I've been watching ice dance videos for several years now. I'm not sure why I've been so taken with ice dancing, when I'm not all that interested in conventional dancing. Maybe it's because I skated as a child, but never had lessons, so I never learned how to do anything fancy. I would have liked to have learned how to do something more -- at least skate backwards, which I can only do very awkwardly. I don't think I would have been happy doing anything with spinning or flipping as I have a tendency towards motion sickness. Also, I stopped doing cartwheels in my 30's because I started seeing stars -- making me fear detached retina.
I've been particularly taken with the French team: Papadakis & Cizeron. They won several championships & an Olympic Gold. Recently, they broke up -- much to my consternation.
Johnny Weir, who is gay, and who is a sportscaster for figure skating, always said he thought Cizeron's skating was better. I didn't see that at all. I thought all the drama and style of the duo came from Papadakis -- and that he just preferred Cizeron, because Weir is gay -- and so, as it happens, is Cizeron.
Of course, it's really none of my business why they broke up as a team. They seemed to get along well and had been dancing together since childhood. I feel frustrated and curious.
Now Cizeron has deleted all his old Instagram posts, and is starting with a new woman as his skating partner.
Papadakis has become a coach, has done some sportscasting, and has been skating with another women -- Hubbell, who she trained and competed with. She also posted a video of herself singing. She's a good singer as well as a skater.
Cizeron has an exceptionally attractive face. Papadakis has this classic Greek look, which reminds me of ancient statues -- but is not conforming with Hollywood standards of what is beautiful. She's a beautiful skater tho -- very expressive, with dramatic facial expressions. She's much more articulate than he. She also has more interesting Instagram posts.
Then, Tuesday, she said she was starting a tour called "SOAR" the following day in NYC. I live in the suburbs of NYC. My schedule was clear. I could go. Here's an article about the SOAR show https://www.usfigureskating.org/news/article/ice-dance-internationals-tour-offers-skaters-and-audiences-chance-soar
This show is sponsored by Ice Dance international. Here's a website with their upcoming events https://icedanceinternational.simpletix.com/
Here is Ice Dance International on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/icedanceinternational/
Here is a rehearsal video that gives you a flavor of the show
It's hard for me to turn on a dime. I'm a creature of routines. Just suddenly going into the city during flu season is not my usual deal -- and a downpour was forecast. But the show itself was pretty cheap -- $25 plus fees; and I've never seen ice dancing in person, only in videos
I decided to go.
It rained even more than was forecast.
I used my clear plastic backpack, because I thought maybe there would be a security search. There was no search
I thought the backpack would be waterproof, because it's plastic. The zippers leaked.
I worried that the bag dinner that I packed wouldn't pass security. It turned out that the Sky Rink doesn't care if you bring in food and doesn't care if you eat in the stands. They only care if you eat on the ice. I had no intention of setting foot on the ice.
This was a pretty informal setup. This rink is used for all kinds of youth sports. In fact, the show was barely over when some hockey players came in to start playing.
The stands were probably only about half full -- plenty of room. I had a whole section to my self on the far end. That was nice. I tried to spread out my wet clothing, tho an ice rink is not a great place to dry wet clothing.
I was wearing a mask, because I'm a germaphobe -- but I didn't feel uncomfortable taking off my mask as I was pretty much by myself. As usual, I sat in the back row, with the thought that heavier than air germs will likely fall away from me.
Papadakis had two solos in this show, but also skated in some of the ensemble pieces. She also did a skating duo with a different woman, Alyssa Czisney, another former champion. I felt really excited to see her. She was great. She had a wardrobe malfunction in one of the group numbers, with the seam of her tights coming open. She had a wardrobe malfunction in a major competition once that cost her team the title, I think, because it was indecent and distracted her. This one she ignored & skated on.
It seemed so odd to me that this person, who I regard as an international celebrity, would be skating in such informal circumstances. Her performances were less high speed than what she used to do with Cizeron. Still, you can see that she's a pro.
Papadakis has been promoting female duos performing. She points out that there are more girls who want to learn ice dancing than there are men. That means that girls can only compete if a scarce man chooses them. This reminds me of the classic dance party, where women are forced to choose each other as partners because there aren't enough men. Here's a video of her dancing with Madison Hubbell
I saw an interview where Hubbell explained that she learned lifts as a child when ice dancing with her brother, while Papadakis said she couldn't do lifts. Hubbell also commented that she has a new body since having a baby -- but people don't mention that having a baby makes you a whole lot stronger. You have to carry around all this weight when pregnant -- and then as the kid is growing you have to carry them and strollers and diaper bags. When you look at that mom, whose body is thicker than it used to be, remember that's she's stronger -- and look at Hubbell doing lifts!
Rohene Ward did an interesting solo -- wearing an elaborate reddish- purple outfit with frills. He has long hair now -- which is very curly and moves dramatically when he skates. He is listed as retired in Wikipedia, but he certainly didn't seem to be retired in this show I really liked his ice dancing. I thoought he conveyed a lot of drama. Here's a video of him
I was also excited to see Oona & Gage Brown, whose videos have appeared frequently on my social media feed. I think it was stated that they had won some junior championship. They're brother and sister.
It was once explained to me that ice dancers don't jump -- only figure skaters jump. I did see a few jumps tho. Perhaps 3 in the whole show.
I was really hoping to get a selfie with Papadakis, but there wasn't a meet and greet afterwards. The coordinator told me that I would have to go to the show in West Orange Friday to get a meet and greet. OK, I am a fan. I did think it was a good show -- but I don't think I will go again.
Here's an instagram post of Ice Dance International. This guy dancing was the emcee of the show, but he didn't dance in the show. I'm not sure who he is. Maybe Douglas Webster?
Just a comment on rain clothing. I had a pair of gloves that had been said to be waterproof on the webstie where I ordered them. However, they were only water resistant. After an extended period of time out in the pouring rain they were thoroughly soaked. 24 hours later, after hanging up , they were still fairly wet. I also had my LL Bean low boots, which I think they call gumshoes. They are definitely waterproof, but they leaked around the opening at the top. I was weraing a long wool dress that was not completely covered by my raincoat. That was sopping at the hem.
The real hero of this story was the Jack Murphy raincoat that I got from an Irish website. That coat is amazing. Whatever it covered stayed dry.
#IceDance #IceDanceInternational #SOAR #Papadakis #GabriellaPapadakis #MadisonHubbell #AlyssaCzisney #OonaBrown #GageBrown #DouglasWebster
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