WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
is extraordinary. “By watching how they start their creative
process and working with them on the routines, I have a great understanding of what it means to be a choreographer,” said American pairs skater Melanie Lambert, who appeared on the show for four seasons (as did her husband Fred Palascak), winning season two with rugby player Kyran Bracken. “Working with Chris and Jayne has im- pacted the way I work with my own students. I have a better understanding of what it means to be professional in every aspect of what you do.” Dean said they’re ever mindful of a celebri-
ty’s limitations, but that is an exciting challenge. Te ultimate goal is to create great entertain- ment, so they look for ways to pique viewer in- terest and motivate voting. In addition to judges’ scores, TV viewers vote by phone and digitally. He said the live element also creates an addi- tional sense of drama. You never know what will happen on a given night. “Tey’re always on the edge,” he said. Given the show’s popularity, celebrities clamor to be cast. Barber actually auditions near- ly 60 aspiring skaters each year. Torvill and Dean review the videotapes. Although some of them have virtually no skating experience, Torvill said you can usually tell who has potential. Barber gives each celebrity a mini-lesson. If they show some fraction of improvement, there’s a chance that given time they’ll be able to skate. Some- times people are cast because there’s a potential for humor or human interest. In 2011, the cast included Johnson Beharry
VC, the first living recipient of the Victoria Cross in more than 30 years, who was still recover- ing from injuries suffered in Iraq in 2004. His partner, Canadian pairs skater Jodeyne Higgins, found the unique partnership extraordinary, and viewers watched Beharry come alive as the season progressed. “It has been such a blessing to have had the
opportunity to share the ice and moments with such lovely people inside and out as Jayne and Chris,” Higgins said. “For sure, it is a highlight in my career, one that I will treasure and remember the rest of my life.” Higgins’ husband/adagio partner Sean Rice assisted in coaching her and Beharry after he and his partner, Angela Rippon, were eliminated ear- ly in the competition. “Chris and Jayne both still have this internal
drive and focus to create something out on the ice that is special and beautiful and new — not just once, but all the time,” Rice said. “Week in and week out they have produced some of the most beautiful programs that I have ever seen. Pushing their own bodies’ limits physically and mentally to always become better skaters and performers. I think that is brilliant.” During the live broadcasts, Torvill and Dean spend most of the show off the ice. Tey stand rinkside as each couple performs and then offer comments. Tey are glammed up to the max, and Torvill jokes that she now has an enormous shoe collection. Initially, they watched the per- formances and said a few things off the cuff. As
10 FEBRUARY 2012
loved it. In 2011, they were accompanied by a live orchestra with a featured violinist and joined on the ice by pro skaters from the cast and some additions. “I don’t think we ever want to do it as we did
it when we were younger performing it,” Dean said. “We’ll always do it a different way now.” Prior to season seven, neither Torvill nor
Dean would reveal many details, but he did say there will be some “interesting American con- tent,” who turned out to be ’80s stars Charlene Tilton and Corey Feldman. She said you can ex- pect the level to again be high as celebrities are intent to improve on prior seasons. After the sea- son is done, they’ll hit the road for a tour, as they have each year since season two. Torvill said it was during the first post-show tour that she fully understood how popular “Dancing on Ice” is and how enduring their place is in the hearts of Brit- ish fans. “We’d gotten used to performing again, but
in the studio,” she said. “Going out into the big arena, we were announced and the roar from the crowd was just amazing. I thought, ‘Wow, I remember this from years ago and here we are again.’”
Tey’re based in London during the sea-
son, but Torvill does her best to make it home a couple of nights a week. Her children come to some of the shows and often visit during the tour. Dean’s sons visit for two weeks during spring va- cation.
“Te studio becomes a big playground for
them. Tey love it,” he said. “We have this big mechanical crane and Sam treats it like a video game.
“Tey love going over there and I love it,
Above, each year Torvill and Dean perform a new interpretation of their iconic Bolero routine. In 2010, it involved silks. Below, at the conclusion of each “Dancing on Ice” season, Torvill and Dean and members of the cast go on a live tour around the United Kingdom.
the seasons progressed, they’ve started preparing some of their comments in advance, trying to give a blend of insight and humor. Each season, the finalists perform their own
interpretation of Bolero, Torvill and Dean’s iconic free dance performed at the 1984 Olympic Win- ter Games. Tis is one piece of choreography Torvill and Dean don’t do. It’s left to the celebri- ties and their professional partners. “Te first year was endearing for us and kind of emotional that the whole series was leading up to the performance of Bolero for our celebrities,” Torvill said. “It was something new for us to watch them do. It was so sweet the way they put so much effort into it and really wanted to not only impress the judges, but impress us with their own interpretation of it. “It always fascinates me in the final to see
what people are going to make of it.” Each final, Torvill and Dean also present
their own new interpretation of Bolero. In 2010, they did a routine with silks coming down from the ceiling, which Torvill said she never would have attempted 20 years ago, but she absolutely
too. Tey’re exposed to British and European cul- ture. Te first year it was all, ‘It doesn’t taste like it does at home,’ but now they’re very comfortable and they understand that it is different, but they like it, too.”
After the tour, he heads back to Colorado.
He continues to do some competitive choreogra- phy, having worked with Paul Poirier and Piper Gilles and Emily Samuelson and Todd Gilles this season.
Right now, his focus is fixed on “Dancing
on Ice.” He said there isn’t a particular moment that stands out over the course of the series. “Each year you see something more, bigger
and better,” Dean said. “When you look at the body of work and you look at what the show’s achieved, that in itself is the amazing thing.” American pairs skater Matt Evers has been
on every season of “Dancing on Ice,” winning in 2008 with singer/actress Suzanne Shaw. He is still in awe of the dedication and high standards of the show’s creative forces and is deeply appre- ciative they’ve made him a part of their team. “Working with Jayne and Chris over the
past seven years, I have learned that in the cre- ative process of choreography there is never a wrong way,” Evers said. “If you commit to an idea, movement, character or concept it will al- ways come off with a bang and you will be re- warded for it.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF REX FEATURES
PHOTO COURTESY OF NEIL READING PR
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