Champion Skaters Trace Excellence On Ice
Campbell’s Soups 1996 Tour of World Figure Skating Champions Sunday, June 23, Spokane Arena
People who say the circus is the best show on Earth have not been to the Tour of World Figure Skating Champions.
Past and present champions wearing beautiful costumes skated to popular music at the sold-out Spokane Arena Sunday afternoon.
The stars performed to everything from The Beatles to “Pocahontas,” giving the observer a peek into the personalities of each champion.
Without the nervousness of competition lurking in the background, the skaters relaxed and had fun.
When dealing with this caliber of skaters, it is hard to pinpoint a highlight in the performance; every number was a highlight.
As always, Viktor Petrenko and Oksana Baiul were show-stoppers. Petrenko, the gold medalist from the 1992 Olympics, performed a sultry, jazzy number with swiveling hips and numerous triple jumps.
Hundreds of cameras flashed, creating a strobe-light effect, as Baiul took the ice for her Arabian number. Baiul, the gold-medal winner in the 1994 Olympics, is becoming America’s sweetheart as quickly as she became “queen of the ice.”
American favorites Michelle Kwan and Brian Boitano had their share of the limelight as well. Kwan, the 1996 world figure skating champion, personified Pocahontas as she skated to “Just Around the River Bend.” Skating with enthusiasm and artistry, Kwan beamed as she landed each triple jump.
Boitano, gold medalist at the 1988 Olympics, is one skater who understands the principle that sometimes less is more and that there is beauty in simple lines. With his skates etching the ice, he exuded such a mesmerizing presence that it was unthinkable to blink and miss even one second of his performance.
Canada’s Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler skated with a contagious energy that the audience caught. Dressed somewhat like the Blues Brothers, the 1993 pairs world champions received a frenzied ovation, the loudest and longest in the program.
Rudy Galindo and Nicole Bobek, 1996 and 1995 U.S. national champions, respectively, performed flawlessly. Both promise to be the future of American figure skating.
American Todd Eldredge and Lu Chen of China turned in challenging performances as well. Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko of Russia, Olympic dance goal medalists in 1992, used their powerful music so well that a silence swept the audience.
Canada’s Gia Guddat and Gary Beacom were innovative and sheer entertainment, skating on all fours as well as upright in glow-in-the-dark costumes.
The show will return again in 1997.
You can bet that Spokane will be eagerly awaiting the return of what is possibly the greatest show on Earth - and definitely the greatest show on ice.