels and good ol' baguettes and Swiss chocolates etc etc, coming my way. But in writing about the state of Sue's pastry back in 2007, it's as if I always knew.


** weigh-ins: Subjecting a skater to a (usually) weekly weighing to see how much they weigh above their set weight in order to fine them or even fire them occasionally.

This and That

I would totally wear this, except it only comes in kids' sizes. I'm having trouble with the %$#$!!@ spacing on this post, so I apologize that it is all shoved together. I'm working on this .... So, I wanted to link to a great article Vlad posted on his skating blog, World Figure Skating, about the birth of ice shows written by Olga Fluegge. Interesting reading for any chorus girl or boy, so here's the link: The History of Ice Shows | Skating Esquire By the way, you should keep watching the World Figure Skating blog, because he's going to be the one with the scoop in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Next ... what would an Ice Charade's post be without an Ice Capades Reunion notice. Here you go ...

New Orleans Mini Reunion Weekend for Ice Capades June 14 thru 17, 2012 Wyndham Chateau Bourbon is offering a renovation special http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/MSYCB/main.wnt Rate per person – Based on Single or Double Occupancy 6/14/12 - @ $118.30 6/15 – 6/17 - @ $132.30 a night Call the hotel directly (504-586-0800) or click on the link above to make your reservation. Space is limited. Greg’s New Orlean’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/410195945661755/

And finally, a little ditty to start off the weekend, which has nothing to do with skating. Yesterday, I went to my daughter's school for a presentation her class did on fables. The assignment was to update the old ones, bring them into the modern world. My absolute favorite fable that two of her classmates did was entitled "The Bat Gang and the Cow." The cow really wanted to join the gang of bats (yeah, don't ask me why), and she pretended she was voted "Australia's Prettiest Cow, 2010, (Australia? don't ask me why) and she even said she was the best swimmer of all. (Quite an imagination, these 3rd graders have, eh?) Well, the cow got busted for her fabrications and the moral of their fable, written as the last sentence of their power point presenstation?

Don't tell a lie unless it's really necessary!

Happy Birthday Toller Cranston

I told you there would be some birthdays to recognize in April ... and what better than the legend himself.

The skater and the painter, there is no one like him.



If you want to say happy birthday or even feliz cumpleanos yourself, stop over at Facebook and join the Fans of Toller Cranston page.