Interview With Jussiville Partanen

Two time Finnish junior champion and two time Finnish senior silver medallist in ice dance Jussiville Partanen has travelled the long road but is finally hitting his stride on the ice. After ending his partnership with Canada's Sara Aghai in 2013, Partanen formed a new partnership with Cecilia Törn and it's been without question a promising one. We talked about the highs and lows of his career so far, working with skating greats like Marina Zueva and Maurizio Margaglio, his goals for the future and much more in this refreshing interview:

Q: You've had success at the national level in Finland with three different partners - Laima Krasnitskaja, Sarah Aghai and of course, your current partner Cecilia Törn, with whom you won the silver medal in the senior dance competition at Finnish Nationals both this season and last. What moments in competition have been your proudest so far and which have been the most trying?

A: I have to say there have been a couple of great moments at competitions. Skating with Sara, I'd say the Junior Worlds in Minsk were definitely a highlight of our career together. The Junior Worlds in Milan on the other hand, were a definite low point that ultimately led to a hard decision to leave Canada. With Cecilia (Cessi, we call her) I'd say each competition has been a blast. The proudest moment probably was at our first Nationals together when we won the silver medal after such a short time together.

Q: Being from Helsinki and being an ice dancer, I think it's safe to say that Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko are two skaters that probably had some influence on your career. Are they a team you look up to?

A: Susanna and Petri are most certainly a team that we look up to! The way they tried to always break the norm and do something different was incredible. Getting to work with them last season and getting tips on the Finnstep was definitely inspiring. It was a great moment for us.

Q: Your free dance this season is set to the music of Pink Floyd. Who picked the music and the concept and how has this program challenged you most?

A: It was first suggested to us by Maurizio. I have to say I liked the idea immediately and luckily it grew on Cessi eventually too. He also came up with the concept of the program and how it should be like. Working with Massimo Scali in Detroit, we built a program around this initial concept and we have both loved it and gotten a lot of great feedback on it. The most challenging part about the program, or any other program I'd say, is for us to try and be even more like ice dancers - improving on the basics and the fluidity and smoothness of movements.

Q:  You are currently coached by World Champion Maurizio Margaglio. What is your relationship like with Maurizio and how has he brought out in the best in you and Cecilia as a team?

A: Working with Maurizio has been amazing. The fact that he has so much inspiration to coach and a clear idea of what he wants from us and what we need to do to achieve this is great. He listens to what we want or ideas that we might have and takes this into consideration. We have a good relationship with him. It's nice to be able to joke around with him while also maintaining the professionalism.

Q: You've also of course worked with Marina Zueva on choreography. How would you describe the process of working with Marina on a program?

A: Working with Marina has of course been quite humbling! The fact that we got to skate on the same ice with Olympians was such an honour. It's easy to see why she has had so much success. She knows what she wants from the skaters and what their strengths are and builds on that. A lot of making a program with her was throwing ideas around and then she would suddenly show us what she came up with, which was usually something very good. It's a great experience and we both definitely look up to her.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world you haven't visited yet, where would you go and why... and what's one place you HAVE visited you'd love to spend more time in?

A: I'd love to visit Japan as I have never been there before. Just the culture and the different atmosphere and the architecture is something I'd love to see! The place I'd like to go back to is Vancouver, for sure. After spending three years skating there, it's like a second home.

Q: What are your long term goals in the sport and what are your current focuses in training?

A: Our long term goals are to hopefully improve our rankings and make it onto the Grand Prix circuit! Also, the 2017 Worlds in Helsinki are a goal for us, and of course getting to compete at the next Olympics. We are currently just trying to improve overall - to solidify our partnership, to be able to dance closer together... Simple but important things!

Q: How would you describe your perfect day OFF the ice?

A: My perfect day off the ice would be hanging out with my family and friends and just enjoying life outside of skating. Lately, I've also started to enjoy hitting the gym, so that would probably happen at some point of the day too.

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

A: Tessa and Scott definitely. His way of skating is quite flawless and their partnership and spirit are great. Also, Papadakis and Cizeron. They have that something that makes one want to watch them skate. And of course, Plushenko, with his artistry and everything.

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

A: Most people don't know that I'm ultimately a huge dork! We do a lot of crazy and stupid things with Cessi and just like to have fun and keep the humor in everything. 

Q: What is the biggest lesson that figure skating has taught you about life?

A: Skating has taught me perseverance. If you want to succeed in something, you have work for it and put the time and energy needed into it.

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.

Words Of Wisdom: Timeless Advice From Maribel Vinson Owen

In her awe inspiring career, Maribel Vinson Owen won an incredible fifteen U.S. titles, nine of them as a singles skater and the rest as a pairs skater with partners Thornton Coolidge and George 'Geddy' Hill. She also won an Olympic bronze medal behind Sonja Henie in 1932, medals at the World, North American and European Championships, wrote for "The New York Times" and embarked in one of the most successful coaching careers in U.S. figure skating history. Among her students were 1956 Olympic Gold Medallist Tenley Albright, Michelle Kwan's future coach Frank Carroll and her own daughters Maribel and Laurence, U.S. Champions both as well.

As we all know, Maribel and her daughters were among the seventy two passengers who lost their lives on the ill fated Sabena Flight 548 that killed the entire 1961 U.S. team and changed the course of figure skating history as we know it. At the time of her death, Maribel was only forty nine. As you may not know, though, during her tenure as a respected coach Maribel wrote three books about skating and it was by great luck that I happened upon a copy of her 1938 "Primer Of Figure Skating". As I leafed through the book, I was taken aback with the detailed instruction on ice dance and school figures but what got me most was the commanding and insightful voice that jumped off the pages. Rather than write a biography on Maribel's incredible career (check out Patricia Shelley Bushman's "Indelible Tracings" and "Indelible Images" for tons on Maribel) I thought it best to share Maribel's own words of wisdom about the sport and art of figure skating... all of which has bearing both to skaters and coaches today. Get yourself that hot beverage I'm always talking about and prepare to learn a thing or two from a long lost legend...

"The arched back, well-bent skating knee, nearly straight free knee, and turned-out free hip and toe, combined into the upright, easy posture of the graceful figure skater is not a natural position for anyone at first. On the other hand no matter how facile on your blades you may later become, you will never be truly graceful unless you do have a nearly straight free knee well turned out from the hip, a well-pointed free instep, and an arched back, so you might as well begin practicing them from the very first stroke."

"You must have a good opening and a good finish, in other words, a good first impression and a good last impression. That is important. Since you will be marked for difficulty and variety, you must include as many different moves of as much difficulty as you are sure of doing well; but since you are also to be marked for 'performance', you will only get demerits instead of credits for things you can't really execute properly. This is why most novices fail to remember and why a lot of them are surprised when their marks go up. 'But I did a Lutze jump, a change-of-foot spin, and tried an Axel-Paulsen,' they may say. 'Don't I get credit for that?' Yes, but look at how you did them: touched the free foot, wobbled, and almost fell after the Lutze; struggled in awkward position and traveled many feet on the spin, actually fell on the Axel, and were badly out of position on almost everything, while so-and-so who won did far less but did what he did correctly. The answer to all this is, don't do a senior program until you are a senior skater. If you are a novice you will get far more credit for doing a novice program in really good style than if you scramble untidily through a routine that is still beyond your powers."

"The main thing is to present your program and yourself as well as you can. Remember you are yourself, an individual not quite like anyone else; so your performance must be your own, individual, not quite like anyone else's."

"You should utilize the whole ice surface, neglecting neither one end nor the other nor yet the middle. Diagonal moves and center figures that move across the ice lend variety and should not be neglected. It is infinitely boring always to watch a skater moving in one direction. You can gain interest, too, by varying the tempo of your moves, some slow to contrast with the speed of most of the program, but always in time to the music. Keep all your moves within easy sight of all spectators. Don't dance too close to the sides of the rink or to the ends; that way someone is sure to miss part of what you are doing."

"Anything that doesn't contribute an impression of speed and freedom of movement is undesirable."

"I am sure you realize that everyone who takes up this beautiful, exasperating, baffling, fascinating sport of figure skating feels like that from time to time. There is nothing to do but persevere, practice, and above all think what may be the trouble. For days you may be annoyed at a stubborn figure that simply will not seem to fall in line, and then just when you are about to give it all up and present your skates to the nearest corner urchin, you get it! It all seems amazingly simple then, figure skating is the most satisfying thing in the whole world, and you begin your next figure with a burst of confidence. That is how it should be. That is how it will always be as long as you glide on steel runners."

"You may not be able to do everything; but you will surely want to know everything. There is just one rule that seems to apply to every one of us who takes up the 'art sport' (as the newspapers are wont to call it), and that is: Once a skater, always a skater."

Those final words, once a skater, always a skater... Isn't that the truth? Thank you, Maribel, for allowing me a glimpse into your perspective through your words so many decades later. It was a privilege.

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.

Daphne Walker's Elephant

In the thirties, elephant charms were all the rage in England. A young Daphne Walker started collecting them and at age eight started wearing a small green elephant talisman for good luck. She collected over three hundred elephant ornaments over the years and the funny thing is, in learning about her story it was clearly talent and hard work - not luck - that brought her to the European and World figure skating podiums both before AND after World War II.

According to BIS historian Elaine Hooper, sport was in Daphne's blood: "Her grandfather was President of Britain's Amateur Boxing Association and her father an expert marksman."  At age ten, she competed at an international event for European junior skaters in St. Moritz, Switzerland and finished third. In 1936, a then eleven year old Daphne caused a stir in the media when her participation at the British Championships changed the event's schedule and caused London County Council lawmakers to ponder their laws. At the time, there was a section of law in England called the Young Children and Persons Act which forbade young people to give public exhibitions after 7 PM unless it was for charity. In order to circumvent the rule, organizers waited until midnight (which technically was considered the morning of the next day) to allow her to be seen by the judges. According to the May 7, 1936 edition of The Sydney Morning Herald, "The difficulty was surmounted by allowing Daphne to skate at midnight, when there were no general spectators. The orchestra, which had played for her rivals earlier in the evening, was silent, but someone was found to play the piano while the young champion performed for the judges." She finished seventh at the British Championships that year and gained a fan following in Sydney, Australia, when she travelled there on vacation and gave skating exhibitions with World Professional Champions Sadie Cambridge and Albert Embers. Daphne also travelled to South Africa, where she was the very first person to skate on the new ice rink in Johannesburg.

In 1938, Daphne made a statement at the Wembley Empire Pool and won the senior bronze medal behind Cecelia Colledge and Megan Taylor at the British Figure Skating Championships. According to an article in the January 6, 1938 edition of The Sydney Morning Herald, "The surprise of the evening was thirteen-year old Daphne Walker, who was third to Miss Colledge and Miss Megan Taylor. For free skating she obtained more marks than Miss Taylor. Following her brilliant display, Miss Walker - she was the only competitor to obtain double six (full marks) for both difficulty and execution - was chosen to represent Great Britain in the European championships at St. Moritz, in January and the world championships in February". At the time, Colledge and Taylor were 1-2 in the world, so a thirteen year old coming out of nowhere and giving them a run for their money was certainly a narrative that wasn't expected at the time. Although she wasn't able to duplicate her prodigal success at the 1938 European or World Championships (she placed tenth and seventh at those events), she did start a ball in motion that would set her up for better things the following season.

Studio portrait by Charles LTD photography of Hove Sussex

In 1939, Daphne again medalled at the British Championships. This time she was able to back up that success internationally. She won an international competition in Budapest, Hungary and  placed third behind Colledge and Taylor at the 1939 European Championships and at the 1939 World Championships (which for female skaters was held in Prague), she finished third to Taylor's first, defeating twelve other skaters from around the world in the process. In 1939 alone, she travelled to Oslo, Berlin, New York and Boston to participate in ice carnivals, an incredible feat considering the challenges in travel and the fact war broke out that year.

As expected, World War II put Daphne's skating career on hold. During the war she was a domestic science (cookery) student in Cheltenham which she followed up by taking a shorthand typing course in Kensington. For three years she worked in a clinic in Camden Town, London. We do know, however, that she did manage to get someskating in... literally while the bombs were dropping. In 1940, she participated in a charity skating gala in Scotland supporting the City Of Glasgow War Relief Fund. During this period, she trained at the Richmond Ice Rink and was a student of the late Arnold Gerschwiler. During World War II, Arnold Gerschwiler was called upon to serve in the Swiss  and he married fellow skater Violet Blundell. He undertook fire-watching duties during the war and was at the Richmond Ice Rink when a two thousand pound bomb landed in the rink's engine room. Fortunately for Gersch, Daphne and the rink, it did not explode.

After the war, Daphne returned to competitive skating with a big bang, winning her first and only British title at Wembley in 1947. Of particular note (considering the coverage that she got in Australian newspapers following her visit) is the fact by after the War Australian skaters such as her competitor Patricia Maloney were competing at the British Championships.

Daphne went on to win the bronze medal at the 1947 European Championships behind Canada's Barbara Ann Scott back when North Americans were allowed to participate and then finished second behind Scott at the 1947 World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. She thought highly of her Canadian rival. In a 1948 edition of "World Sports", an official magazine of the British Olympic Association, she said "Personally, I rate Miss Scott's chances at St. Moritz highly. Last year, her closest competitors for the European and world titles were Gretchen Merrill of the United States and myself. Fine skater though Gretchen is, I do not expect her to reverse her position."

 

Walker and Keefe on their wedding day

Taken before Daphne and Bill married when they attended the wedding of former BBC skating commentator Alan Weeks and his bride-to-be Jane Huckle

After her dazzling comeback, Daphne retired from amateur competition and married Detroit ice comedian Bill Keefe (of the skating trio The Three Rookies) in London, England on January 17, 1948. They had met after she signed a contract and started skating professionally in Tom Arnold's "Hello, Ice" show at the Brighton Sports Stadium. She also starred in another one of Arnold's productions at the Stoll Theatre.

Daphne then came to America and toured in the road company of the Voorhees-Fleckles production of "Ice Varieties" which played at the 1950 Chicago Fair. She also skated alongside Heine Brock in Tom Arnold's production of "Dick Whittington On Ice" which toured England in the fifties.

The Three Rookies: Neil Rose, Meryl Baxter and Walker's husband Bill Keefe

Daphne was very popular and was always trying new sports. She even gave motorcycle speedway racing at Wembley a go, which was certainly not a sport women of that era generally competed in. She gave talks to children's groups and presented them with prizes for road safety. She even played tennis on ice!

Not much is known about Daphne's life following her amateur career aside from the fact she now lives in Switzerland and as recently as November lived in Durban, South Africa. We do also know that the impression that this precocious young skater made on Australian figure skating in particular after her visit at a time when skating in Australia was just growing is of particular interest, as is the story of her determination to get out there and skate in 1936, even if it was at midnight... and that her lucky elephant talisman may just have been the secret to her success.

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.

Tuesday Double Feature: Review Time!

As the blog has grown, as have the requests. From topic ideas for blogs to events to promote, I'm always happy to weigh in on whatever is on the go in the skating world. All you have to do is ask and if I can accommodate you, I will. One thing that I've noticed happening a lot more lately are requests for me to review things like books and DVD's... so that brings me to these two reviews. From books to ballet, I decided to pull my best Leonard Maltin and offer my two cents on these two new releases:

BOOK REVIEW: ONE WISH

When I was sent an advance copy of Robyn Carr's book "One Wish" to review I vowed to myself to have an open mind. If you perused my bookshelves, you'd find two almost entirely dedicated to the "new age" and metaphysical, one full of literary greats and Giller Prize winners and another (fastly growing) full of books that have been invaluable in studying figure skating history. I'll be the first to admit that I can be a bit of a book snob and I can confidently say I have never read anything that resembled a Harlequin romance novel... until now.

Carr's book was everything you'd expect from a taudry romantic page turner... only it had a figure skating twist. The story's protagonist was 'Izzy' Grace Banks, a champion figure skater who in an effort to live of a life of obscurity took on the name Grace Dillon and moved to a small town called Thunder Point and opened a flower shop. The supporting characters were pretty much what you would expect - a handsome love interest named Troy Headly, an domineering stage mother named Winnie Dillon Banks whose own skating career hadn't resulted in gold and a tough but brilliant Russian coach named Mikhail Petrov.

My skepticism snuck in early (on page two in fact) when Grace skated to Alicia Keys' "Girl On Fire" (sound familiar anyone?) and the author described the former Olympic skater warming up with "forward and backward crossovers, backward half swizzle pumps, figure eights, scratch spins and axels". Find me an Olympic skater in 2015 who warms up with school figures so I can hug them... and swizzles? I did learn something though... apparently in the U.S. they call sculling 'swizzles' in their Basic Skills program. Who knew? Different strokes for different folks I suppose. At any rate, shaking my head on page two wasn't promising.

I pressed on, learning about Grace's virginity, hearing a man's genitalia described as "his thing" and even reading a sentence that actually said "they made love again and again. Troy knew he was screwed, and not in the usual way." I'll leave the rest of the book a bit of a mystery as the story does have some major plot twists but let it suffice to say that my first foray into the world of Harlequin paperbacks with a figure skating connection was everything I expected. I certainly applaud the creativity and challenge that comes from incorporating skating into fiction, but a Siskel and Ebert two thumbs up this story was not. Sadly, I wouldn't even give it one "swizzle". Save yourself the $9.99 and get yourself a new pair of skate guards.

DVD REVIEW: LESSONS IN BALLET FOR FIGURE SKATERS - LEVEL 1

If I wanted to watch gymnastics, I would. While I certainly appreciate the difficulty and challenge of a good triple/triple combination, skating has and always will be to me about its art. The crisp glide of an edge, the abandon of a footwork sequence perfectly timed to a piece of music, a unique spin position, a program that tells a story... Without artistry, figure skating would be nothing.

As an artistic skater myself, I can certainly appreciate the importance of an understanding of body movement and dance. I've taken ballet classes, performed as a modern dancer and even had the opportunity to experience Ecstatic Dance with the wonderful Sarah McClure. So, when Annette Thomas approached me and asked if I'd review her instructional DVD "Lessons In Ballet For The Figure Skaters: Level 1", I was of course thrilled. Thomas trained as a dancer at Carnegie Hall under the tutelage of Maria Nevelska of the Bolshoi Ballet and with Ana Garcia of the San Juan Ballet Company, Marguerite De Anguera of the Connecticut Regional Ballet Company and Mme. Alexandra Danilova and has drawn upon her own experience studying the art to produce two books on the subject: "Lessons In Classical Dance For The Figure Skater" and "Fundamentals of Alignment and Classical Movement for Figure Skaters".

Trained in the Vaganova method of ballet, which incorporates both Italian and French styles of movement, Thomas' DVD includes a video introduction, preliminary exercises, a full ballet lesson including warm-up floor exercises, barre work including demi and grand pliés, fondu par terre and rond de jamb en l'air. The most unique and effective part of the DVD in my opinion though is a "skates on" lesson of barre work presenting exercises in stance and balance that are particularly suited and well suited to figure skating posture and extension. The students demonstrating the exercises are, as Thomas attests in the DVD, not professionally trained dancers which I actually really liked. If you're trying to teach skaters without extensive dance training ballet, why not use skaters without extensive dance training? The DVD comes with an accompanying booklet that details each part of each exercise step-by-step, which I think is a fantastic teaching tool because as any skating coach or educator in any walk of life knows, people have different learning styles.

Thomas has put her instructional skills to the test with Jodi Porter's American Ice Theatre... and just look at the results in the fabulous artistic skaters with a clear understanding of body line that are coming out of the workshops and master choreography techniques classes there. You even have world renowned skaters like Caryn Kadavy participating in these master classes.

I can honestly give this DVD high praise. It's laid out and presented in such a way that any coach (at any level) can use the DVD to take their skaters back to basics and work on movement and those finishing touches themselves. It's self serve schooling and in the day and age we live in, you couldn't ask for anything better. Whether you're a skater or a coach, you're never too old or 'too good' to learn a thing or two, and hey, even if you're not a skater yourself, who wouldn't love to take a ballet class right in the comfort of their own living room? Thomas' DVD is available for purchase online at http://www.balletforfigureskaters.com directly for $59.95 USD and if you're looking for the perfect gift for that skater in your life, get yourself a copy. Not only will they thank you, the judges will too.

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 Christophe Belley

Danielle Earl photo

Turning many heads with his impressive final flight performance in the senior men's free skate at the Canadian Championships in Kingston, Quebec's Christophe Belley finished the competition in seventh - no small feat since he had finished only eighteenth the year before. A very stylistic skater with great attack on his jumps, he clearly made a statement that he's a name we will be hearing a lot more often in the future. Immediately following his Kingston performances, I had chance to catch up with him and talk about what made this season different, his goals, life off the ice and much more in this short but definitely sweet interview:

Q: Let's start by talking about your competitive career so far! You've represented Canada internationally on the Junior Grand Prix circuit and this year vaulted over ten places in the standings at the Canadian Championships, finishing eighteenth in 2014 and an incredible seventh this year in Kingston, Ontario. What has been different about this season?

A: Sorry if some of my answers don't make any sense, I'm French and I'm still working a lot on my English! This season, I was more prepared. I knew what to expect about being a senior men and that helped me a lot to go through the season. I also started to work with a sports mental preparer every week. She helps me with my mental weaknesses which are what hold me back from being better.

Q: You train in Drumondville with Annie Barabé, Sophie Richard and Yvan Desjardins, who also coached Shawn Sawyer when he was competing. What makes them the perfect team for you? 

A: I actually train in Contrecoeur which is closer than Drumondville from Montréal. They are the perfect team for me because they're working on the 'whole package'. They work on everything: the jumps, the spins, the choreographies, the skating skills... There are nine on-ice coaches in my team right now and I like them all.

Danielle Earl photo

Q: What's next for you? What are your goals both in skating and life in the coming months?

A: Shows are what's next for me right now. My goals for skating in the coming months are to be ready at summer competitions so I can get Challengers. I also want to work a lot more on my quads because I really need one! In my life as a young adult, my goals are to be done with college and to find a university program that I truly like.

Q: What are the strengths and weaknesses in your skating and how have you been working to improve upon your weaknesses?

A: As I said, my main weakness is my mental. I work a lot on it and I try to surround myself with lots of positive thoughts. I also have to work on the consistency of my flips and lutzes and my skating skills that are not on point yet. I'm very lucky because one of my strengths is my triple axel. Being able to perform a lot of different emotions is also a strength.

Q: What's one movie you could watch over and over again?

A: That might sound funny but I love "Project X". This is my favourite movie and I could watch it every day.

Q: If a genie could grant you three wishes, what would they be?

A: Eat whatever I want without gaining pounds, infinite bank account and unlimited plane tickets for weekend excursions.

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

A: Alexei Yagudin is my all time favourite skater. His jumps and his ability to entertain the crowd are what makes him special to me. Michelle Kwan is my second favourite. She was such a consistent skater and could also entertain the crowd. Queen Yuna! I like her for the +3 she gets on everything she does.

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

A: I work as a barman on the weekend and I love it.

Q: What makes figure skating the best sport in the world?

A: Because it combines artistry, elegance, emotions, technique, injuries and satisfaction to perfection.

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.

Two Years In Blogging: Skate Guard's Second Anniversary

At the end of last February, I celebrated the blog's first anniversary with you by talking a bit about why I decided to take on this massive project. That's what it's been... a project. Putting out two to three new interviews, researched historical stories or event recaps a week takes time and like everyone else, I work a full time job. I make the time because I'm honestly as passionate about the art of figure skating as it gets and there are just so many fascinating, untold stories that aren't getting told that I feel are begging to be. A lot has changed in the last year... the blog underwent a name change to simply 'Skate Guard', I made connections that have continued to allow me to do some pretty amazing interviews and Skate Guard even got featured in U.S. Figure Skating's magazine "Skating" and Open Kwong Dore Podcast. The blog has grown to almost two thousand readers on both Facebook and Twitter, hundreds more on RSS feeds and the content has been shared from Manhattan to Manila to Manchester. And guess what? I love it.

The biggest thing I learned about blogging this year came from (of all things) podcasts. I listen to a variety of podcasts every day - mostly history - and two things I noticed the most organized podcasters were doing was creating content ahead of time and consistently putting out two to three podcasts a week. I got organized and starting intelligently finding a way of putting out content that didn't monopolize my time or put pressure on me to "come up with something" and it was the smartest thing I've done. It's also allowed me the time also to begin the early stages of compiling materials for something I'd ultimately love to do more than anything... a book about skating history in my own province. As always, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and sharing and supporting what I'm trying to do here. I try to respond to every e-mail that I get and appreciate the kind words, photos and stories shared connected to every interview and blog and all of you period just so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

One thing that I've got asked several times is about which posts are the most popular and where the blog is most read. In the last year, the blog had 301,886 unique visitors from Canada, 52,555 from the U.S., 45,868 from Japan (owing largely to two wonderful bloggers in Japan who I've given permission to translate material into Japanese), 11,811 in Great Britain and 11,740 in Germany. Rounding out the top ten in terms of visitors were France, Russia, South Korea, the Ukraine and Australia.

Some of the most read blogs in the last year were the interviews with Trixi Schuba, Brian Orser and Fabian Bourzat, my editorial piece on bullying from the Sochi 2014 Olympics, "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Cinquanta?", "I Can Do Better..." and several of the historical blogs I've written, in particular "Anne Frank and Bernd Elias: Skaters In A Dangerous Time". Most recently, the tribute I wrote to Toller Cranston was extremely well read.

I'd love to do more interviews! One of my favourites will always be my interview with the first rate two time Olympic Gold Medallist Dick Button and my wish list overflows with people I haven't interviewed yet that I'd love to... people like Robin Cousins, Katarina Witt, Stéphane Lambiel, Jeffrey Buttle, Kurt Browning... believe me, the bucket list is huge and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Interviews are here to stay. One of the reasons I don't spend more time doing event recaps is that even though they are widely read, I simply hate writing them. It's common sense that if you want skaters to be receptive to talking to you, you don't bash them at every turn and it's just so difficult to be diplomatic or find just the right balance when you're talking about the "good, bad and #NoSheBetterDont" of figure skating competitions. The final event recap of this season will of course be the World Championships and I'll kind of see how I feel about continuing to do them from there...

What I will be continuing to do is write like crazy for you! I kind of draw my inspiration from the model of one of my favourite podcasts, Stuff You Missed In History Class, and what I've learned the most from blogging in the last year is that being yourself and writing about what you want to write about is the most important thing anyone can do. Rather than have life narrated to you, narrate it yourself. That's why skating history has been and will continue to be the main focus of the blog.

Here's to another year of loving and learning about figure skating! Keep reading and I'll keep writing.

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.

John Evelyn And The River Thames Frost Fairs

When you are looking at history, primary sources are always the ideal and it isn't everyday that you get to cite a gem like The Diary Of John Evelyn. First published in an 1818 edition as "Memoirs Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn" by William Bray with the assistance of William Upcott, the diary serves as a memoir of a British royalist named John Evelyn. In his memoir which was written from 1620 to 1706, Evelyn wrote of many major historical events of the era including the Great Fire Of London in 1666, the death of Oliver Cromwell and the epidemic of the bubonic plague that struck London in 1665 and 1666. However, what makes his diary fascinating in a historical context when it comes to THIS blog is his mention of ice skating in England during that era!

Evelyn's diary entry from December 1, 1662 reads as follows: "Having seen the strange and wonderful dexterity of the sliders on the new canal in St. James's Park, performed before their Majesties by divers gentlemen and others with skates, after the manner of the Hollanders, with what swiftness they pass, how suddenly they stop in full career upon the ice; I went home by water, but not without exceeding difficulty, the Thames being frozen, great flakes of ice encompassing our boat." Evelyn's mention of skating on the Thames is explained by a period known historically as The Little Ice Age, where the winters in England were much more severe than in present day and the river was wider and slower and blocked by the Old London Bridge and was frozen solid.

"A Wonderful Fair or a Fair of Wonders. A new and true illustration of and Description of the Several things Acted and Done on the River of Thames, in the time of the terrible frost", December 1684. Photo courtesy British Library.

The Thames was in fact frozen so solid that Frost Fairs were held on the ice, which included skating, entertainment, games of football and meals of roasted ox. The first recorded "official" Frost Fair was in 1608 and the final in 1814, when the weather took a turn for the better. In Evelyn's January 24, 1684 diary entry, he recounted in detail a Frost Fair including skating: "The frost continues more and more severe, the Thames before London was still planted with booths in formal streets, all sorts of trades and shops furnished, and full of commodities, even to a printing press, where the people and ladies took a fancy to have their names printed, and the day and year set down when printed on the Thames: this humor took so universally, that it was estimated that the printer gained £5 a day, for printing a line only, at sixpence a name, besides what he got by ballads, etc. Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other stairs to and fro, as in the streets, sleds, sliding with skates, a bull-baiting, horse and coach-races, puppet-plays and interludes, cooks, tippling, and other lewd places, so that it seemed to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water, while it was a severe judgment on the land, the trees not only splitting as if the lightning struck, but men and cattle perishing in divers places, and the very seas so locked up with ice, that no vessels could stir out or come in. The fowls, fish, and birds, and all our exotic plants and greens, universally perishing. Many parks of deer were destroyed, and all sorts of fuel so dear, that there were great contributions to preserve the poor alive. Nor was this severe weather much less intense in most parts of Europe, even as far as Spain and the most southern tracts. London, by reason of the excessive coldness of the air hindering the ascent of the smoke, was so filled with the fuliginous steam of the sea-coal, that hardly could one see across the street, and this filling the lungs with its gross particles, exceedingly obstructed the breast, so as one could scarcely breathe. Here was no water to be had from the pipes and engines, nor could the brewers and divers other tradesmen work, and every moment was full of disastrous accidents."

An account from Charles Mackay in 1683's "The Thames And Its Tributaries" also offers mention of skating during the Frost Fairs... and it is (pardon the pun) a chilling addition to the story: "And it is also reported, that some skait- sliders upon one of those large icy plains, were unawares driven to sea, and arrived living (though almost perished with cold and hunger) upon the sea coast of Essex; but as to the certainty of this report I refer to the credit of succeeding intelligence, as also those wonderful damages upon the coast of Scotland relating of the loss of some shipping, and the lives of many ingenious and industrious navigators ; nor may those prodigious and lamentable damages seem strange, when in our own harbour, the river of Thames, several ships, both inward and outward bound, as well at Redrif as other adjacent places, have been broken to pieces, and sunk by the effects of this so unparalleled a frost." Could you imagine going skating and finding yourself adrift on an ice floe at sea and landing up in a different county? I'm sorry, but that's terrifying. We're talking about an hour trip by ice or car but out in the elements floating around in the ocean? That's some Titanic stuff right there.

At any rate, how fortunate we are to have John Evelyn's very early written account of skating available and the fact that it also alludes to skating "after the manner of the Hollanders", considering it was the Dutch who added edges to skates in the thirteenth or fourteenth century and James II that introduced skating to the British aristocracy after his exile in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. I look at writing this blog in a way as sharing my own skating history diary with all of you and I'm thankful to John Evelyn for putting his own accounts of skating to paper so that I could share them.

I want to finish this blog with a wonderful quote from George Davis' 1814 book "Frostiana or A History of the River Thames in a Frozen State" that was actually published from a stall on the frozen Thames River: "Nothing can be more beautiful than the attitude of drawing the bow and arrow while the skater is making a large circle on the outside". Davis regarded one of skating's purest moves, the forward outside edge, as a thing of beauty then and today it remains one of figure skating's most beautiful movements. Full circle, literally.

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 Angela Derochie

Representing the Gloucester Skating Club in Ottawa, Angela Derochie turned her grit and determination into gold when she won the 1998 Canadian senior ladies title in Hamilton, Ontario after top six finishes on her previous four attempts. With two other national medals to boot (silver in 1997 and bronze in 1999), she also represented Canada internationally at the Four Continents Championships and World Championships as well as a host of other international events in the nineties. After retiring in 1999, she turned to professional skating and is now a sought after coach in Ontario. It was my pleasure to speak with Angela in depth about her competitive career, her time spent coaching here in Nova Scotia, the triple axel jump and much more in this sensational interview:

Q: After winning the Canadian junior ladies title in 1992, you won the Canadian senior ladies gold, silver and bronze medal and represented Canada internationally on the Grand Prix circuit, at the Four Continents Championships and World Championships. Reflecting on it all now, what are your proudest moments or most special memories from that time in your life?

A: I would have to say my proudest moment after all the ups and downs with injury and consistency was to finally be able to put all the hard training together in both a short and long at the 1998 senior Nationals when I won. One of the most special moments would be doing my first Skate Canada on my birthday. After my short, the audience and Canadian team chanted "Happy Birthday!"

Q: My condolences for the recent loss of your coach Peter Dunfield. What made him the best coach for you and now, in your own own coaching career, what do you take from your work with him to your work with your own students?

A: Thank you. He was positive, quiet and calm. He was very picky technically in that even if you landed something it wasn't good enough because in competition you are never hoping to feel perfect. He had many great small exercises that helped make me quicker in rotation as I jumped high but didn't rotate fast. He also made sure I had more than just skating in my life. When it comes to my skaters, I monitor their emotional state. I like to make sure they are not training too much, along with being very picky technically.

Q: After the 1997 Canadian Champion Susan Humphreys was sent to that year's Olympic qualifying event (the Karl Schafer Memorial) in Vienna the previous fall injured and she failed to qualify a spot for a Canadian lady in the Nagano Olympics, how hard was it for you to win that year and miss out on that opportunity? Was competing through to the Salt Lake City Olympics something you considered at the time?

A: This was very difficult as it is every skaters dream to go not to just Worlds but Olympics. It was also a very long time between Nationals and Worlds with Olympics in between. With that being said, Peter Dunfield sent me to go to Cuba for a week to have a break from it all... the media questions about not making Olympics and how it's the first time in history that Canada had not had representation. This gave me time away from training and emotional stress before heading back to full out training. I had planned to compete until Salt Lake but at Worlds in 1998, my mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) so she was not able to help me as much with my skating. I was coaching skating and getting help from my aunt with my skating. In 2000, I was skating in practice better than I had ever skated but at Nationals I tried to make things happen instead of just doing it like every day. I fell to sixth and was no longer on the national team. I had lost my funding so I needed to make some hard decisions. I chose to skate on ships. When the Salt Lake City Olympics were on, I had a really hard time watching it but I made the right decision because the stress was gone and the money was coming in.

Q: You were landing a triple axel in practice near the end of your career and were even including it in your competitive programs at the time. How consistent was it and what was the feeling like when you first landed it?

A: I was landing one or two a day. They were not as consistent as they should have been to try them in competitions. It was really exciting to land the first one... and impossible to do another one in the same session. Learning it at first was a bit scary but exciting. Sometimes triple axel felt easier than triple flip and triple lutz.

Q: In your years of coaching, you spent some time working here in the Halifax area! What was your experience like coaching here in Nova Scotia and what did you love most about the area?

A: I have been coaching since 1991 and have coached many places and different levels. I loved the kids I taught in Nova Scotia. I found however that there were many roadblocks for myself and the skaters to overcome to compete against the kids from Ontario and Quebec. I liked the area and the people in the area.

Q: The "current state of skating" and the IJS judging system is always a hot topic. What is the best thing going on in skating right now and the worst?

A: The best thing is that the kids can see what the judges are giving them for each element and where they need to improve. They can see if the jumps are clean or cheated and they can see other skaters report cards to compare where they are and where they need to get to to be at the top. The worst thing is that things keep changing. The audiences really don't understand the system so we are losing some of the viewing audience.

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

A: Carolina Kostner. She is one of the most all around skaters I have ever seen not to mention down to earth and friendly. A great role model. She skates fast, jumps high and has great line and form. She has also had her ups and downs which shows young skaters about dedication, perseverance, hard work and the love of skating. Joannie Rochette is strong and beautiful to watch. She again shows that you can overcome adversity. Thirdly, Kurt Browning... by far one of the best performers of our sport. He is the Michael Jordan of figure skating: still skating and performing well.

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

A: That my favourite sport is basketball but I wasn't good at it nor was I ever tall enough to play.

Q: Do you miss performing and is that something you could ever see yourself getting involved in now? 

A: Yes, there are still days I miss performing but I cannot imagine trying to get myself back in skating shape. I could possibly see myself getting involved with a production company hiring or managing... maybe something like that.

Q: What is the biggest lesson figure skating has taught you?

A: To not listen to what everyone else says and wants from you. To do what's right for you and trust in your team. With hard work and believing in yourself, anything is possible.

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.

King Arthur On Ice: Skating's Best (Or Worst) Kept Secret?

In 1975, Rick Wakeman (the former keyboardist for the progressive rock group Yes) took on the challenge of a lifetime in creating King Arthur On Ice, an ice show designed to complement his second studio album "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table". The show was performed to three sold out audiences (at a financial loss) at Wembley Arena in London, received some of the worst reviews in figure skating history and was even brought to light on VH1's "100 Most Shocking Moments In Rock & Roll" feature.

Wakeman spoke about the show in a 2008 interview with The Observer: "Management wanted to put Myths and Legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table shows on at the Albert Hall. I wanted Wembley, but as there was this big ice show happening a week or so later, they told me it was impossible. I was fuming, so I told Melody Maker I was going to perform King Arthur, at Wembley, on ice! They made it a big story, so there was no going back. I put in my own money, which gave me total control, and I wanted the best. The skaters were flown in from around the world. We put together a huge cast. I had a 45-piece orchestra, 48 singers in two choirs, 50 skaters, 50 knights, a seven-piece band, a narrator and heaven knows what else. It was fun, but it wasn't without its problems. One night, as soon as I walked on, my cape got caught on one of the elevated keyboards, and I was left hanging in mid-air. I had to go off, dazed, trying to negotiate the ice. Then there was the dry ice, which was hard to control on that scale. On the first night, it was hovering nicely at knight level, then we noticed it rising. No one was able to turn the machines off, and by the end of 'Lady of the Lake', the dancing Guinevere had disappeared completely. So had the lower tier of the orchestra and the first tier of the auditorium. It was like looking out of an aeroplane window. Then there was the night the knight committed suicide. In the final battle, there were 25 knights opposite each other, poised to simultaneously kill each other and disappear into dry ice. On the last night, one of the knights was ill. 'Doesn't matter,' I said. 'There are loads of knights.' But, of course, when we finished the piece, there was one knight looking around for someone to kill him. The conductor looked at me helplessly. But this guy was brilliant. He wandered aimlessly, then had a stroke of genius and committed suicide. Pure entertainment!"

Not being a huge fan of MOST of these live music/skating variety shows that we are presented with on network television instead of professional competitions and shows anyway, you might say I was a bit biased before ever even watching the clips of King Arthur On Ice at Wembley. I really, really tried here. While I have to admire Wakeman's creative vision, the skating was hokey, the live music completely uncomplimentary to the King Arthur storyboard and the whole thing just stunk of a bad acid trip in my humble opinion. The skating stars - Australian Champion Reg Park and two time British Champion and Olympian Patricia Pauley - were kind of doomed by the concept of the show in the sense I don't think any jump, spin or choreography they could have come up with would have made this look any less chaotic. Strangely enough, a recording of the show was broadcast with subtitles on Japanese television on May 30, 1975. I can only imagine what the subtitles said! Unfortunately, this show kind of lives on as an example of a big idea that just didn't get executed in a marketable way and it's fascinating to me that in reading interviews with Wakeman as recent as this year, it appears he still wants another shot to put together this show again with a cast of current Olympic ice skaters. As much as I hate to be critical, I don't think the failure of this show had as much to do with the skating or staging as the musical soundtrack and vision itself. You do have to admire Wakeman's dedication to the idea though.

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.

WhoDUNNit: The Mysterious Death Of Jackie Dunn

In his 1889 essay "The Decay Of Lying", Oscar Wilde wrote that "life imitates art far more than art imitates life". The story of the tragic death of John 'Jack' Edward Powell Dunn is certainly a case of a little of column A and column B.

To mix things up, let's start with the bad news and work our way backwards! The July 16, 1938 edition of the "Miami News" noted, "Death cheated Jack Dunn, British champion ice skater, of the film role for which he had waited two years. The 21-year-old captain of the British 1936 Olympics skating team died last night of tularemia, a rare disease spread by rabbits, on the day he was scheduled to start his first picture. Coming here after the [Olympic] games, he was signed by Universal and later by Paramount. But while Sonja Henie, with whom he appeared in skating in exhibitions, rose to stardom, Dunn remained idle. Recently he signed with Edward Small Productions and was cast in the leading role of 'The Duke of West Point'. Upon its completion he was to have played Rudolph Valentino in a picturization of the late movie idol's life."

Jack Dunn and Sonja Henie. Photo courtesy Minneapolis Historical Society.

Like Rudolph Valentino, who died in 1926 at the age of thirty one, Jackie's life was cut short at a very young age... just when his future never seemed brighter. Before we take a more in depth look at the tragedy that befell Jackie, I want to start "at the beginning" and take a brief look at his successes in competitive skating before he joined forces with Sonja Henie.

Sonja Henie, Jack Dunn and Gweneth Butler in St. Moritz in 1935

To begin, the "Miami News" was erroneous in stating that Jackie was a British Champion skater. Facing stiff competition at home from Henry Graham Sharp, Jackie was unable to claim the British title but did find enormous success in his brief competitive career. He made his first appearance at the European Championships in 1934, finishing sixth and returned the following year to finish just off the podium in fourth. His greatest success came at the 1935 World Figure Skating Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where he was able to outrank his rival Sharp and win the silver medal behind Olympic Gold Medallist Karl Schäfer. Jackie finished sixth at the 1936 Olympics in Germany and despite a second place finish in the free skate at the 1936 World Championships in Paris, was unable to move up from a fifth place finish in the school figures and finished just off the podium in fourth. 

At nineteen, Jackie abruptly decided to end his competitive career. After a stint skating opposite Sonja Henie's rival Cecilia Colledge in a series of British ice shows, he travelled with the Henie family to the U.S. and for two years toured in Sonja's ice revue as her pairs partner in the show. Jackie and Henie had a romance going on off the ice as well, but all of that came to a halt when she became romantically tangled up with Tyrone Power who (incidentally) perhaps didn't just enjoy the company of the ladies. Here's where things get even more interesting. So plucked from England to come skate in Sonja Henie's tour, we have this jilted lover in Hollywood who's had a taste of show business and wants to make a name for himself. Jackie had a striking resemblance to the late Rudolph Valentino, who he was set to play in a movie.

Photo courtesy New York Public Library

According to the book "Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places" by Brad Steiger and the blog Unsolved Mysteries Of The World,  "It was in 1920 that Valentino, at the peak of his success, saw the ring in a San Francisco jeweller's. The proprietor warned him that the ring was a jinx, but Valentino still bought it. He wore the ring in his next picture, The Young Rajah. It was the biggest flop of his career and he was off the screen for the next two years. Valentino did not wear the ring again until he used it as a costume prop in The Son of the Sheik. Three weeks after finishing this film, he went to New York on vacation. While wearing the ring, he suffered an acute attack of appendicitis. Two weeks later, he was dead... Pola Negri, a famous female movie star of the time, asked to pick a memento from Valentino's possessions, chose the ring-and almost immediately suffered a long period of ill health that threatened to end her career. A year later, while convalescing, she met a performer who was almost Valentino's double, Russ Colombo. Miss Negri was so struck by the resemblance that she gave him Rudolph's ring, saying, 'From one Valentino to another.' Within a few days of receiving the gift, Russ Colombo was killed in a freak shooting accident. His cousin passed the ring on to Russ's best friend, Joe Casino. Also at the height of his popularity as an entertainer, Casino took no chances with the ring. Instead of wearing it, he kept it in a glass case in memory of his dead friend. When he was asked to donate it to a museum of Valentino relics, he refused, saying that he treasured it for sentimental reasons.   As time passed, Joe Casino forgot the ring's evil reputation and put it on. A week later, still wearing the ring, he was knocked down by a truck and killed. By now the curse was front-page news. When asked what he proposed to do with the ring, Joe's brother, Del, explained that he could not allow himself to be intimidated by a curse, or jinx, or ghost, or whatever it was. He didn't believe in things like that. Del Casino wore the ring for some time and nothing unusual happened. Then he lent it to a collector of Valentino relics, who suffered no ill effects either. This caused several newspapers to speculate that at last the evil influence of the ring had come to an end. And that seemed to trigger off a new wave of violence. One night soon afterward, the home of Del Casino was burgled. The police saw the burglar, a man named James Willis, running from the scene. One of them fired a warning shot, but the bullet went low and killed Willis. Among the loot found in his possession was the Valentino ring.   It was at this time that Hollywood producer Edward Small decided to make a film based on Valentino's career. Jack Dunn, a former skating partner to ice star Sonja Henie, bore a great resemblance to Rudolph and was asked to make a film test for the part. He dressed in Valentino's clothes for the test - and also wore the jinxed ring. Only twenty-one years old at the time, Dunn died ten days later from a rare blood disease. After this tragedy the ring was kept out of sight and never worn by anyone again."

Although rare and only fatal in one percent of reported (modern) cases, tularemia is most commonly reported among hunters, cooks and agricultural workers. What are the seemingly slim odds that a champion figure skater who went on a casual hunting trip would end up with this rare disease while wearing this supposedly cursed ring and be the last one to wear it before he was supposed to play the role of the person who bought it in a film? I'm sorry, but that's like insane and just doesn't add up.

Whether you believe in curses or not, the mysterious death of Jackie Dunn certainly begs more questions than it offers answers... and remains one of figure skating's greatest mysteries.

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.