Stars on Ice show about stunt, style
At the Smucker's Stars on Ice show Saturday at the Mellon Arena, 13 of the world's best ice skaters will blend the most jaw-dropping stunts from their competitive training with the personality and imagination of performing arts.
"On the Edge: The Heart of the Champion" -- the title of this year's show, which is in its 23rd season -- aims to take spectators of all ages to the edge of their seats, skater Jennifer Robinson says. This year's show, more so than previous productions, will have more of the competitive skating stunts, she says, along with the entertaining music, costumes and choreography. "On the Edge" features more of the intense stunts, with crazy and dramatic jumps, back flips and triple axles -- where the skaters rotate three-and-a-half times in the air, then land facing the opposite direction.
"We're taking them to the edge of their seats every time we step out on the ice," says Robinson, 32, the six-time Canadian ladies champion. She is a 2002 Olympian, and eight-time World Championship competitor.
"If you're coming as a figure-skating fan who really knows the jumps ... we have that for you," she says. "If you really don't know what skating is about and want to be pulled to the edge of your seat ... it will do that, too."
Stars on Ice skater Jeffrey Buttle, the 2008 World Champion, agrees.
"We decided that we really wanted to showcase what figure skating is really all about," he says. Buttle also is an Olympic bronze medalist and three-time Canadian champion. "We're pushing the boundaries technically, but ... at the same time, we also want to showcase ourselves as artists. ... It keeps us on our toes, and it makes for an interesting show."
Stars on Ice features six group numbers, and each skater -- many of whom are retired from competing -- gets two solo numbers. The acts range from the dramatic, like Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen's performance to Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," to Michael Weiss' rowdy act with AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long."
Weiss -- a three-time U.S. champion, two-time Olympian and two-time World Bronze medalist -- also skates to "Open Arms" by Journey. He is known for his back flips, and this year, he plans to do some straddle-legged jumps, rather than the usual jumps with tucked-under legs.
"Smucker's Stars on Ice gives us a great avenue to basically ... get back to what we love about figure skating," says Weiss, 32. The show has something for everyone young and old, he says.
"There are no rules and no regulations. In this show, we can let our minds run free.
"At the end," he adds, "I'm completely spent and completely exhausted."
The skating stunts, nail-biters to the audience, become somewhat second nature to the skaters who have practiced them for years, Buttle says. Still, the moves are very challenging.
"These moves are difficult," he says. "They're not easy, but we're supposed to make them look that way."
Weiss says he gets nervous -- but also exhilarated -- before doing some of the fancier back flips and triple jumps.
"I always take a very deep breath before I do it, and then go for it all the way," he says.
For the skaters, Stars on Ice offers a fun, nurturing environment that is radically different from the cutthroat world of the Olympic Games and other grueling competitions. At Stars on Ice, they are performing for the audience -- which is much easier to please than judges, skaters say.
"I think (spectators) love that when we're out there, we are not on the ice to perform for nine judges who decide our fate," Buttle says. "We're out there to perform for the audience. It's fun for everyone, really.
"It's been amazing," he adds. "It's fantastic to be able to skate and live and eat and travel with great skaters and friends.
"Training for the Olympics was definitely an experience," Buttle continues. He says he wants someday to finish his chemical engineering degree at the University of Toronto.
"I definitely enjoyed (Olympic training), but it's a lonely lifestyle. I ate by myself ... and trained by myself," he says. "Now, I'm touring on the bus with all the skaters, and the skaters become your family. We're a tight group, and we just have so much fun."
Smucker's Stars on Ice featured skaters:
• Jeffrey Buttle , 2008 world champion, Olympic bronze medalist, three-time Canadian champion
• Sasha Cohen , silver medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
• Ilia Kulik , Russian-born skater who won the gold medal on his first trip to the Olympic Games in 1998
• Todd Eldredge , who won six U.S. titles and six World Championship medals, and carried an American flag recovered from the World Trade Center site at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
• Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao , a Chinese couple who won Olympic bronze medals twice
• Yuka Sato , a Japanese-born skater who won the 1994 World Championship, and three World Professional Championships.
• Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon , a couple from Quebec who won two World silver medals
• John Zimmerman , a world bronze medalist and three-time U.S. pairs champion
• Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto , a couple who won the silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics and won the 2008 U.S. Championships
• Kimmie Meissner , who won the World Championships in 2006 and the 2007 U.S. Championships
• Evan Lysacek , two-time world bronze medalist and two-time U.S. champion
• Jennifer Robinson , six-time Canadian champion
• Michael Weiss , two-time world bronze medalist
Source: www.starsonice.com
Additional Information:
Smucker's Stars on Ice: 'On the Edge'
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Admission: $23.75-$114.25
Where: Mellon Arena, Uptown
Details: 412-323-1919, www.mellonarena.com or www.starsonice.com
