It’s refreshing when kids surprise you with insight that you generally reserve for adults. So to all those nay-sayers that think our youth is hopeless, clueless and solely obsessed with Hannah Montana (who can blame them…those songs are catchy) you are dead wrong. Granted, when I was ten I think the only things I cared about was Oreos, dinosaurs and Playmobil (for those of you who don’t remember that wonder of play-set…It was basically the biggest competitor of Lego and freaking cool…sorry, I should refrain from digressing about and regressing to my childhood).
What does this have to do with figure skating you ask? I’m getting to it…It’s a dramatic build-up. So here we are at the Denver stop of the 2009 Smucker’s Stars on Ice tour here in my home state of Colorado. The tour consists of many of the skaters you already love and cherish, or just fell in love with on the 2008 Disson Skating tour. The tour this year is helping raise money for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America by donating a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales. Here’s where the insightful and awesome kids come in…
A group of Denver Boys & Girls Club members came to the show and were treated to a meet-and-greet with the skaters and an exclusive rink-side rehearsal show. Watching the group’s eyes light up and jaws drop in amazement at the speed and skill of the amazing athletes of this tour was fantastic. It’s really hard to appreciate danger factor that goes into figure skating until one of the athletes comes screaming by (backwards), then rocketing through the air into a triple lutz. My mouth was gaping just like the kids...Child-like wonder is a great thing. Two of the ambassadors of the Boys and Girls Club present won an essay contest, writing about who there respective hero’s are. None of them had been to a Smucker’s Stars on Ice show and boy, were they in for a treat. But we’ll save the show highlights for a later…
One of the girls asked a poignant question I never thought to ask myself...and I pride myself on a penchant for asking obscure questions in most situations. With a look of real concern she asked where all of the ice goes when the show is over, and more importantly does it get recycled? She was adamant that it should be. We’re in an age where environmental conservation and sustainability practices are being ingrained in our children at younger and younger ages. It’s awesome. I think Al Gore is partially to thank for his ground-breaking documentary “An Inconvenient Truth" and for creating the internet…Thanks Al! You’ve helped lay the groundwork for an environmentally friendly and globally connected youth…I’m being a bit facetious about Gore, but nonetheless, this group of friendly and mature pree-teens took me back a little.
I followed up on the inquiry of the young environmentalist in training, partially because she was so concerned and equally due to my own curiosity, and discovered that the Pepsi Center keeps the ice for the Colorado Avalanche hockey games. The ice melts slowly and the run-off goes into the event centers main drainage system. I learned an additional interesting ice fact that you can quiz your skating friends on, or better yet your friends who claim to be hockey buffs: Figure skaters need substantially thicker ice at a warmer temperature than hockey players. Why? The reason is, they need to be able to pick into the ice for landing those sweet quads and triple-salchows. So, for the Avalanche game the following night they shave some layers of the ice and keep it at a cooler temperature than before.
On to the show! The power-house cast kept the energy peaked in the mile-high city throughout the production. Reigning World Champion Jeffrey Buttle’s routine to Jamiraquai’s “Canned Heat” (The song from Napoleon Dynamite…if that helps) was electrifying. He’s not only one the top male figure skaters, with amazing technique coupled with grace, the emotive qualities of the choreography and music resonate from him. He’s one of the most expressive male skaters I’ve seen. The lights and sounds were of the caliber that any rock star could appreciate. Speaking of rock stars the heart-throb of the rink, John Zimmerman showed he is the epitome of a rock star on blades. First, he broke the hearts of four of the ladies in the cast, skating with one and going to the next in a fantastic and seductive routine. Secondly, his presence made all the ladies in the audience scream as he performed to Led Zeppelin’s “I’m Gonna Crawl”, and thirdly, anyone who performs an ice skating routine to Led Zeppelin is a rock star…Plain and simple. Just like Evan Lysacek is a rock star for being one of the most innovative and exciting male skaters, but also because he does a stellar routine to Michael Jackson (moon-walk and all).
The 2010 Winter Olympics arrive in Vancouver in just under a year! Be a part of the best opportunity to see former Olympic champions and current Olympic hopefuls perform as Smucker’s Stars on Ice continues for the 23rd season. The all-new production “On the Edge” promises to keep fans on the edge of their seats as the best skaters in the world show their amazing moves on the ice. Featuring Olympic Silver Medalist Sasha Cohen with special guest skaters, including reigning World Champion, Jeffrey Buttle, World Champion and six-time U.S. Champion, Todd Eldredge, 1998 Olympic Gold Medalist, Ilia Kulik and much more. What more could you want!
Keep up to speed on the rest of the tour stops by going to the
Official Stars on Ice website.
Until next time, this is Matt signing off from the greatest show on Earth (not the circus...Stars on Ice)
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