Evening with Champions notes
Oct. 14th, 2007 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bex77My family made our annual pilgrimage to Harvard's figure skating show for charity. There was a huge crowd there - the largest I've seen in several years. I had worried that folks would stay home to watch the Red Sox, but the place was almost full! I settled in to watch one of my favorite things - live skating!
Sandra Loosemore went last night and posted her thoughts and photos, so check that out on her wonderful web site: http://www.frogsonice.com/skateweb/reports/2007-ewc/
They started 20 minutes late. Here's what we saw:
Master of Ceremonies - Paul Wylie, cute as ever in his tux and skates
National Anthem - The Din & Tonics, one of Harvard's a cappella groups, sang, looking quite elegant in white tie and tails.
Opening Number - Paul Wylie started it off with a scratch spin, then the cast came out and boogied around to something like Boom Shake Shake.
Local skater - Amanda Marina, a 7th grader
Harvard Figure Skating Club (10 skaters, one guy) did their Madonna Medley, with a mix of single skater, pairs and synchro moves.
Oksana Bauil did Swan Lake. She looked trim and in good shape, but the skating was not so great. She had on a black and red pantsuit. I wish she'd stop skating. But good for her for trying, and helping the kids with cancer.
Kylie Gleason, 2006 Easterns Champion, had a lovely magenta costume, and fast spins.
Molly & Chris Schleicher are a brother/sister pair. Chris is a Harvard student. They train at the Skating Club of Boston and hope to qualify for Nationals as Juniors. They had black costumes and skated to "You'll Never Walk Alone."
Julianna Cannarozzo (7th at 2007 Nationals) wore orange/silver skating to "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me". She had great spins but fell on the jumps tonight.
Sinead and John Kerr, the 4-time British Champions in Ice Dancing, are now living in NJ and training with Platov and Drushina. They looked stunning in these "spaceman" matching costumes in black, blue and silver. They were supposed to be first time visitors to Earth, Paul said. They skated to techno music, including Enigma's "Gravity of Love." It looked like their long program, which still needs some work but has all the bits there. There are some very creative dance lifts. I can remember seeing them at Worlds in 2003, and their Welsh cheering section with the leek posters. Great to see them again!
Act I of Boston, Justin Pecarek's ice theater group of 26 skaters, did an interesting number to Viennese waltzes, with ballerina girls and soldier boys.
Scott Smith appeared in a red t-shirt, silver belt and black pants. He skated to some angsty male vocal. He looked trim and ready to go, but was not skating at competition level yet. He does that gorgeous spread eagle lay back that melts my heart, though.
Melanie Lambert and Fred Palascak, pros from the British Stars on Ice TV show, cruise ship, Holiday on Ice circuit, just returned from filming Cutting Edge 3! They were a big hit with 40's Boogie Woogie music. She had a red/white/blue dress, while he was dressed in khaki as a solider. They were slow, but had amazing tricks that wowed the crowd.
The Haydenettes, 16 synchro skaters from the club that's won the U.S. Championship 16 times, did a jazzy long program in electric blue dresses.
INTERMISSION
The second half of the show started off with the legendary Russian pairs gold medalists from 1964 and 1968, Ludmilla and Oleg Protopopov. He turned 75 this year, and they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! They look a little frailer to me, but still skate with such grace and style, they take my breath away. They wore light blue and skated to a female vocal. They got the only standing O.
Emily Naphtal is from Weston, MA and freshman at Harvard, but competes for Mexico and is their silver medalist. She had a lovely black costume and sakted to a female vocal.
Julia Vlassov and Drew Meekins, 2006 Junior World Champions in pairs, have been together for 6 years. They skated in black costumes with blue accents and intersting cuts to the music called something like "It's All Coming Back to Me Now."
Dan Hollander was next. I forget how tiny he is. Even compared to skaters, who aren't very big. But what a powerhouse! He had a black pants, a silver top and a black cap and skated to industrial sounds and drums. Those feet can move!
Amanda Levora and Mark Ladwig, 4th in U.S. pairs, train in Florida with Kerri Leach. She had on sky blue and he wore black, skating to a female ballad. They look almost ready to compete. I am sort of amazed someone paired them up...they are so different looking, with mismatched body line, and don't seem to skate together that well, but have most of the moves going.
Matt Savoie looked so calm out there, with his maroon shirt and velvet pants, skating to a male vocal classical piece. He's at Cornell Law these days. He is such a joy to watch - jumping and spinning and gliding over the ice.
Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, 2007 World Junior Pairs Champions, skated to "Play That Funky Music" and really got the crowd going. She had a jean mini skirt and pink top, while he wore jeans and a black top. They were fun!
Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov were looking thin and he's cut his hair. He wore black and she had on a classic rag bag hem grey dress. They did way too much posing to some angsty vocal. They did some competition elements, but it seemed like an exhibition program.
The crowd was really excited to see Emily Hughes. She is a freshman at Harvard now, and looked like she was having a blast, as usual. She had a black halter dress, and skated to Proud Mary. It was fast-paced with a pumping beat, but she stayed right on the beat even in her camel spin rotations. Another highlight for me.
Belbin and Agosto finally appeared. I think we saw their OD (folks music). They were dressed in "country" costumes - her in a red longer skirt and white top, him in overalls with a blue gingham shirt and hat. (Change the hat, Ben...get a straw topper). The program had most the elements but wasn't quite soup yet. But it was fun.
Closing number - Oleg was a riot. be-bopping to some current music. Everyone came out for a final call, and Paul did both a spread eagle and scratch spin to finish it off.
This was a fun show, better than in recent years. I'm glad we went!
I saw it being filmed...maybe it was the CN8 crew and everyone can see it online at some point.
Sandra Loosemore went last night and posted her thoughts and photos, so check that out on her wonderful web site: http://www.frogsonice.com/skateweb/reports/2007-ewc/
They started 20 minutes late. Here's what we saw:
Master of Ceremonies - Paul Wylie, cute as ever in his tux and skates
National Anthem - The Din & Tonics, one of Harvard's a cappella groups, sang, looking quite elegant in white tie and tails.
Opening Number - Paul Wylie started it off with a scratch spin, then the cast came out and boogied around to something like Boom Shake Shake.
Local skater - Amanda Marina, a 7th grader
Harvard Figure Skating Club (10 skaters, one guy) did their Madonna Medley, with a mix of single skater, pairs and synchro moves.
Oksana Bauil did Swan Lake. She looked trim and in good shape, but the skating was not so great. She had on a black and red pantsuit. I wish she'd stop skating. But good for her for trying, and helping the kids with cancer.
Kylie Gleason, 2006 Easterns Champion, had a lovely magenta costume, and fast spins.
Molly & Chris Schleicher are a brother/sister pair. Chris is a Harvard student. They train at the Skating Club of Boston and hope to qualify for Nationals as Juniors. They had black costumes and skated to "You'll Never Walk Alone."
Julianna Cannarozzo (7th at 2007 Nationals) wore orange/silver skating to "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me". She had great spins but fell on the jumps tonight.
Sinead and John Kerr, the 4-time British Champions in Ice Dancing, are now living in NJ and training with Platov and Drushina. They looked stunning in these "spaceman" matching costumes in black, blue and silver. They were supposed to be first time visitors to Earth, Paul said. They skated to techno music, including Enigma's "Gravity of Love." It looked like their long program, which still needs some work but has all the bits there. There are some very creative dance lifts. I can remember seeing them at Worlds in 2003, and their Welsh cheering section with the leek posters. Great to see them again!
Act I of Boston, Justin Pecarek's ice theater group of 26 skaters, did an interesting number to Viennese waltzes, with ballerina girls and soldier boys.
Scott Smith appeared in a red t-shirt, silver belt and black pants. He skated to some angsty male vocal. He looked trim and ready to go, but was not skating at competition level yet. He does that gorgeous spread eagle lay back that melts my heart, though.
Melanie Lambert and Fred Palascak, pros from the British Stars on Ice TV show, cruise ship, Holiday on Ice circuit, just returned from filming Cutting Edge 3! They were a big hit with 40's Boogie Woogie music. She had a red/white/blue dress, while he was dressed in khaki as a solider. They were slow, but had amazing tricks that wowed the crowd.
The Haydenettes, 16 synchro skaters from the club that's won the U.S. Championship 16 times, did a jazzy long program in electric blue dresses.
INTERMISSION
The second half of the show started off with the legendary Russian pairs gold medalists from 1964 and 1968, Ludmilla and Oleg Protopopov. He turned 75 this year, and they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! They look a little frailer to me, but still skate with such grace and style, they take my breath away. They wore light blue and skated to a female vocal. They got the only standing O.
Emily Naphtal is from Weston, MA and freshman at Harvard, but competes for Mexico and is their silver medalist. She had a lovely black costume and sakted to a female vocal.
Julia Vlassov and Drew Meekins, 2006 Junior World Champions in pairs, have been together for 6 years. They skated in black costumes with blue accents and intersting cuts to the music called something like "It's All Coming Back to Me Now."
Dan Hollander was next. I forget how tiny he is. Even compared to skaters, who aren't very big. But what a powerhouse! He had a black pants, a silver top and a black cap and skated to industrial sounds and drums. Those feet can move!
Amanda Levora and Mark Ladwig, 4th in U.S. pairs, train in Florida with Kerri Leach. She had on sky blue and he wore black, skating to a female ballad. They look almost ready to compete. I am sort of amazed someone paired them up...they are so different looking, with mismatched body line, and don't seem to skate together that well, but have most of the moves going.
Matt Savoie looked so calm out there, with his maroon shirt and velvet pants, skating to a male vocal classical piece. He's at Cornell Law these days. He is such a joy to watch - jumping and spinning and gliding over the ice.
Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, 2007 World Junior Pairs Champions, skated to "Play That Funky Music" and really got the crowd going. She had a jean mini skirt and pink top, while he wore jeans and a black top. They were fun!
Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov were looking thin and he's cut his hair. He wore black and she had on a classic rag bag hem grey dress. They did way too much posing to some angsty vocal. They did some competition elements, but it seemed like an exhibition program.
The crowd was really excited to see Emily Hughes. She is a freshman at Harvard now, and looked like she was having a blast, as usual. She had a black halter dress, and skated to Proud Mary. It was fast-paced with a pumping beat, but she stayed right on the beat even in her camel spin rotations. Another highlight for me.
Belbin and Agosto finally appeared. I think we saw their OD (folks music). They were dressed in "country" costumes - her in a red longer skirt and white top, him in overalls with a blue gingham shirt and hat. (Change the hat, Ben...get a straw topper). The program had most the elements but wasn't quite soup yet. But it was fun.
Closing number - Oleg was a riot. be-bopping to some current music. Everyone came out for a final call, and Paul did both a spread eagle and scratch spin to finish it off.
This was a fun show, better than in recent years. I'm glad we went!
I saw it being filmed...maybe it was the CN8 crew and everyone can see it online at some point.
