Die Anfängerin: Christine Stüber-Errath's Remarkable Comeback

Talk about a comeback! In a forthcoming feature film, 1974 World Champion and 1976 Olympic Bronze Medallist Christine Stüber-Errath will mark her return to the ice in a film directed by Alexandra Sell. The plot of the film centers around a doctor (played by Katrin Sass, who was lauded for her role in the 2003 film Good Bye, Lenin!) with an unfulfilled dream of becoming a figure skater. Sass' character was forbidden by her mother to take up skating despite being a huge fan of Errath's own skating in her youth. Taking up skating in her late fifties, Sass' character ends up meeting the very skater she admired most on the ice and forming a bond with the former skating star. It's really a fascinating story. You've got two ladies in their late fifties - an actress who has never skated before and a World Champion skater who hasn't performed in decades both coming together in the most unexpected way.

The film is based on over three years of copious research of figure skating by director Alexandra Sell. One of the main inspirations for the film was Stüber-Errath's 2010 book which recounted her career in skating and paid tribute to her late coach Inge Vishnevsky. "I am honored that such an exceptional athlete as Christine takes part in the film project," said Sell in an interview with German newspaper Märkische Allgemeine. Sell's previous film credits include the 2005 documentary Durchfahrtsland.

Christine's bronze medal winning free skate at the 1976 Winter Olympics

Though this is essentially Stüber-Errath's first feature role in a film, she's no stranger to German audiences even in recent years. Errath works in television and hosted the popular entertainment show Außenseiter Spitzenreiter with Hans-Joachim Wolfram. She started preparing for the role in September 2012, taking her first skating lessons in decades with Heidemarie Walther-Steiner once a week to prepare for the film role. Even more remarkably is the fact her comeback started in the same skates than won her an Olympic bronze medal. She later got new ones for the first time in thirty seven years for the film. "My Olympic skates have simply not fit. After fifteen minutes on the ice, my feet were numb," stated the former three time European Champion. I think it's wonderful to see a skater who has been away from the ice for so many years return and can't wait to learn more about this film. It sounds like it has the makings for something truly special.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Lorna Brown

Growing up near Newcastle, England, Lorna Brown is without question not only a significant figure in the world of figure skating but someone who has left the sport better than she found it. A British and World Professional Champion and internationally renowned choreographer, Brown has choreographed for the best and the rest, and the consistent theme in all of her work is its rich and layered quality and that marriage of music and movement that transforms the ice into a stage. She's choreographed for innovative skaters like three time Canadian Champion Emanuel Sandhu and toured with John Curry's Skating Company, but the real story in Lorna Brown is her passion for skating and refreshingly honest approach to the sport/art. We talked in depth about everything from her own experiences on the ice to her thoughts on the current state of skating, touring with John Curry's Company, losing her student Lars Dresler to HIV/AIDS and much, much more. Grab yourself a coffee or a Genmaicha tea (I swear you'd think I should get royalties for how much I advertise the stuff) and get ready to take a trip inside the mind of one of skating's most fascinating figures:

Q: After your own ten year international "amateur" career ended, you turned professional and became both the British and World Professional Champion and toured with John Curry's Ice Dancing (performing on Broadway) and at the London Palladium's "Theatre Of Skating" show. How difficult was the transition from the "amateur" to professional worlds for you and what did you love most about the creativity afforded in professional skating?

A: I felt freedom at last - and thought to hell with all the judges. I was literally deprived of a place on the British team because of the fact I was way ahead of my time and as the winner of the British Junior Championships I shot up to the number one free skater in the country in the senior Championships, so they knocked me down in the figures so they didn't disturb the top three that had been there for years. I ended up finishing fourth three times and so that was enough. It broke my heart but I then competed in the World Championships in Wembley the first time and came second to a European Champion who was also an Olympic and world bronze medallist by 0.2 and the pro marks were out of ten. I skated to "On the Waterfront" and I remember the ice was liquid blue so I was in my element. The next time I did World Pros in Jaca and won it. I skated to "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" and really became the story in my program. Soon after that, John asked me to join his first company. He said I was the first person he invited. As I had known him for many years, we had stayed quite close even when apart and continued to be close during the following years. I was devastated when he died and attended and spoke at his funeral and again at his memorial the following year. I continued to do other shows in between John's shows and studied dance even more. I actually started ballet when I was three and was on the stage all my life. I also began choreographing in between shows and doing ice ballet classes too.

Q: We've talked at length about the importance of open professional competitions like the U.S. Open, World Professional Championships in Jaca and the American Open. Where do you see professional and artistic skating regaining ground in recent years and how can it continue to develop or should I say redevelop?

A: I don't know where but I see it has to happen. I think there is more in Europe than here. Events like Art On Ice etc. Really, a lot of amateurs are professionals anyway but to remain popular on TV and survive as a sport it has to be more entertaining so more shows and more pro competitions would be amazing. I think it is great now that skaters can use music with lyrics too. It is the start of a new era. I think that pro competitions and galas could be done to aid good causes and charities. I would love to have one to help children in need or to support suffering animals.

Q: Going back to touring with John Curry, I want to ask you about your experiences working with John. What made him so undeniably special and what are your favourite memories from both the show and working with him specifically?

A: John and I would talk about our dream of having an ice ballet company when we were very young. We were both winning competitions together but then I turned pro and John went out to the USA and eventually won Europeans, Olympics and Worlds on the trot and that enabled him to do what he really wanted to do and that was to dance on the ice in theatres and do things his way: the way he always dreamed of from being a child. He was hugely inspired by Vaslav Nijinsky as I was with Isadora Duncan. He was a perfectionist and was very dedicated in everything he did for his work. he shows were incredible. We had people like Diana Ross, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova attending... all of these amazing people were in the audiences and THEY were amazed that John was bringing ballets to the ice. We used to laugh a lot. We would sit on the bed and I would sing "Life" by Shirley Bassey to him. We would go into the park pretending we were Romeo and Juliet. We were going to do Midsummer Night's Dream someday and he wanted me to play Puck on the ice. We were like brother and sister: very close. We had our moments. One memory from John's shows that will always stand out is skating "Tango Tango" with him. Jojo wasn't there at that show. I wore a different costume than her and I was very different to Jojo. We were each other's understudies. The beginning was amazing and then he took me down into the death spiral and he let go and I lost the death spiral. I remember leaving the ice and I was so upset with him. I asked him "why? Why would you do that?" and he looked at me and said "I thought you could do it by yourself". There I was with these black tears and bright red lips. It never happened again. Once, we were all so tired after a twelve hour rehearsal and he was being very picky so I felt I had had enough of his nit picking and stormed off and told him to take me out of the pas de trois. I was the only soloist in it. Then I stormed off and told him he could take me out of the whole show. I dreaded what would really happen as I did not want that to happen but he was a slave driver at times. Next day, I went back in (we were at the Twickenham film studios in London) and he came into my dressing room and said good morning to me so I think he was a little worried too. That day, I dressed up in a fabulous outfit with a big white floppy hat and he said I looked like I just stepped off of the cover of Vogue magazine. We were all happy again. There are many stories but really he was also very loving and deeply involved with the work we were doing and tried to live out his dreams as much as possible in reality until the dreaded end to his life began. I could write a book about it all. There is a wonderful book coming out in August of this year called "Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of John Curry". I will be featured in the book and can't wait to read it. I will meet with the author Bill Jones when I visit England in the summer time this year.

Q: You not only lost John to HIV/AIDS but also your very talented student Lars Dresler, who you coached to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. How devastating was that era in skating when we lost so many great skaters to a virus that so few people then had any true understanding of?

A: It was a terrible time. Two or three years after John died I lost Lars Dresler. I went through a lot with him after he found out as he didn't want anyone to know, as his family didn't even know he was gay. I had to tell his sister for him to get her used to that idea before she found out he had AIDS. We only competed for one more year and then it was too hard to cope with. He would be on a warm up at an international competition and would come over to me and say "what's the point?" It was so devastating. The last I saw of him was when he was very ill and a friend who was a former Danish Champion (Anette Nygaard) and I took him to Spain for a vacation as he had never been and wished to go there. It was so very hard to see him so thin and ill and every day he thought he was dying. I helped him as much as I could and we called each other between England and Denmark until almost the end of his life but I didn't make it on time as I had promised him I would. He died suddenly in the hospital. The whole male cast of John's Company I was in are all gone. Paul McGrath, Paul Toomey, Brian Grant, Ron Alexander and John himself.

Q: You are most known and loved for your work as a brilliant choreographer and coach. What strategies or principles to you bring to the table every time you work with a skater or develop a new piece?

A: I put a great deal of effort and communication into my work. With choreography, it is first about the music and the idea for the type of movement and mood of the program. I always think the beginning, the middle and the end have to be the strongest. I love body movement and expression. I have to be deeply involved and not rushed as that kills it or just doesn't allow me to bring the best of me out. I like to help the skater be open, uninhibited and free to be with me as one and to feel total awareness of the movements they are learning with their whole body. The blend of the whole piece from beginning to end is important. I never really plan the choreography, just the music and the vision of it. I structure it when we begin the actual creation. With technique, I am very different and analytical so I have two sides to me... both extremely detailed. Often people say if you are an artist then you cannot be a technician but I don't agree as I am both. Leonardo de Vinci was like that!

Q: I read a wonderful quote by you in an interview with the American Ice Theatre, whose work I am just so impressed by. You said "It is easy to be average. You really have to work hard to achieve originality and to be unique. Creative people use who they are and what they have learned and experienced to inspire themselves to create new ideas. These people are individuals who are comfortable with themselves but who also realize their imperfections and thrive on achieving excellence. They continually search for new ideas by attending the ballet, shows, art galleries and anything that will inspire them in life to develop themselves. It is those who dare to be different who are remembered and who leave an everlasting impression." I have a hypothetical question for you. If a top level skater wanted to skate an artistically brilliant performance in the current IJS competition knowing full well that in order to skate that masterpiece they'd have to throw the requirements ("levels", etc.) out the window to do it, would you be supportive? Do you feel there is value and merit to artistic protest?

A: Yes I do, but they would slaughter them for it. I don't know how it would go down? It would be great though! I have often wondered the same thing. Maybe Stephane Lambiel could to that!

Q: I want to talk to you about the ladies competition at the Olympics and the current judging system. There's a can of worms, right? Do you think the right skater won Olympic gold and what suggestions would you offer to improve the judging of "amateur" skating to ensure it is fair, transparent and rewarding the 'right' qualities? 

A: This is a debatable question. I love Yuna Kim and respect her a great deal as a person and as an ambassador to her country and all she does for charities. She is a very highly skilled and beautiful performer with maturity and beauty. Adelina Sotnikova did as much as she could to get the scores, as Scott Hamilton put it "she ticked every box" and every jump and spin had difficult entries etc. so it was like the two of them should both have the gold medal. I think the rules have improved the spins, the footwork and the creativity of the whole programs. When you look back, there were much simpler programs and lot more crossovers but at the same time the programs can be crammed up with transitions and can be overloaded then you can't see wood for trees. I don't think the point system matters as in the end it all boils down to one number: first, second or third, if you know what I mean. The rules could have changed without the judging system itself.

Q: What is the most beautiful piece of music you've ever heard, the book you cherish most and the place you go when you need to think?

A: The book is Isadora Duncan's "My Life". There are too many pieces of music which I love but one very beautiful piece that I love always is Mahler's 5th Symphony - track four. Where I go when I need to think is right in front of the ocean with no one around.

Q: Tell me about your work with Emanuel Sandhu. What makes him such a star?

A: He is an individual who is very well trained as a ballet dancer and other forms of dance. He is an emotional person with deep feelings and at times very eccentric. I was privileged to work with him even though he never did make his comeback happen for the Sochi Olympics. He had many problems including finances, personal support and also knee problems. It's sad he never made it to be an Olympic Champion as he is one of the most beautifully artistic and technically perfect skaters ever. A talent that should have made it to the very top.

Q: What are the three most brilliant programs of all time developed by other choreographers you have ever seen skated? Programs that just made you stop and go "wow"?

A: John Curry in" L'apres Midi D'une Faun" choreographed by Norman Maen. Kurt Browning in "Singin' In The Rain" choreographed by Sandra Bezic and Viktor Petrenko skating to "When I'm Back On My Feet Again"... but then there is Stephane Lambiel in practice, improvising and choreographing for himself. So many that I actually don't know how to answer this! It is endless and would take a lot of research to give really precise answers. I also love Jeffrey Buttle and Gary Beacom as well as Yuna Kim. I think she has such a lovely expression which is so deep and subtle. I feel sometimes the girls need to be more totally physical and open so they can really show their feelings with mind, body and spirit. A lot of skaters aren't open enough physically. It's like they're afraid of their bodies. It's not just about positions, it's about being with the music.

Q: What's one thing about you most people don't know?

A: There are many things. I write poetry and paint and am a very deep thinker. I love to be alone as well as with others. I love animals and nature. I love to help the suffering and would have loved to have married and had a child. It didn't happen and a lot of it was because of my strange life as an ice skater. I'm not sure what people don't know. Sometimes we can give people the wrong impression. I am not sure really what others see in me.

Q: What is next for you?

A: I will be at the Alexandra Palace in London, England first on the 25th of May, then Oxford on the 27th and 28th of May then Plymouth on the 31st of May and 1st of June. I will be seeing friends and family for a few days before I return. I will focus on the many ways to be creative together with skating skills and expression with music. The Ice Class will incorporate as much body movement and as much freedom of expression as I can generate in the atmosphere. Skating needs that. Look at the Nederlands Dance Theatre. I know skating is a different scene but I wish it was more open to being open.

Q: What is the best piece of advice you've ever been given and what is the best piece of advice you could ever give?

A: It is another hard one to answer. The best advice I have been given is to "be myself" so I would say the same: "Be who you truly are". No false fronts!

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

On The Frozen Pond: The Magic Of Skating Outside

Winter may be giving way to be spring but there's just something so fabulously primitive, so instinctive and so historic about the simple act of skating outside that lingers in our memories. People started skating on frozen rivers and lakes thousands of years before us and for many years even Olympic and World competitions were held in the throws of mother nature. Competitors battled challenging ice conditions, frigid cold and the elements all in the quest to better their craft, fueled by their love of the ice. From Madison Square Garden to Sun Valley to the Rideau Canal and even the Emera Oval right here in Halifax I went skating only months ago, outdoor skating remains hugely popular to this very day. There's simply something magical about it. That intangible quality is well explained by skaters' affinity for outdoor ice. Shows in Sun Valley draw skaters and audiences alike year round, and many of the world's best skaters have returned to frozen lakes, ponds and even glaciers to carve out moments on the ice.

Kurt Browning's first TV special, 'Tall In The Saddle' featured many outdoor skating scenes with the backdrop of an old western town, including a performance where Kurt skates with Michael Slipchuk and Norm Proft and an old fashioned spaghetti western showdown between Kurt and Gary Beacom. Later in the special, Kurt skates a outdoor "Lake Of Dreams" program full of his energy, flair and that magical something that is definitely Kurt Browning.

Brian Boitano and Brian Orser (Olympic medallists and World Champions both) also turned to outdoor ice in their respective television specials. Orser performed "The Story Of My Life" by Neil Diamond, a signature program dedicated first to his fans then later as a tribute to his late mother and choreographed by both Uschi Keszler and David Wilson over the years, outside in his 1988 TV special Skating Free. I've always loved this program whenever Brian skated to it but there was truly something just that little bit more magical and organic about this outdoor performance that really came from its setting. Likewise, Brian Boitano's well known outdoor "Water Fountain" performance choreographed by Sandra Bezic and skated outside on a rink built on a glacier in Alaska still stands as one of the most beautiful skating moments captured on film. His progression from a waltz jump to single Axel, double Axel and triple Axel and soaring spread eagle in the northern sun were almost as breathtaking as the act of skating in a setting so awe inspiring.

Perhaps the program that captured the mood and the essence of skating outside best wasn't even skated outside at all. Robin Cousins skated an exquisite and haunting program called "On The Frozen Pond" to a recording of him orating the poems "The Skaters" by John Gould Fletcher and "Hawkshead" by William Wadsworth at the 1993 World Professional Figure Skating Championships and you could literally hear a pin drop. Blurring the lines between the beatnik poetry of the Dead Poet's Society and the purity of a frozen pond, Cousins takes you away in this program to another place and another time and captures in its utmost essence the feeling of skating outside that is intangible, magical and bigger than us all. The poetry and skating of "On Frozen Pond":

"THE SKATERS" BY JOHN GOULD FLETCHER

"BLACK swallows swooping or gliding
In a flurry of entangled loops and curves;
The skaters skim over the frozen river.
And the grinding click of their skates as they impinge upon the surface,
Is like the brushing together of thin wing-tips of silver."

EXCERPT FROM "HAWKSHEAD" FROM "THE PRELUDE" BY WILLIAM WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

"AND in the frosty season, when the sun
Was set, and visible for many a mile
The cottage windows blazed through twilight gloom,
I heeded not their summons: happy time
It was indeed for all of us,—for me      
It was a time of rapture! Clear and loud
The village clock tolled six,—I wheeled about,
Proud and exulting like an untired horse
That cares not for his home. All shod with steel,
We hissed along the polished ice in games      
Confederate, imitative of the chase
And woodland pleasures,—the resounding horn,
The pack loud chiming, and the hunted hare.
So through the darkness and the cold we flew,
And not a voice was idle; with the din      
Smitten, the precipices rang aloud;
The leafless trees and every icy crag
Tinkled like iron; while far distant hills
Into the tumult sent an alien sound
Of melancholy not unnoticed, while the stars      
Eastward were sparkling clear, and in the west
The orange sky of evening died away.
Not seldom from the uproar I retired
Into a silent bay, or sportively
Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng,      
To cut across the reflex of a star
That fled, and, flying still before me, gleamed
Upon the glassy plain; and oftentimes,
When we had given our bodies to the wind,
And all the shadowy banks on either side      
Came sweeping through the darkness, spinning still
The rapid line of motion, then at once
Have I, reclining back upon my heels,
Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs
Wheeled by me,—even as if the earth had rolled      
With visible motion her diurnal round!
Behind me did they stretch in solemn train,
Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watched
Till all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep."

ON THE FROZEN POND

"And in the frosty season when the sun was set", Robin Cousins did what he did best: bring absolute magic to life and skate the poetry of the ice.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Tim Dolensky

Hailing from Georgia, twenty one year old Tim Dolensky is a skater whose name we'll be hearing a lot more of in the coming years. Have every faith in that fact. A well styled skater with big jumps to match his fluid style, Dolensky has already made his mark on the sport, winning the silver medal in the junior men's event at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. He's also had prime international experience, representing the U.S. at the Junior World Championships and even bringing home a bronze medal at a Junior Grand Prix event in Latvia in 2012. Like many elite competitive skaters, he balances his education with his skating, and is a university student who has still found time to make skating a huge priority. Tim took the time from his whirlwind life to talk about his career to date, short and long term goals, composing his own music and much more in this interview you'll love:

Q: You have won medals at the novice and junior levels at U.S. Nationals, represented the U.S. internationally on the Junior Grand Prix (medalling at the 2011 event in Latvia) and at the Junior World Championships. What are your proudest or most special moments so far in your skating career?

A: I would have to say that my proudest and most special moment in my skating career thus far would be at the U.S. Figure Skating Classic in Salt Lake City in 2012. It was my highest scoring competition up to that point. I landed my first triple axel in competition, and I helped the U.S. secure all top four places in the men's event. It was also my most memorable kiss and cry moment that I won't easily forget.

Q: This season was your first year competing on the senior level at U.S. Nationals and you skated well, finishing a VERY respectable thirteenth in a very deep field. In your mind, what were the biggest adjustments in moving up to the senior ranks and what did you take from this year's U.S. Figure Skating Championships?

A: This year at Nationals was certainly an experience that I will take with me moving forward into next season. Just being there at the top for the first time was incredible. It was surreal to be there with the same people that I have been watching on TV for years. It was definitely a little scary to compete in front of the large crowd that accompanies the championship events at Nationals, but I am glad for the experience and I WILL do MUCH better next year.

Q: Going forward, what are your short and long term goals and what can we expect to see from you next season? Have you already started working on new programs?

A: My short term goals are to further develop my style and artistic ability, as well as increase my technical content. I would like to finish much higher at Nationals next year. My long term goals are to do everything in my power to make the Olympic team in 2018, and to compete on the Grand Prix circuit in the coming years. I have just started working on something special for my short this year, and I still have yet to decide what I will skate to for my long.

Q: You are born and raised in Georgia and train at the Atlanta Figure Skating Club with coaches Debbie Prachar and Brittney Bottoms. For choreography, you've worked with the AMAZING Catarina Lindgren. What is your relationship with your 'team' like and why are they the best people for YOU to work with?

A: I can honestly say that I love my coaches Debbie Prachar and Brittney Bottoms. I have such a special relationship with them, having been coached by them for almost the whole time I have been skating. They know me so well and use this knowledge to help me on a daily basis. Even though we're close, they both are still not afraid to give me a nice kick in the rear when they need to! I also work with another local coach, Graham Payne, who I've also worked with since I was doing moves in the field as a little boy. We work on mostly my skating skills and edge work as well as choreography sometimes. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to Colorado this year, so Catarina Lindgren will not be able to choreograph for me this year. Brittney and I will be doing the choreographing for my new programs for the coming season.

Q: You play the piano and violin and even composed your own music for your 2011/2012 season short program, which led you to a silver medal in the Junior Men's event at U.S. Nationals that season. Where did you get the idea for "Windfall" and how did it come together? Will you skate to your own music again?

A: "Windfall" went without a name for a long time because I didn't name it before I began writing it and I had trouble thinking of one after I finished. It still was nameless even when it came close to competing the program. The blue outfit that Joyce Jiang made for me had a swoosh on the front and it reminded me of an illustration of wind. I thought about a rainfall, and that became windfall. I also felt like it went along with the feeling of the music. At first I wasn't sure I would actually use "Windfall" because it was just a project to keep me busy while I had to watch nationals at home, for I did not make it my first year as a junior. We realized that with some work I could make it good enough to use! I have also written another piece that I hope to use in the future.

Q: Who are your three favourite skaters of all time and why?

A: My three favorite skaters of all time would have to be Michelle Kwan, Jeremy Abbott, and Carolina Kostner. All three of these when they skate well take the sport to a whole different level!

Q: If you weren't a figure skater and musician, what's one other talent that you'd love to explore?

A: If I were not a figure skater I would definitely love to do gymnastics. I love to tumble and have always felt in awe of what elite level gymnasts can do!

Q: What's one thing most people don't know about you?

A: Most people don't know that I am second oldest of four boys and I am the only one who skates. My brothers are all very smart and are very successful at their prospective schools. My older brother (24) graduated from Georgia Tech with a 3.9 GPA and is currently in medical school. My younger brother (19) is currently going to Georgia Tech and his major is applied mathematics (yikes!), and my youngest brother (15) is a sophomore in the math and science Magnet program at the high school we all went to. I love my brothers very much and I love it when we are all home together again.

Q:  Confession time: what are the most played songs on your playlist?

A: Well, because I am a musician the majority of my songs on my iPod are classical (my favorites being from the Romantic period), but I love popular music as well. I love anything that is more acoustic though. If you're looking for embarrassing music, I love the Backstreet Boys and Celine Dion, because my Mom used to play their tapes in the minivan we used to ride around in all the time. They're kind of nostalgic for me.

Q: What do you love most about being on the ice?

A: The thing I love most about being on the ice is the gliding feeling. Just going really fast and gliding on one or two feet is just such a cool feeling that most skaters (as well as myself) take for granted sometimes. You get to move really fast without running! How cool is that?

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Justus Strid

Justus Strid started his competitive skating career in Sweden, medalling on the national level in his country of birth, but made a major career change by moving to a new country. His difficult decision paid off and he is now a seven time Danish Champion and four time European and World competitor. The talented Taurus from Denmark was kind enough to take the time to talk to me about his career to date, being coached by his own brother, his future in skating, his thoughts on the way skating is currently judged and much more in this fabulous interview:

Q: Your skating career so far has scanned over ten years and included four trips to the European and World Championships, medals in international competitions like the Nordic Games and Golden Spin Of Zagreb and most importantly, an incredible SEVEN consecutive Danish Championships. What are you proudest of and what moments have been the most special?

A: I have always wanted more and only just recently realized that just getting to the big championships is a great achievement. I have started to feel proud of realizing my childhood dream of competing with the best in the world. Maybe my proudest moment has to be Worlds in Canada in 2013 after my short program when I qualified for the free and skated the short of my life.

Q: You were actually born in Sweden, medalled on both the junior and senior levels as a skater in that country and then moved to Denmark in 2004 and began skating for that country in 2008. Culturally, what was the biggest culture shock of moving to a new country and what are the main differences in the skating programs in both countries?

A: The people are mostly the same. I mainly chose to move there because of the coaches Henrik Walentin (a former worlds competitor from Denmark) and Julia Sandsten and they really worked a lot to make me better as a skater. I also had the choice of Paris and training with Annick Dumont and Pierre Trent who I worked with a lot in summer camps. I did two weeks in their club but did not fit in so I chose Hörsholm, Denmark. The big difference for my skating here is the the ice hockey isn't as big so I get more ice time which is a big problem in Sweden.

Q: You recently placed thirty first at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. What are you most proud about your fourth trip to Worlds?

A: I did everything to prepare. I made a plan of how I would be in the best shape and followed through. I was really in my best shape ever. Unfortunately it's one mistake and you're out but I am really proud that I did all I could. I can't do more than my best. I am also proud of the connection I felt with the audience. We are there to entertain and I feel like I did.

Q: What are your biggest goals for the 2014/2015 season and beyond? 

A: I haven't decided yet if I will do one more year. I said during this season that I would give my answer after Worlds and the answer is coming, but not yet I'm afraid. So plans and programs will have to wait.

Q: You are coached by your brother Kalle, who is a former competitive skater himself, in Copenhagen. What is being coached by your own brother like and do you always get along?

A: Sometimes it is hard because of course, we don't always get a long but who does? Fortunately, I have two coaches and Martin Johansson is a great compliment. We all really want this, so of course there is going to be arguments of what is the best. Our strength is that we can discuss everything and agree on the best course of action. Of course, my coaches have the final say but since I am now an adult, I can give my input and then its great to have my brother who knows me best and knows when to push and when to let go.

Q: What's one thing most people don't know about you?

A: When I train really hard, I eat vegan. I also have had no serious injury since I was eighteen. I do a lot of public speaking about food and physical training for young skaters in Sweden and Denmark and share what I picked up during my long career. I also love visiting different countries and checking out new and exciting towns.

Q: If you could change anything about the way skating is judged, what would you change?

A: The components scores. Some skaters have great skating skills and some are better at interpretation so give them fair points. There should be more difference between the components for the same skater. Also, focus more on the artistry because we need the audience to make this sport big again so maybe include more components about the artistry so skaters go for more for entertaining and less focus on just making the jumps. We all know if you make the jumps you get components and then we get boring jumping robots.

Q: If you could meet any figure skater in the world that you haven't, who would it be and why?

A: Evan Lysacek. I would like to see how he prepared for his Olympic gold. I have heard he is really a perfectionist so it would be cool to see how he worked for it.

Q: What do you love most about skating more than anything else?

A: The great thing about this sport is the challenge. There is always something new to learn and work on. I love waking up on a Saturday (my day off) being so tired and sore and knowing I worked my ass off to get to where I want to go.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Linda Villella

If the name doesn't ring immediately ring a bell, Linda Villella is her married name. You may know her by her maiden name, Carbonetto. In 1968, Linda Carbonetto finished second at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships behind World Champion Karen Magnussen and earned a berth on the Olympic team that traveled to Grenoble, France. The following season, nineteen year old Carbonetto, who had been touted as "the nation's next great international champion" by the Toronto Star's Jim Proudfoot, traveled to Toronto and unseated Magnussen to win the Canadian title, even earning a perfect score of 6.0 for her flawless free skate. The student of Ellen Burka then traveled to the North American Championships in Oakland, California and won the bronze medal. She followed that up with a sixth place finish at the 1969 World Championships in Colorado Springs. Then as quickly as she rose to the top, she decided to move on. Carbonetto joined the professional ranks, toured with Ice Capades and later married renowned ballet dancer and choreographer Edward Villella and turned her attention to the dance world, taking on a key role with the Miami City Ballet School. Villella took the time to talk about her life in skating, her thoughts on the sport's evolution and her current life both in and out of the sport:

Q: Since you competed at the 1968 Olympics, only three Canadian ladies (Karen Magnussen, Liz Manley and Joannie Rochette) have won Olympic or World medals. Why do you believe Canadian ladies skaters have historically been labelled as "having a hard time laying it down when it counts" and how bright do you think the future of Canadian skating is?

A: I don’t think I am qualified to answer your first question. I was in Miami for twenty five years involved with ballet and Miami really does not make ice skating a priority. It was wonderful to come back to New York where ice skating is so much more appreciated. I have no idea what the training is like in Canada. I do believe consistency is the key to successful competing. It always amazed me, when I was competing, how skaters would put in jumps to their program that they hardly ever landed.

Q: Compulsory figures played a huge part in the scoring when you skated. Do you think that the end of figures was a good or a bad thing? 

A: I think figures are really important. Edges are the key to great skating and figures also teach you control. I don’t believe they should be a part of major competition but I do believe it should be compulsory for skaters to take figures and pass the figure tests in order to compete.

Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library, from Toronto Star Photographic Archive. Reproduced for educational purposes under license permission.

Q: You skated professionally after your eligible career ended, touring with Ice Capades. What were the most fun and most difficult aspects of a grueling tour schedule?

A: Skating in Ice Capades was very hard for me. I really was not ready to join an ice show but my parents were out of money for my training and I had to put my brother through college. I was heartbroken that I could not compete in the Olympic in 1972. Remember: I had beaten Karen in 1969 and my figures had improved tremendously. I often wonder if I could have medalled in 1972. In Ice Capades, we toured ten and a half months a year, we were in a different city every week and we did nine to eleven shows a week. It was grueling and we didn't have much time for ourselves. We also were doing the same routine for that whole year which made it monotonous. Again, it was a hard time for me anyway so I had trouble adjusting. Ice Capades was very good to me so I think it was more my attitude at the time. I still made some good friends and had a lot of laughs.

Q: As a professional, you also appeared on a TV show called Ice Palace. What can you tell us about it?

A: Metromedia owned Ice Capades and when we did the Ice Capades television specials they sent a producer named Peter Engel to oversee the show. He then decided to do the Ice Palace variety show where he had different stars like Robert Goulet and Florence Henderson along with skating stars like Tommy Litz. There was also a skating corps. Bob Turk choreographed the show. I did seven of the eight shows.

Q: You are married to legendary U.S. ballet dancer and choreographer Edward Villella and are the founding director of the Miami City Ballet School. What do you love most about dance that skating doesn't offer and vice versa?

A: What I love about dance most is the wonderful choreography by truly brilliant people like George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Paul Taylor that made you "see the music". In ballet, pieces can be thirty minutes long and the theme of the piece can be choreographed on a whole corps of dancers with the lead couple integrated into the piece. Some of this work is very sophisticated and the abstract movements came from the great ideas in history and art. These pieces are in a company repertoire for years. Different dancers will be selected to dance the different leads and you can watch each dancer's interpretation of the piece. In skating, most pieces are done on a soloist or pair skater, they are the only ones to do that choreography and it usually is a five minute piece and then you go on to watch another skater. In skating, I love the flow that the ice gives you and the movement it can create. There is such a wonderful freedom to moving across the ice and when I used to jump I felt like I was flying.

Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library, from Toronto Star Photographic Archive. Reproduced for educational purposes under license permission.

Q: You competed against skaters like Peggy Fleming, Gaby Seyfert, Trixi Schuba, Karen Magnussen and Janet Lynn. What were your impressions of these iconic skaters? 

A: All the skaters I competed against were incredible athletes. They all had special qualities in their skating. With Trixi, her figures were amazing. Peggy had grace and beautiful jumps, and Gaby and Karen were incredibly powerful. I leave Janet Lynn for last because she was the skater that I loved to watch most. She was ethereal on the ice. Her calm, her beautiful lines and beautiful jumps were the epitome of ice skating to me.

Q: What's one thing about you most people don't know? 

A: Most people don't know I was crippled and wore iron braces on my legs when I was three years old. I started skating at seven because my dad heard about children who had polio and were strengthening their legs through ice skating.

Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library, from Toronto Star Photographic Archive. Reproduced for educational purposes under license permission.

Q: What are your feelings on competitive skating today - the new system, no more 6.0, no figures, no compulsory dances.... so much has changed. Is it for the best?

A: I really don't like the new system of judging. It is too complicated for most people who don't know skating and even a lot of us older people who used to skate. I worry that it will take a toll on developing an audience. The freestyle numbers have so many requirements that sometimes the quality of the skating is not what it should be. My recommendation would be to judge each requirement individually (like in gymnastics) and then go back to the original way the long program used to be judged with two sets of marks, one for content and the other for your presentation. I would have nine judges and throw the high mark and the low mark out in order to prevent favoritism.

Q: Skaters of the 70's and 80's like Brian Boitano, Midori Ito, Dorothy Hamill and Liz Manley (for instance) are still actively performing. When is the last time you were on the ice and would you ever perform again? 

A: I did not skate for about fifteen years in Miami and started to skate again last year when I moved back to New York. Skating is like an old friend. It is always there for you. I would never perform again. I am just not the skater I used to be, although I still skate and it makes me very, very happy.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Age (Like 6.0) Is Just A Number: Ageism And Skating

At the risk of sounding like Peter Griffin (which absolutely isn't a bad thing), do you know what really grinds my gears? Ageism, especially in figure skating. American civil rights activist Maggie Kuhn once said, "I think of age as a great universalizing force.  It's the only thing we all have in common.  It doesn't begin when  you collect your social security benefits.  Aging begins with the moment of birth, and it ends only when life  itself has ended.  Life is a continuum; only, we -- in our stupidity and blindness -- have chopped it up into  little pieces and kept all those little pieces separate." 

The culture and emphasis on youth in the figure skating community lends people to think they're 'too old' and their careers are over in their early twenties. They're 'over the hill' at legal drinking age and 'need to step aside to allow a new generation to move up'. Bitch please. Yes, our bodies change as we get older and don't always do things the way we always might like... or as easily. Judging by the evidence of so many skaters having both "amateur" and professional careers that extended well past their teens and twenties and all of the incredibly talented adult skaters out there, is there any reasonable excuse for the belief that people should hang up their skates at twenty one because 'the clock is ticking'? It's really a quite delusional mentality. I started the conversation on this issue a little in my May 2013 article Midori Ito And Why Adult Skating Makes Me Smile, but I wanted to delve a little further into some of the history of 'older' skaters in the sport and their talk about their achievements.

1964 and 1968 Olympic Gold Medallists Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov still perform regularly in their golden years (Ludmila's in her late seventies and Oleg's in his early eighties) but the ISU have even imposed ageism in their own international adult figure skating competition. Skaters in their 80's have competed at the U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships but the ISU International Adult Figure Skating Competition held annually in Obertsdorf, Germany only allows skaters under the age of seventy one to compete. I think it's pretty ludicrous that you'd offer a competition to adults in the spirit of inclusiveness and then exclude people based on their age. The Queen Of England is eighty seven years old. I most certainly wouldn't be telling her what she could and couldn't do based on her age and with the fine lines blurred between "amateur" and professional these days (World Champion and World Professional Champion Midori Ito competed at the Oberstdorf event), you would think the ISU would want to include skaters like The Prototopovs, should they ever wish to compete, to raise the profile, interest in (and in turn, money for) their biggest international adult competition. We all know how much sense the ISU likes to make, after all.

Midori Ito competing at the 2013 ISU International Adult Competition

Skating wasn't always so immersed in the culture of ageism. U.S. Champion and Attorney Joseph K. Savage competed at the 1932 Winter Olympics with his pairs partner Gertrude Meredith at the age of fifty one and continued his competitive career for over a decade after that, winning the silver medal in the 1943 U.S. Figure Skating Championships with partner Nettie Prantel when he was sixty three years young. Similarly, Norway's Martin Stixrud, who went on to coach Sonja Henie, was forty four years old when he won the Olympic bronze medal in the men's figure skating competition at the 1920 Summer Olympics in London, England and 1924 Olympic Bronze Medallist Ethel Muckelt of Great Britain was thirty eight at the time of her Olympic medal win. Chris Christenson, who won the 1926 U.S. men's title at the age of fifty one, remains the oldest U.S. champion of all time. Skating was a very different sport in those times. The emphasis wasn't on quadruple jumps but on compulsory figures and even the free skating performances were largely based on the evolution of figures. A 1926 newspaper account of Christenson's winning free skate stated "his figures were smooth and precisely correct. He looped and spread-eagled with an unhurried calm that must have piled point after point in his favor on the score-pads of the judges. But his was an exhibition of mathematical certainty. It was a typically masculine performance, devoid of teeming nervous energy and one of cold and accurate calculation." Rather than discount the efforts of these early champions based on the fact that their programs didn't feature of a host of different triple jumps, we have to consider that compulsory figures were incredibly difficult in themselves and many skaters today would undoubtedly struggle with them based on the way they have been trained right from the beginning of their careers.

In winning the 2010 Olympic pairs title with partner Xue Shen at the age of 36, Hongbo Zhao became the oldest person to win an Olympic medal in figure skating since Muckelt in 1924. Zhao, however, is the exception - not the rule. While we don't see many skaters competing in 'amateur' competitions outside of adult events in their thirties, forties and fifties these days, that's not say that skating ends when you stop competing or that you can't. As long as you have two feet and a heartbeat, you can go out and do anything your little heart desires. People have, and people can.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Tim Wood

It's interesting. Almost every interview that I do usually begins with whatever wonderful skater I'm lucky enough to be interviewing either asking me about Nova Scotia or telling me about a connection they have had to the area. My interview with Olympic Silver Medallist and two time World Champion Tim Wood was no different. Tim's Nova Scotia connection came from his brother, who came here and ended up out on lobster boats... which led to an annual family tradition of a lobster boil, which being a proper Nova Scotian I think is right some fantastic! It's nice to see we're rubbing off on the rest of the world! At any rate, speaking with Tim was an absolute pleasure. His incredible career which also included three U.S. titles and a North American title speaks for itself, but there's so much about his career that a lot of people probably don't know and would be fascinated by: how he lost the Olympics on a technicality, his work with Elvis Stojko, the fact he still skates three times a week at age sixty six and was landing double Axels - yes, you read that right - just a few months ago. Another thing that I think you will all really appreciate about this interview is Tim's frankness and honesty when it came to the very timely topic of Ottavio Cinquanta and the current state of skating. Grab yourself a coffee or tea (or a nice martini as Tim will soon suggest) and get ready for a fantastic read!

Q: Your career was nothing short of amazing. You won the Olympic silver medal in 1968 in Grenoble, the World Championships in 1969 and 1970 and three U.S. titles and the North American Championships to boot. Looking back on your competitive skating career, what moments or memories stand out as the most special for you?

A: Well, in those days your focus was really different. There was no short program and your free skating was five minutes long. A lot of the focus was on figures, so I'd have to say I had two standout moments - one in figures and one in free skating. For figures, I wouldn't have to say the Grenoble Olympics. In figures, we had thirty six figures (in six groups) and you had to practice all thirty six... and I did for four to five hours a day for ten years. The problem was that in figures if you were getting scores of 4.5-5.5 you were winning, which is weird. The scores were lower on figures. When you added all of the scores out, it really was 60% in favor of figures. I realized that if you didn't get where you needed to be in figures, you were never going to win a championship. Look at Janet Lynn. You can't climb from that far behind and win. She should have been World Champion!  At any rate, the left backward change loop and the left backward paragraph loop were the ones everyone feared. I worked especially hard to make sure my left foot was strong. Guess what we ended up having to do at the Olympics? There were nine judges, they'd just made ice and I had to do the very first figure. No pressure there! Whatever happened out there on that figure, I could do no wrong. It was like somebody did it with a protractor. I just got in a groove and couldn't get out of it. It was really a once in a lifetime experience at the right time. When I finished, the audience was clapping and then I turned at judges and all nine judges were clapping. That just never happened! The freestyle performance would probably be Worlds in 1969 when I won my first world title. The problem with skating in competition is that there's so much in the way of nerves and compression through it all. It's so internal. Those perfect skates like you have in practice are very, very rare in World and Olympic competition. They're once in a blue moon things. Everyone is so focused and directed. I watched Elvis Stojko do it when he won his first World title in Japan, Michelle Kwan has had those moments and I'd have to say Meryl Davis and Charlie White had a moment like that in Sochi too.

Q: You decided to retire from competitive skating when you were on top after winning the 1970 World Figure Skating Championships. Did you give thought to continuing until 1972 and going for the gold at the Sapporo Games or was it simply time?

A: I considered continuing strongly. I wish I would have stayed in to do that. I was coming out of university, I was twenty one and I was really fed up with my coach at that time. Ronnie Baker was an old world English guy who wanted his skaters to be completely dependent. It became suffocating. When I won my second World title, I was so mad at him that halfway through the figures, I told my father to tell him I didn't want to see him anymore. I skated the rest of the Championships by myself. My father was a surgeon and he paid for my skating and education but we had four boys in my family who all got advanced degrees. My poor father had nothing left. It was time. I just couldn't ask him to support me for another two years. You weren't allowed to have support from outside back then but I knew other people were getting anyway, even if you weren't allowed to. No one came and offered to help and I was just DONE with my coach. I suppose I should have gone with Carlo Fassi if I wanted to stay. I should have jumped over to him. I needed someone to keep me interested. I didn't need someone technical; I needed someone to motivate me. He was a much better personal coach. He knew how to keep a kid inspired and motivated. That said, if I had become Olympic Champion maybe my life would have been different and maybe I wouldn't be doing what I am today. It is what it is.

Q: You still skate regularly every week at sixty six. I think that's incredible! Would you ever get out there and perform professionally again?

A: Well, I am sixty six and still skate three times a week! I recently had to have a new hip put in on December 10 but I started back on the ice in March after being off for a few months. I'm not allowed to jump anymore. Up until thirty days before my surgery, I was still doing each of the double jumps up to a double Axel. I just go out and put my headphones and iPod on and have a blast. I am currently involved in a major project building a sports recreation/family entertainment area in a fifty acre zone. It will house venues for thirty two to thirty four different World and Olympic sports, and will also have a new high school, new hotel, performing arts center, pool, huge medical and sports performance center and gymnastics complex. We'll also be building a theatre similar to what they use on Dancing With The Stars as a dance center/nightclub kind of place. It's a new concept of mixed use space in real estate development and no one's done that in the country. This project will be the flagship for us and we hope to do something similar and bigger in Colorado.  I hope to be able to skate in the opening of that. I'm still alllowed to do things like ballet jumps, I just should not be doing double jumps and certainly not triples, although when I turned sixty and worked really hard to get all of my doubles back, I did try and land one but then I thought, wow... but I shouldn't be doing be that. The only triple I can do is copious amounts of gin with three olives.

Q: You actually lost the 1968 Olympic title to Wolfgang Schwarz on a technicality. Can you explain what happened?

A: They actually all thought I had won. Back then, at the Olympics the factor of scoring was ten and the factor was twelve at Worlds. You had a smaller margin you could give to someone if you were judging. The Canadian judge Ralph McCreath wanted me to win but he mismarked me and realized he made a mistake but it was on paper and you couldn't change it back then. He went to the referee Josef Dědič and there was nothing he could do. I lost the Olympics by one judge by one tenth of a point. Can you imagine that? My coach came over and could not have been worse about it. He just couldn't compliment anyone and give them credit. That was just him. He was more impressed with John Misha Petkevich than me, his own student. So here I am - I am the World Champion and he's telling me to skate like John. We were just at each other's throats and it was a shame it had to end that way. I think going through those kinds of experiences made me much more sensitive to the human being and sensitive side when I coach; when I work with kids. As they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Q: Who are your three favourite skaters of all time and why?

A: Janet Lynn for sure. Janet was a combination of Dorothy, Peggy and maybe Katarina Witt. She had all of the interpretive qualities and the power and energy, yet she had this delicacy about her. I remember specifically becoming aware of the ballet side of her skating. Janet had that. Her feet were magnificent and nobody has come anywhere close to that. I remember a footwork sequence she did where she got a standing ovation almost in a wave while she was going down the rink doing to a step sequence. It was one of the most incredible things I've seen. Michelle Kwan as well. Now there's a person who could perform! What she did out there transcended ice skating. It was like she was going on a journey and she was taking you with her. On the men's side, John Curry was one of my favourites. He could do camel spins and jumps in both directions, but there was just this talent there that was unbelievable. Another skater as well I'd have to say would be Doug Ramsay. He was a favourite of mine and we trained at the same club. I think Doug Ramsay without question would have been a World Champion.

Q: The loss of Doug Ramsay and the entire U.S. team in the Plane Crash in 1961... how do you look at all of that now?

A: I am sixty six and I have enough history behind me to look at things differently although it was so hard at the time. You tend to look at the bigger picture. They were saying that because the team and the coaches were all gone, it would take fifteen to twenty years to develop another team to get to that level. We did it in seven years. 1968 was one of the strongest years at the Olympics for the U.S.

Q: What don't people know about you? 

A: I used to play guitar and sang all the way through high school and college. I sang to my own vocals in a show as well. Music was always a big part of me. I used to write music. I wrote love songs. Also, my wife was my childhood sweetheart. We met in high school in Bloomfield Hills High School in Michigan. I was a senior, she was a junior. Our first date was a sweetheart's dance on Valentine's Day. Get out the saccharine, right? I need some insulin here! We have been married since August 1970. I first came to California when I signed Ice Capades in 1970 and I had family in the Van Nuys area. We bought a place and moved to California in 1976. I was the first person to put show in Knott's Berry Farm Good Time Theatre. That show still plays and I think Willy Bietak does it. I haven't had chance to see it recently.

Q: In skating with Ice Capades and later Ice Follies and producing and starring in the show at Knott's Berry Farm, you really did so much professionally as a skater beyond your eligible career. What did you love most about skating professionally?

A: I really enjoyed it. I did Ice Capades for two years then went to Ice Follies (we were the first to do the Vegas show), then I did two years with Holiday On Ice and moved on to do my own shows at Knott's Berry Farm. I decided to stop skating professionally regularly by around 1978. There wasn't anything for us to do beyond tours and shows back then. We really didn't have professional competitions just yet. I was tired of being on the road, there wasn't any new place to go and it was just time. 

Q: So much has changed since you skated competitively. Skating has a new judging system, compulsory figures are long gone and now ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta wants to get rid of the short program. What do you think of the way figure skating has changed or evolved over the years and its present state?

A: Cinquanta needs to go! He's single handledly done more damage to figure skating in the last twenty years than anyone else. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He was a speed skater. He used the Olympic debacle in 2002 as his political power to change the sport. What we do now in this system is give objective points to everything like in gymnastics. You know in high school when you dissected a frog in biology class? At end of the dissection, it's not a frog anymore, now is it? When you award more points for grabbing your skate and putting it behind your head than doing a spin well, you've completely missed the point of what figure skating is about. We don't know anything about skating under this system. Whenever I go to skate here in California, there is without fail a coach or a student who comes up and asks me to help them with something. In every single instance, I have to go back and teach them the principle of the very first figure. What does that tell you? That basic understanding of movement and of edges... they even don't know what it is! Never mind the intellectual understanding, they have no understanding of how to do it with their body. I'm not saying the kids aren't talented. I watched all of the Olympic men and women on TV and almost every single one did a triple toe jump (toe-loop, flip or Lutz) and the technique? I would scream at the top of the lungs if I saw a student of mine do that! They look at me like I'm the old guy but they have no understanding of what mastery is when it comes to skating correctly. They don't even know what mastery looks like. Officials in U.S. Figure Skating have asked me over the years if it's the judging system and I would have to say the judging system is the outward expression of what's really wrong. The judging system is ridiculous, don't get me wrong. The real error is that the knowledge of how the body moves to create good technique is gone. I worked with Elvis Stojko for a year. After eight months, he said to me "I never knew it could be this easy!" I told him that technique is all about the perfection of positions. There are so many training tools they're not using. Skating without figures it like taking the scales out of music. I'd also be shocked if 2% of the coaches in the U.S. had ever been to a ballet class or production. Look at all of the wonderful ballets in Russia - how does that fare for them? But as for Cinquanta, he needs to go. He's done more devastation to the sport than anyone.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.