N AT I ONAL THEA TRE ON I CE
The Los Angeles Ice Theater displays its electric personality en route to the senior title. CHARACTER BUILDING
Los Angeles Ice Theater claims fifth national TOI crown by BRENDA GLIDEWELL AND JODI PORTER; PHOTOS BY PROEVENTPHOTO
T
he Los Angeles Ice Teater captured its fifth consecutive National Teatre On Ice (TOI) Competition title at the end of
June. A record 37 teams and 726 skaters from 18 states took part in the event at the Hoover Arena in Strongsville, Ohio.
Te winners in the senior division per- formed a collection of opera vignettes. Tey de- livered theatrical comedic moments while dem- onstrating strong body lines, precise ensemble work and variation in the spacing of large and small groups that flowed across the ice. Los Angeles Ice Teater Director Danelle Cole praised her team’s performance as well as the entire competition. “Teatre On Ice is the best thing in figure
skating,” she said. “I love the freedom, artistry, acting, dancing of TOI and, most of all, I love my skaters.”
Te senior division offered something for
everyone, with performances varying from an adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof, complete with
the bottle dance, in which skaters balance bottles on their heads, to an original Bollywood collec- tion of music and dance. Te range of bright costumes and illuminated sets added to the audi- ence’s experience. Act I of Boston, which placed second in the
senior ranks, presented an expressive and artistic Cirque du Soleil “La Nouba” program. Te cast included 2004 U.S. junior men’s silver medal- ist Jason Wong and Marissa Castelli, the 2009 World and U.S. junior pairs silver medalist (with partner Simon Shnapir). “Having national-level skaters participating on teams and competing in the Teatre On Ice program is true testament of the growth and de- velopment of the TOI program most recently,” Jim McManus, national vice chair for TOI, said. Teams in all six divisions — senior, junior,
novice, adult, preliminary and open — kicked off the event with the Choreographic Exercise (CE). Tis segment, in which everyone is dressed in black, includes a defined program encompass-
A changing of the seasons is the free skate theme for Houston Starz, which captured the junior crown.
ing a theme (conflict); a choreographic process (diminish) and a body movement (release). “I felt as if I needed to pinch myself when I was watching all the CE programs, as every team competing displayed national quality skills and a solid demonstration of the elements during their performances,” Teatrical Skating Committee Chair Judy Edmunds said. “It was a show in it- self to observe all the parents and grandparents cheering for all the teams performing; what a true team sport and atmosphere.”
Te competition wrapped up the next day
with a free skate. Parker Pennington, U.S. titlist at the juve- nile, intermediate, novice and junior levels and producer of Skate Dance Dream, said he was im- pressed across the board with the performances. “It was a great feeling just to take this event
in as a spectator,” he said. “You could just feel the energy and positive vibes throughout the rink. Teatre On Ice offers the public a glance into the more creative aspects of figure skating, while the
The Space Coast Hurricanes gave the audience a show with their “Peter Pan” program in the novice division.
26 AUG./SEPT. 2012
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