The American Exhibition Ice Skaters Association

Picture it... Chicago, 1917. The city was recovering from the S.S. Eastland disaster only two years previous, World War I was raging overseas and professional figure skating was in its salad days in the city. Two of the city's hotels, the Hotel Sherman and Morrison Hotel, had installed tank ice shows that were proving enormously successful. With that success, skaters obviously wanted to be able to have some control as to the direction their careers were going. Enter the A.E.I.A.

The American Exhibition Ice Skaters Association was an organization that came together with the goal of nationally controlling the many hotel ice shows that were popping up throughout the U.S. at the time. The Chicago shows had paved the way for countless others and as professional skating enjoyed its first big boom in the U.S. from Los Angeles to Dallas to Kansas City, American professional skaters wanted assurance they'd be paid fairly for their work and that the market wouldn't be over saturated with skaters from abroad. They didn't come right out and say it, but seeing as Charlotte Oelschlägel's shows were in their heyday you have to put two and two together and empathize with where the American skaters were coming from at the time.

The A.E.I.A. was run by a board of directors with William Arlington as president, John A. Scully as vice president, J. Lewis Coath as secretary and general manager and Edward W. High as treasurer. A 1917 Variety magazine explained the gist of what the Association aimed to do: "A plan has been worked out. Instead of the cafe proprietor paying a stipulated sum for the skaters, he can elect instead to turn over to the Association the total amount in cover charges. From that the Association pays the skaters and it also defrays the expenses of installing the tanks, which the Association will supply in such cases. After the engagement the hotel people have the privilege of buying the tank. Where a rink is already installed or where the hotel people so elect, a salary, fixed by the Association, is paid. The various skaters have agreed that the Association put a price on their work. Should a larger figure be obtained, the skater agrees that one-half of the excess salary over the stipulated amount shall be turned into the Association for promotion work... Each skater has weekly dues, $2.50 being paid by those working (in lieu of commissions) and $1.00 weekly for those not working. The figure mentioned as contributed for advance publicity among hotel interests is $2,000 and it is claimed that out-of-town hotels have already asked for bookings from the new Association... The capital stock will be $100,000, subscriptions expected to come from lovers of the sport and ice fans, which number many wealthy persons. There is no salary paid any of the officers save that of secretary."

The organization purported that an estimated eighty percent of American professional skaters performing in these hotel shows were in support of the organization. Quoted members included Norval Baptie and Gladys Lamb, Kathleen Pope and George Kerner, Franz La Mar, Bunny Moore and Runcie Martin, Ed and Dottie Lamy, The Fink's, The Old Smoothies, Bassett and Chappelle, Steele and Condon and Davis and Rodgers.

Although the A.E.I.A. probably had the best of intentions, it just wasn't a model that ultimately worked at the time. Skaters from Europe were flocking to North America by the dozens to make an honest living as professional skaters and the Association couldn't ultimately control the market in the way they aimed to at the time. Prohibition in 1920 didn't help either. It wouldn't be until 1938 that the Professional Skaters Association would be formed, but this early attempt to look out for the interests of professional skaters in America is one that shouldn't be relegated to the dusty boxes in the rink attic.

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.

Darío Villalba Flores: Spain's First Olympic Figure Skater

Although the current European and World Champion in men's figure skating is from Spain, we all know that Javier Fernandez' overwhelming success has been the exception and not the rule for Spanish figure skaters. Sure, Spain has fielded some other superb skaters over the years including Yvonne Gomez, Sara Hurtado Martin and Adrian Diaz Bronchud and Marta Andrade, but Fernandez' rise to the top has truly been historic. Fernandez, however, was obviously not the first Spanish skater to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships. That distinction goes to a man named Dario Villalba Flores and I think you are going to find his story every little bit as fascinating as Javi's.

Born February 22, 1939 in San Sebastián which is on the Bay of Biscay near the French border, Villalba was the son of a diplomat and not just just any diplomat. His father was an Ambassador to Spain stationed at the consulate in Philadelphia, the city where Villalba learned to skate at the age of eleven. After winning a competition on the junior level in the city, the young skater returned to his country of birth but the rink there didn't offer facilities conducive to training. His parents sent him to Chamonix, France to train with Thea Frenssen, who had coached skaters like the late Gundi Busch and Ina Szenes-Bauer. 

In an interview with Hielo Espanol, Villalba offered some insight into his competitive career, which saw him become the first Spanish figure skater ever to compete at the Winter Olympics and World Championships, both in 1956: "The Championships of Spain had three or four skaters (who) came from roller skating and the level was very low. I did a double loop, double toe-loop, double salchow and double lutz. We also worked (on) double axel. Certainly nothing to do with the level of today where children perform quadruple jumps. I was very young, barely sixteen, when I competed in the Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956). All my obsession was not to be the last and I did. I finished fourteenth, beating two competitors: Australian Charles Keeble and the Finn Kalle Tuulos. Later, I participated in the World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen also in 1956 where I was fifteenth, beating a competitor, Australian Keeble again. In both cases, the winner was the great American skater, Hayes Alan Jenkins, who I greatly admired. It was an interesting experience because, at that time, being a Spanish skater was like being a bullfighter in a Nordic country." After his trips to the Olympic and World Championships, Villalba abruptly retired from skating. 

What makes his story so fascinating to me isn't his just the fact that he was Spain's first skater to compete in major "amateur" competitions, but what he has accomplished in life SINCE then. After studying law, philosophy and fine arts in Madrid, he gave his first exhibition as an artist at age eighteen. Today, Villalba considered one of his country's greatest artists. He won the National Prize For Plastic Arts in 1983 and twenty years later was given the Gold Medal For Merit In Fine Arts by the King Of Spain, who now in light of the Jian Ghomeshi scandal is most certainly not jamming with Moxy Fruvous anymore. All jest aside, Villalba's art is in fact so popular that it has been exhibited everywhere from Denmark to Japan to Miami, including in 1980 an exhibit with the Sonja Henie/Niels Onstad Foundation in Hovikooden, Norway.

Asked what he thought of Fernandez' skating in the Hielo Espanol interview, Villalba said "I was lucky to meet him when he came to my studio with a member of the Spanish Federation (Gloria Estefanell). I asked him to do a quadruple without skates and I was amazed at the height picked. I follow (him) closely and the rest of the Spanish skaters (we asked for them all, even junior). For me it's exciting to have been the beginning of what these guys are continuing." Things always do seem to come full circle, do they not?

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.

Eva And Rudi Revisted: Bonus Material From Dr. Roman Seeliger

After sharing my latest blog on Eva Pawlik and Rudi Seeliger, I was fortunate enough to connect with their son, Dr. Roman Seeliger, who kindly shared with with me a wealth of additional material about his parents which he has graciously given me permission to share! Below, you'll find part of the e-mail from Dr. Seelinger which expands on some of the aspects of Eva and Rudi's story as well as clarifies one point in the blog. He also provided a treasure trove of additional information about his parents that I included separately! Grab yourself a cup of tea and get ready to learn even more about these incredible figure skating champions:

LETTER FROM DR. ROMAN SEELIGER

"I am always happy about the efforts of figure skating experts and journalists to keep history alive. So you can certainly share my information with readers.

Your article is wonderful. Thank you so much. Perhaps one could add that famous Austrian coach Edi Scholdan was one of my mother's coaches. After having won the Olympic silver medal, she starred in Scholdan's Broadmoor Ice Revue in Colorado Springs (in the summer of 1948). In addition to that it might be remarkable that Pawlik was the best European skater not only in 1949 when she won the European title but also at the 1948 Europeans. The European gold medal, however, was awarded to non-European Barbara Ann Scott from Canada.

Edi Scholdan and Eva Pawlik

One sentence in your article could be misunderstood: "Although Pawlik and Seeliger were reunited in 1949, Eva continued to focus on her singles career at the time with a World title not an unreachable goal by any stretch of the imagination." One could believe that Eva focussed on her single skating although she was already reunited with my father. That is not true. When turning pro in the summer of 1949 Eva Pawlik thought Rudi Seeliger had died. When Rudi came back in December 1949, she was already starring in the Vienna Ice Revue. So it was too late for an international pairs skating career for my parents in the then amateur rinks. My father won the 1950 Austrian pairs skating title with another girl, Susi Giebisch, beating the last year's European bronze medalists Ratzenhofer and Ratzenhofer after training only two weeks, and then turned pro. So my parents were reunited a number of months AFTER my mother had turned professional.

Why my grandparents (my mother's parents) needed financial support? That has to do with Austria's bad economic situation after WW2. There were enormous shortages. People did not have enough food.

As an amateur, my mother appeared in a small ice show in Vienna without getting money for it. Otherwise she would have lost her amateur status which would have prevented her from participating in the Olympics. But she got a box of lump sugar for her appearances. One of the officials said she had to give it back so as not to endanger her amateur status. She did so.

To compare the circumstances: The later Olympic Champion Barbara Ann Scott got a convertible from the City of Ottawa. Avery Brundage from the International Olympic Committee told her to give it back so as not to endanger her amateur status. She did so, won the European Gold Medal, the Olympic Crown and the Gold Medal at the Worlds and then got the car back again.

Here is a link to Eva Pawlik's free program from the movie "Traumrevue" (1959). The film was privately taken during the rehearsal by my father so I can publish it without infringing any property rights. The original music was Marchetti´s tune "Fascination". I added a piano piece that I have composed and played on the piano.

And this was my birthday video message to 1949 and 1950 World Champion Alena Vrzanova some years ago (Vrzanova was runner-up to my mother at the 1949 Europeans):

Best wishes,

Roman Seeliger"

ADDITIONAL WRITTEN MATERIAL BY DR. SEELIGER REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION

"My mother was a very lively child. When going for a walk with my grandparents she seized my grandpa's hand on the left and my grandma's hand on the right to make a backwards somersault. That was in the summer of 1931 before her 4th birthday. The doctor said she should go in for sports. As the ice rink was not far (in the city of Vienna) my grandparents let her go to the Vienna ice rink. There a skating teacher took one boy or girl after the other to conduct him or her one round and then to take the next child while the first had the opportunity to have a rest. When the teacher came back to pick up Eva again she was not there. 'She must be somewhere in the crowd,' my grandma informed the teacher, who found her already able to skate alone without falling down. As she was watching the Viennese world-class figure skaters doing their training for the following championships she tried to imitate whatever they were doing. Eva was fascinated by all of them and only had one wish: she also wanted to become one of the great figure skaters. Within a few months, she was able to jump a single axel and do fast spins. That was in the early spring of 1932. Eva's coaches were Angela Hanka (silver medallist at the 1914 World Championships) in the free programme and Rudolf Kutzer in the compulsory figures. When she went to school, she got up early in the morning (at 4 o´clock) to rush to the Vienna Ice Rink to develop her skills on the ice before the beginning of school at 8.

My father was already a schoolboy at age 7 or 8 when he began to skate. Some companions such as Karl Jungbauer, a very talented single skater who was destined to die in World War II, suggested that my father, too, should try to skate. That was approximately at the same time when my mother began to skate. My father was also originally trained as a singles skater.

My parents met on the skating rink of the Wiener Eislaufverein (Vienna Skating Association) when they were children (before World War II). Originally, they were both single skaters. In 1936, Pawlik and Seeliger (my mother was 8 years old, my father was 12) imitated the 1936 Olympic Champions, Maxi and Ernst Baier. Pawlik and Seeliger had a great deal of success with this improvised parody and then decided also to become pair skaters. Within only a few months they were already considered the couple that could become the successors of the 1936 Olympic runner-ups Ilse and Erik Pausin.

However, the inhuman Nazi regime and World War II destroyed the lives of generations, including the careers of many sportsmen and sportswomen. Unfortunately, Austria ceased to exist in 1938 because it was integrated into Germany in the so-called Anschluss. There were German championships on the one hand and 'Ostmark' championships instead of Austrian championships on the other. ('Ostmark' was the name the area of Austria had after the Anschluss). Eva Pawlik and Rudi Seeliger became German Youth Champions, both individually and as a couple. In 1942, they became 'Ostmark' Champions as a couple.

Rudi Seeliger, however, could not continue his training as a skater, as he had to serve in the German Army. If he had refused, he would have been killed immediately. My mother unsuccessfully tried to get an exemption from the compulsory military service for him. Some sportsmen got such an exemption. But the young girl Eva Pawlik did not have connections to the people who had the Nazi regime's authority to give such an exemption. So my father had no chance to escape the war.

In 1943 Rudi Seeliger was captured by the Soviets at the Eastern front and had to work as a coal miner in the Donetsk Basin in the Ukraine. He had a terrible time there but did not give up hope. In his dreams, he was thinking about skating with Eva. Finally, the Soviets let him go in December 1949. He belonged to the group of soldiers known as the 'late homecomers'. (He was 26 years of age at that time.) It was by no means easy for him to accept that his youth and his amateur career as a figure skater had been destroyed by World War II and by the inhuman Nazi regime. On the other hand, he confessed that there had been moments in which he could no longer believe that he would survive and that he was thankful that he finally did.

Meanwhile Eva Pawlik could only compete as a single skater. She did not give up. Despite the fact that Austria no longer existed and was part of Nazi Germany, she always chose Viennese music (especially Viennese waltzes) for her free programmes. That was a young woman's careful signal of believing in Austria's resurrection. When Vienna was bombed in 1945, the figure skating training on the ice rink had to be interrupted for some hours to give everyone the chance to run into a bunker. The skaters returned to find bomb shrapnel on the ice, which they cleared away before returning to their compulsory figures training.

In 1947, when the first European and World Championships after World War II were held, Austrians in general were not admitted, for political reasons. Eva Pawlik was allowed to watch the Championships - from the stands, but not as a competitor. It was one of the most difficult moments in her life as an amateur skater to know that she was probably the best European skater with good chances of winning a medal at the World´s but to be barred from participating.

In 1948, Austrians were admitted again to international skating competitions. Eva Pawlik proved to be Europe's best skater at the European, Olympics and World Championships. Again it was hard for her to accept that the European crown was not awarded to her, but to a non-European skater. It goes without saying that Barbara Ann Scott from Canada was a wonderful and glamorous skater. But that did not change the fact that Eva Pawlik was the best-ranked European lady figure skater at the 1948 European Championship but was awarded only the silver medal.

One also has to take into account the circumstances under which Eva Pawlik had to develop her skating. There were hardly any indoor skating halls in Austria. So the training was mainly restricted to the time from October to March. The competitors from the United States and from Canada had the chance to do their training during the whole year.

In the summer of 1948, when Barbara Ann Scott had turned professional, my mother was celebrated as the world´s highest ranking amateur skating queen in the United States. She did some training in Colorado Springs with Edi Scholdan, who was destined to die in 1961 (in an air crash involving the US figure skating team). In the Broadmoor Ice Revue produced by Scholdan, she appeared together with famous US Champion Gretchen Merrill. Pawlik's 21st birthday was celebrated in Hollywood, where a figure skating exhibition took place. MGM offered Eva Pawlik the opportunity to star in a Hollywood movie. Gene Kelly´s dancing should be combined with Eva Pawlik's skating. Billy Wilder should be the director, Helen Rose should design the costumes. Although this offer was a chance to become a Hollywood star, Eva Pawlik declined in order to keep her amateur status for the next year. She was said to have the best chance of winning the 1949 European and World titles.

At the 1949 European Championships in Milan, Eva Pawlik suffered from acute appendicitis. Nevertheless she beat her first competitor, Alena Vrzanová, both in compulsory figures and in the free programme. After her free programme, she had to go to hospital immediately. Nevertheless, it was perhaps the most wonderful day of her amateur career. To be first despite the illness proved her to be Europe´s best figure skater by far. As there was no dangerous competitor for Pawlik from outside Europe, that meant she was also the world´s best figure skater by far in 1949.

In the World Championships, Eva Pawlik ranked only second after school figures. But the difference in points between Pawlik and Vrzanová was narrow, so Pawlik was still the favourite. Her strength had always lain in the free programme. At the 1948 Olympics, for instance, she had been 3rd after the school figures. It was the free programme that earned her the Olympic silver medal.

When Eva Pawlik and her competitors were warming up at the 1949 Worlds, one of her heels broke. The judges did not allow her to try the shoes of a companion to get familiar with a new feeling of skating. Sabotage was supposed but not proved. As a result of the shortages in Austria, Pawlik unfortunately had no second pair of skates, so she could not compete in the free programme. That was the greatest disappointment in Eva Pawlik's career. Vrzanová went on to win.

It is true that Karl Schäfer implored her not to turn professional but to take part in the 1950 European and World Championships. In the 1990's, the ISU Historian, Mr. Benjamin T. Wright, wrote in a retrospective letter to me that Pawlik was for sure a better skater than Vrzanová.

If Eva Pawlik had known that Rudi Seeliger would come back at the end of 1949, she would have heeded Schäfer's advice. She had known that she would keep her chances alive not only as a single skater but also as a pairs skater. The chances in pair skating were as good as in single skating because the international standard in pair skating was not extremely high at that time. Besides, there were no school figures in the pairs´ competitions, which would have made things easier for Eva.

As a matter of fact: Eva did not know that Rudi was still alive. She wanted to give financial support to her parents, whom she loved very intensely. That was the psychological reason for her decision to turn pro in the summer of 1949.

When Rudi Seeliger came back to Vienna in December 1949, he went to the skating rink immediately to find out if he was still able to skate. Some steps on the ice - and he knew that he could still do it. One of the first things Rudi wanted to tell Eva was that he had not forgotten skating. As Eva was already a professional skater, it was too late for her and Rudi to compete together. So Rudi competed at the 1950 Austrian Championships with another partner (Susi Giebisch). After only a fortnight´s training, Seeliger and Giebisch won the gold medal, ranking ahead of Staerk/Gareis and Ratzenhofer/Ratzenhofer. It is worth mentioning that Ratzenhofer/Ratzenhofer had already been internationally successful, having been the 1949 European bronze medallists.

After this success, Rudi turned pro and joined the Vienna Ice Revue. First he was skating together with Emmy Puzinger (at that time Eva Pawlik was skating with Hellmut May, who had finished 8th at the 1948 Olympics). Within a year, it was clear also to the management of the ice revue that Eva and Rudi artistically belonged together. Their first vaudeville number was 'a little flirt' (music: "Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps").

My parents married on February 12th, 1957. They had fallen in love during the time they were starring in the Vienna Ice Revue. In 1957, however, they were starring in the German Scala Eisrevue (as the successors of Ilse and Erik Pausin and as the predecessors of Sissy Schwarz and Kurt Oppelt). Having evolved into one of the world´s best professional couples on the ice, they returned to the Vienna Ice Revue in 1958.

I realized that my parents were famous when I was rather young (6 or 7 years). As my parents had retired from professional skating shortly before my birth (I was born on August 9th, 1962), my impression that my mother was a famous woman did not have to do so much with her skating but with the fact that my mother was the first female sportscaster in German-speaking countries.

My father had become the manager of an advertising enterprise; my mother looked after me year round. The Vienna Ice Revue offered her an enormous fee for a comeback. She said no because she did not want to leave me alone. This is worth mentioning, I think, because it does not go without saying that a show star abstains from a great deal of money and from continued success in an Ice Revue in order to take care of a child.

Only for some weeks (the time of the European and World Championships and every four years when the Olympics were taking place) I lived with my grandmother (my father worked during the day). I was allowed to watch TV by my grandma and my father to hear my mother´s voice before going to bed.

As a sportscaster, my mother remained popular in Austria for one more decade (from 1963 to 1972). People in Austria were still interested in figure skating at that time as there were many Austrian skaters winning medals in international competetions (European Champion and Olympic runner-up Regine Heitzer, World Champion Emmerich Danzer, Olympic Champion Wolfgang Schwarz, Olympic Champion Trixi Schuba). The figure skating competitions with my mother´s commentary were often broadcast at prime time.

Pawlik's commentary on TV was by no means euphemistic. She articulated her opinion and sometimes criticized the judges. At the 1968 Olympics, for example, she pointed out that Emmerich Danzer - who had been far behind after the school figures and who finished 4th despite an extraordinary free programme - should at any rate have won the Olympic bronze medal. Pawlik also expressed her opinion clearly when she was in favour of a non-Austrian skater. When Trixi Schuba of Austria won the 1971 and 1972 World Championships and the 1972 Olympics, Pawlik appreciated Trixi Schuba's enormous abilities in the compulsory figures on the one hand, but pointed out Janet Lynn's superiority in free skating again and again on the other. You can certainly imagine that some people in Austria were not happy with Pawlik's proposition to push back (though not to eliminate) the value of the figures to avoid the disproportion between the final ranking and the ranking in the free programme in the future.

As Paul Sibley from California (who was starring in the Vienna Ice Revue in the 1960's together with Regine Heitzer) put it in a letter to me, my mother was a "superstar before the word was invented". She was, however, a star without any airs and graces. A stage hand of the Vienna Ice Revue whom I met in the museum where the exhibit about the Vienna Ice Revue took place said to me: "It is true that your mother was Europe´s top professional star on the ice for years, besides being the only female one who had earned a doctorate. But when talking to others she never gave the impression to anyone that he or she was speaking with a 'star'."

As far as her programmes as a professional skater are concerned, there are three vaudeville numbers that I like best. The first is to be seen in the movie  'Frühling auf dem Eis' (Spring On The Ice, 1950): Eva Pawlik is a sultan's slave. This programme not only shows her abilities as a skater (axel performed with a landing on the outside edge and on the inside edge, and very good edging) but also as far as her pantomime as a slave is concerned. The second is to be seen in the movie 'Traumrevue' ('Revue Of Dreams', 1959) (in a blond wig to the instrumental version of the song 'Fascination' by Marchetti). The third is in my private archive showing Pawlik's last vaudeville number in 1961. As far as the vaudeville numbers of my parents are concerned, I love their interpretation of the Viennese Waltz best. Their acrobatics, however, are more spectacular.

My parents died in the same year. My father died of a sudden heart attack; my mother became severely ill in 1979. It took the doctors a long time to find out the real diagnosis: she suffered from collagenosis, an infrequent and (at least in 1983) incurable auto-immune disease. From 1973 until 1982, my mother was a teacher in German and English in a secondary school (pupils from 10 to 18)."

I can only offer my sincerest thanks to Dr. Seeliger for his permission to share this wonderful material giving us even more of an insight into the trials and tribulations of Eva Pawlik and Rudi Seeliger! In my opinion, their story just speaks volumes about not only the passion to skate but the passion to persevere.

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.

Trials And Tribulations: The Storied Lives Of Eva Pawlik And Rudi Seeliger

A skater's life has rarely been considered an easy one, whether in present day or the distant past. Early morning practices, injuries, exhaustion and pressure up the wazoo hardly always make the lives of the sport's elite the cakewalks an outsider of the sport might suppose. That's nothing we as those who endear themselves to the sport don't know though. That said, some have really had a rough go of it along the way... and two that certainly come to mind are 1948 Olympic Silver Medallist Eva Pawlik and her pairs partner and husband Rudi Seeliger. I must credit Esther Pierce for the idea of writing about these two for after sharing some great video of the 1949 World Championships I'd stumbled upon it was her that directed me to some wonderful material that talked in detail about Pawlik and Seeliger's careers... and trials and tribulations.

Viennese skater Eva Pawlik was widely known as somewhat of a child prodigy. She was landing an axel at age four and performing in shows as part of a touring act called "The Fairy Tale Of The Steady Tin Soldier" with two time World Champion Felix Kaspar as a mere child. Following in the footsteps of other great Austrian ladies skaters like Fritzi Burger and Herma Szabo, Pawlik was Austria's new rising skating star and everyone was certainly paying attention.

Right off the bat, things didn't go as planned. The Anschluss Österreichs in 1938 where Austria was basically absorbed into Nazi Germany meant a change of career trajectory for Pawlik and her pairs partner Rudi Seeliger. There was no Austria so there were no Austrian Championships. Instead, skaters competed in 'the Ostmark Championships', which Pawlik and Seeliger won in 1942. With the 1940 Olympics cancelled and no European or World Championships to advance to that year, both Pawlik and Seeliger's pairs career and Pawlik's singles skating were basically put on a forced hiatus. The international gold medals would simply have to wait for both promising young skaters.

As if that wasn't enough to take the wind out of anyone's sails, Seeliger was drafted into the German army. While in service, he was captured by the Red Workers' and Peasants' Army and was forced to work as a slave in a coal mine until he returned to Austria in 1949. In the meantime, Eva was partnerless and left to pick up the pieces of her skating career and carry on. While her pairs partner toiled as a slave of war, she returned to competition after World War II ended, winning four consecutive Austrian titles ahead of rivals like Inge Solar and Hilde Appeltauer (future coach to 1972 Olympic Gold Medallist Trixi Schuba). In 1948, she returned to international competition, winning the silver medal at the European Championships, Winter Olympics and World Championships that year. Sandra Stevenson's 1984 book "The BBC Book Of Skating" states that "when Eva Pawlik of Austria unsuccessfully challenged Barbara Ann Scott in 1948 one reason given for her failure was that she skated with dirty boots and holes in her tights. The boots were so old that they no longer responded to cleaning and the holes were darned. It was the best she could manage with all the shortages in her country."

Although Pawlik and Seeliger were reunited in 1949, Eva continued to focus on her singles career at the time with a World title not an unreachable goal by any stretch of the imagination. Bad luck again befell the young star though. She suffered a serious bout of acute appendicitis that almost forced her to withdraw from the 1949 European Championships but still managed to defeat Ája Vrzáňová to take her first and only European title. That year at the World Championships, things again did not go in her favour. A close second to Vrzáňová after the school figures, Pawlik (who had defeated the Czech star by three places at the World Championships in 1948) was in very real contention to snatch the gold. However, one of the heels on her skates mysteriously broke at those World Championships in Paris prior to the free skate. She was not allowed to continue using borrowed skates, which seems so silly now considering what happened at the 2008 Worlds with Brent Bommentre's lost luggage. I've always believed in the old theatre adage "the show must go on" personally. But I digress... Pawlik was forced to withdraw and decided to instead turn professional and make some money as her family certainly could have used some financial support after going through... I don't know... a war?! I think that's a pretty good reason. I don't know about you.

It was certainly a tragic end to an "amateur" career: for a skater who had faced so many challenges through her career because of World War II to end a career with a big old slap in the face when a title was within her grasp. Things drastically improved after 1949 for Pawlik and Seeliger though. They'd reunited both on and off the ice, teaming up again to skate together in shows with the Vienna Ice Revue and Scala Eisrevue for a good decade after Rudi made his own brief return to ISU competition to win the 1950 Austrian pairs title with Susi Giebisch. Seeliger and Pawlik didn't just reunite as a pairs team, they also got married! After their professional careers ended, Pawlik worked as a skating commentator for television and later as a schoolteacher. Both husband and wife passed away in 1983.

I feel like I'd be remiss not to direct you to the wonderful website that Esther directed me to that provided much of the background and source material for this article - an Eva Pawlik fanpage maintained by the couple's son Dr. Roman Seeliger brimming with amazing photographs and quotes about primarily Eva's career but also offering some great material regarding her pairs career with Seeliger. You really have to check it out! That said, I have to be close by saying in this instance how happy it makes me that these two found each other again and were able to rekindle that magic on and off the ice. It's really a wonderful story of perseverance and obvious love of skating that brought them back together and if that doesn't warm your heart, maybe another cocktail is in order.

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.

The 1882 Great International Skating Tournament

When it comes to studying the history of competitive figure skating, 1882 was an incredibly important year. As we briefly explored in the 2013 Spotlight On Jackson Haines, that winter marked the first big international figure skating competition. In looking at this event, I want to start by revisiting the information from that 2013 blog: "Haines also took on the role of a teacher, coaching many early stars of the sport in his travels, including Leopold Frey of Austria, the winner of the first recognized international figure skating competition, 'The Great International Skating Tournament' in Vienna in 1882, after Haines' death. Though Frey won that event, interestingly the third place finisher was Norwegian speed skater Axel Paulsen, who arrived from Christiana (now Oslo) to compete, debuting the axel jump he invented during the 'special figures' component of the competition. Haines and Paulsen had previously met in Norway and Haines had at that time encouraged him to adapt his athletic axel jump which he first performed on speed skates to figure skates. Axel conceived of adding a pick to the front of his figure skates, had one welded on and was then able to land backwards easily. At that competition in 1882, England's Henry Boswell observed that new toe pick and took the invention back to England where he designed and manufactured several pairs of similar skates. So without that timely connection between Haines and Paulsen years before, we may never have had the axel, free skating or figure skates. Exactly ten years later, in 1892, the Internationale Eislauf Vereinigung (International Skating Union) was formed, with rules for international competition established five years later."

So there's what we have already covered... and now I want to share some more detailed information I came across with regard to this particular competition that really illustrates its historic significance and how it influenced the direction skating competitions would take. For that we turn to this lengthy excerpt from Nigel Brown's unfailing 1959 book "Ice-Skating: A History": "It was during this first big international competition in Vienna in 1882 that a very important decision was made concerning the direction of the development of skating art. The special-figures section which afforded the competitors the opportunity of showing their proficiency and brilliance in movements other than the basic figures, produced on this occasion a mixture of free-skating combinations and figure designs. Headed by the winner, Leopold Frey, the majority of competitors followed the true idea of skating art and presented a number of elegant movements joined together to make a whole, a special figure as it was then called. Leopold Frey linked an outside spread eagle to a back outside eight and terminated on a Jackson Haines sitting pirouette. Axel Paulsen performed only one movement in presenting an outside forward three jump with one and a half revolutions landing on the left backward outside. This jump was to become the most famous jump in the free-skating vocabulary. Heinrich Jokl used the Grape-vine, linking it with a loop and a three. All these were skating movements, pieces of free skating. But Theodor Langer presented in this section a filigree design of a four-point star. It was a figure design upon the ice, an advanced idea of continuous skating, skated throughout upon one foot; and although it needed the basic skating figure of change of edge, forwards and backwards linked with cross-cuts, the figure had to be performed in such a jerky fashion with the skater's eyes glued upon the ground, and his body often in an ungainly position, that it was opposed entirely to the idea of skating art, It was anti-skating, yet the drawing left upon the ice was greatly attractive, symmetry being very near perfect... The presentation of this type of skating by Langer put the judges in somewhat of a quandary. The design drawn upon the ice by him was unquestionably attractive, but the manner in which it was created was not skating art. Furthermore, it was impossible to determine the superiority of a figure like this with real free-skating combinations, when there was no common measure of comparison. Nevertheless the judges gave the first three places to exponents of free-skating movements although the brilliance of Langer's four-pointed star left an indelible impression on them, the public and particularly the skaters competing."

The medallists at that 1882 event were of course Frey in first, followed by fellow Viennese skater Eduard Engelmann Sr. and Norway's Axel Paulsen in second and third place. Among several others competing, there was a young skater from Drontheim named Anne, Paulsen's twin brother Edwin and Carl Werner of Christiana, who was a close speed skating rival of Paulsen and both hearing and vision impaired. No British skaters competed, although three did sit on the judging panel which was presided over by Alexander, Prince of Erbach-Schönberg and Baron Rothschild. I was thrilled to come across this gem of a primary source, a first hand account from an unnamed correspondent in "Our Vienna Letter" dated January 26, 1882 and published in the Sydney Morning Herald:

"The contest began with skating the whole 'school' of figures from the simplest to the most complicated, and in this the foreigners did not take part, there having been little time and no ice to practice on. With the thermometer at 5 degrees Réaumur over freezing point, the most interesting part of the contest commenced, that in which every skater proved his skill by a figure of his own invention, to last four minutes in the execution. The tribunes, decorated with draperies, flags and garlands of fir branches, began to fill, and two archdukes came in a good time to witness the interesting performance, which was accompanied throughout by the gay sounds of a military band. The public applauded furiously when Axel Paulsen at the end of a figure jumped backwards to a considerable distance, and then finished with a pirouette which looked like something turned round by the whirlwind. Leopold Frey, of Vienna, skated an enormous double snake in the unaesthetic but difficult position of the legs usually designated as half-moon. Engelmann, of Vienna, executed a very difficult combination of circles and arches, ending with a pirouette differing only from Paulsen's only by being skated on the point of the skate. Half a dozen more skaters followed with performances of great merit, but which could not vie with the three just described. More figure 2 skating followed, and then two professionals competed for the prize assigned for such only. The conclusion was made by a general performance of all the first-rate skaters at once during which the public witnessed so much art and grace, that the applause was unceasing. The jury withdrew for an hour to decide who were to be the winners, and then, the seven electric lamps having been lighted, the distribution of prizes began. A very pretty girl, the best skater in Vienna, who is inimitable when she dances a valse on skates, performed the pleasant duty of presenting the prizes. The first prize was a silver statuette of the famous skater, Jackson (Haines), modelled by Vienna's best portrait sculptor, besides a gold medal of 500 francs, awarded to Mr. Leopold Frey, of Vienna; the second a gold medal with 400 francs, awarded to Engelmann, also of Vienna; the third a gold medal, with 300 francs, awarded to Axel Paulsen, of Christiana."

Carl Werner

Lots of interesting tidbits in this first hand account! As compared to Brown's recounting of the event, I found it quite interesting that in this particular account, the impact of Langer's special figure was curiously omitted. Also, the fact that all three skaters received gold medals - not gold, silver and bronze - as well as prize money, is of great interest. Equally interesting in this 1882 source is mention of a sixteen hundred meter speed skating race held the following day in conjunction with the event. Axel Paulsen, one of the world's top speed skaters, was unsurprisingly the winner by two hundred and twenty five meters, followed by Anne and Werner. Axel's brother Edwin won a secondary 'omnium race' and prizes for this second day of competition included "a gold chronometer, together with a gold goblet crowned by the miniature figure of a skater, silver beer cane, and gold medals." The weather on the second day was apparently "unfavourable throughout, and the ice so soft that one skater broke it and fell knee-deep into the water." As a result, further planned events including a steeplechase on ice and fancy dress ball on ice were cancelled, much to the disappointment of members of the Vienna Skating Club. Following the competition, a banquet was hosted by Prince Schönberg and Baron Rothschild at the Hotel Metropole where skaters and dignitaries alike made speeches in admiration of the wonderful skating at the event.

I have to say how fortuitous it was for me to really stumble on both of these wonderfully detailed accounts of this largely forgotten milestone from the long distant skating past because honestly... this wasn't an event I ever dreamed I'd be revisiting on the blog because the materials just didn't seem to present themselves. It only goes to show you that much like the impact of this competition on developing the future of free skating, things seem to happen as they are meant to sometimes.

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.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game: Baseball On Ice

Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs here! You have no clue how good a nice chili cheese dog sounds right now to this blogger who has been tirelessly exercising and making better diet choices. The good news is that I've lost a decent amount of weight and gained some more muscle but the bad news is that I can't enjoy a nice frankfurter while I write about the subject of today's blog... baseball on ice. How rude!

As long as there have been skates, people around the world have been finding new ways to entertain themselves on ice. From figure and speed skating to curling, skate sailing, hockey and bandy, the ice has played host to plenty of recreational activities and sports over the years. Ice hockey was actually developed from field hockey which was first played in Persia around 2000 B.C. and other summer sports such as rugby and lacrosse have also been adapted to the ice over the years as well but the short lived boom of baseball on ice in the nineteenth century is a fascinating anecdote in skating history that's all but forgotten.

The popularity of ice skating in New York in the mid-nineteenth century left baseball enthusiasts wanting to get in on the action. Patricia Astifan's article "Baseball In The 19th Century" from "Rochester History, Vol I.XII" relates the tale of one such game played in Rochester, New York: "On January 16, 1860, ball players from the city's prominent clubs played a game on ice skates on Irondequoit Bay near the Float Bridge (Empire Blvd.) Another reported game was played on New Year's Day in 1861. This game was played at Washington Park, Brooklyn, by Brooklyn teams Billy Barnie against Henry Chadwick’s team made up of players from Adelphi and Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn." The popularity of the unique sport continued for a short time in the state. William Ryczek's "The 1867 Nationals Of Albany" noted that "in 1865, the Nationals played 14 games on spikes and three on skates - a version of baseball that achieved a degree of popularity in the 1860s. Ice skating was all the rage during that decade, and was combined with baseball for a game in which the players donned skates and the rules were slightly amended to account for the difficulties of playing on frozen ponds. Players were allowed to over-skate the bases, and a second catcher sometimes was employed to capture pitches that skidded past the first backstop." Record of these games being played in New York continue until the 1880's (though dwindling in participation by that time) then seem to peter off entirely but there are also accounts of similar games being played during the same era in Detroit, Michigan.

Ilia Kulik skating to "Baseball Cap" in 1999

Peter Morris' book "A Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the Innovations that Shaped Baseball" explains the rules of the game: "A game on ice played under rules which admit of five innings as a complete game, though more can be played if there is time. Then, too, only the square pitch or toss of the ball to the bat is allowable, no throwing the ball to the bat by the pitcher being admissable. The bound catch of a fair ball, too, counts; and each base runner makes every base simply by overrunning the line of the base, he being exempted from being put out in returning by turning to the right after crossing the line of the base. A very dead ball is used. The best skaters are required for the out fielders. Ten players on each side make a game, there being right short stops as well as the regular short stops." One of the most unique aspects of baseball on ice is that the stronger skaters had a clear advantage over the stronger baseball players. The Brooklyn Eagle reported that "it will be readily understood that the game when played upon ice with the skates is altogether a different sort of affair from that which the Clubs are familiar with. The most scientific player upon the play ground finds himself out of his reckoning when he has got the runaway skates to depend on, and the best skater is the best player." One player who found particular success both on land and ice was Dickey Pearce, a shortstop for the Brooklyn Atlantics team. 

A contributing factor to the sport's demise was actually the response to these games by figure skaters! An 1865 article from The Brooklyn Eagle quotes a 'fancy' skater as saying "We hope we shall have no more ball games on ice. If any of the ball clubs want to make fools of themselves, let them go down to Coney Island and play a game on stilts." Apparently the skaters and clubs in existence in the area bore resentment to the baseball players for the damage these games caused to the ice surfaces. 

By the final decade of the nineteenth century, baseball on ice became very rare, though it enjoyed a short revival in popularity in Cleveland, Ohio in the early twentieth century. A January 1, 1912 article in The Washington Post explained how plans were announced to form a league if Lake Erie froze over and this wonderful video from British Pathe shows a baseball on ice game being played by a group of skaters in Toronto, Ontario in 1924.

Will baseball on ice ever make a serious revival? According to a 2014 Harris Poll, major league baseball was the favourite sport of fourteen percent of Americans. Hockey has kept many a rink in this world alive... and this obscure, long lost sport might just be the ticket for arenas selling even more ice time. Stranger things have happened. You HAVE seen the IJS footwork sequences, haven't you?

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 Robin Cousins

In the two plus years I've been authoring this little figure skating blog that could, I've interviewed hundreds of skaters from all around the world and one question I have asked in almost every single interview was "who are your three favourite skaters?" I find it extremely appropriate that the subject of THIS interview - which I intend to be the final standalone one as I focus the blog's attention strictly to researching figure skating history - is one of MY OWN three favourite skaters. Robin Cousins' credentials on paper are unquestionably impressive - Olympic Gold Medallist, three time World Medallist, European Champion, British Champion and World Professional Champion - but it is that undefinable sense of magic that he has created in every single one of his performances that makes him that 'skater's skater' that you just can't take your eyes off of. I want to thank my friend and former interview victim Doug Mattis for connecting Robin and I for this once in a lifetime chance to talk figure skating at length with a living legend. You're going to love this one! I guarantee it!

Q: I want to start by talking about your "amateur" career, which was nothing short of spectacular. You won four British titles, the free skate at three World Championships, the 1980 European title and of course, in 1980 the Olympic gold medal. Reflecting on it all now, what moments stand out as both the most challenging and the most cherished?

A: The beginning and the end! I remember standing on the podium as National novice champion when I was twelve. Even at that age, it was the sense of personal accomplishment I was most proud of. I didn't like 'competing' and couldn't bring myself to watch any of my competitor's skates so I had been taught to just compete against my last performance. It was never about beating someone else, but I was about 'pleasing' the audience and the judges and that never changed! The pressure coming into the World Championships in 1980 post-Europeans and Olympics was big but Carlo and Christa Fassi made sure I kept level headed and focused on the job at hand. I remember post-Olympics making a statement that, after the mistake (the triple loop) in Lake Placid, I wanted to go out with the perfect long. I already knew I would be done after Worlds. After Jan Hoffmann had skated, Carlo had done the calculations in his head and made the decision to tell me that I couldn't win. It was pure honesty and he knew me well enough to know I would be okay with that. He sent me off to start my long with the words "Give the audience what they came to see. Enjoy it." That's exactly what I did. I added jumps, got the standing ovation, another World medal and the reward of having done exactly what I set out to do a few weeks earlier!

Robin Cousins as Frank-N-Furter

Q: Since turning professional following the 1980 World Championships, your skating and career evolved from something fantastic into something fabulous. You set Guinness World Records, won a host of professional competitions, toured with your own performance company in the eighties, choreographed for an incredible range of shows, tours and skaters, commentated for BBC sport, starred in a range of theatre productions and acted as head judge on ITV's Dancing On Ice. What moments have been the most incredible to you since turning professional?

A: I have been incredibly blessed with the variety of work I have been able to do... so many great opportunities on and off the ice. I always knew there was going to be someone else after me who had an Olympic gold medal so I was never going to sit back and expect things to come my way. You have to allow yourself to be ready and available to try new things. No one could take away my history on the ice. Whilst the medal opened many doors, I was more than happy to either find the key and open a few more myself or be prepared to bang them down if necessary and then suffer the consequences! I love skating on theatre stages because they make you use your spatial awareness to be sparing with steps and movement with every piece of choreography serving a purpose, rules I have taken back onto larger ice surfaces. The intimacy of theatre after huge arenas is intoxicating and I think my comfort in the big spaces helped me transition to the theatre. Where two thousand seats freaks out an actor, it is intimate to me! My mantra for quite some time has been "All they can do is say 'no!'" My first real theatre audition was for Rogers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" to be staged at the MUNY in St. Louis. Having got the job as ice choreographer, I was suddenly asked to sing for the director and there I was, my first time singing on stage and getting to skate as well, the dream combination. I could never have planned it. It paved the way for a future I couldn't resist. The cast were all Broadway superstars and my Dad in the show was played by Adolph Green who, with writing partner Betty Comden, had written "Singin' In The Rain" for Gene Kelly. You know, I was all over him for stories of his numerous times working with my hero! It was Adolph and his wife Phyllis Newman (who played my mother) who encouraged my to continue pursuing theatre work. I was asked to audition for CATS. I was in London, in front of the producers and full creative team. I had two options: freak out or embrace the fact I was getting an opportunity that many who have trained all their lives in musical theatre never have. I got 'the call' a day later and then spent three years on and off playing Munkustrap with that amazing show. It was my fist time as part of an ensemble and I loved it. I was happy to see the end of all the make-up only for my next part to be Frank-N-Furter in the London revival production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show! Another big highlight came in the summer of 2012, when I got spend my days at the Olympic Park as an Olympic Ambassador and mentor for Team Great Britain and at night was on stage as Billy Flynn in Chicago. It was pretty surreal!

Q: Just incredible! Speaking of incredible, how did you learn your incredible backflip?

A: I learned the backflip on the floor (in the back garden of the Wylie household pre-Olympics) with the help of my brother who was a sports coach. Being very gymnastic and loving to cartwheel and handspring helped! Taking it to the ice happened in Santa Rosa during one of Sparky's (Charles Schultz') ice shows with the help of the great Skippy Baxter. Being on the small ice meant there was no room for second thoughts. I had learned on the floor that tucking was not an option as I would feel like I was skating and unintentionally add rotation! The layout was the solution. As no one had even done it that way, it gave me even more a reason to try. Using my height and speed - lots of speed across the ice - it developed quickly and was in the show two days later.

Q: How did you come up with the concept and choreography for On The Frozen Pond? Your interpretation of music, expression, timing, slide spiral... I've got to be honest it just gives me chills.

A: Thank you for that. That's exactly what I wanted to elicit from the performance. I wanted to do something different and unique for my final season as a competitor at the World Professional Championships. I had made sure each year I was able to represent a different side to me as a performer and I think the various videos from my years in that event give a good overview of who I am. I have always said that you give the audience exactly what they want, just not in the way they would expect to get it! I had the idea and the part of the Wordsworth poem I wanted to use. After I had the base choreography set to a demo of the spoken words, I did the soundscape with Judd Miller (skater Lisa Carey's husband) and we let the words indicate what went where. I knew how the movement needed to flow. When I recorded the final words over the soundscape, I knew it would only take me a few hours to finish the choreography. It's still is one of my favourites too.

A: Speaking of favourites, if I had to pick just one of your performances as my absolute favourite, it would have to be your "Falling In Love With You Again" program. What programs both of yours and that you have choreographed with others are you proudest of?

A: My favourite was "Satan Takes A Holiday". I had no idea how taking it from the theatre stage to an arena setting would work and I certainly wasn't ready for the reaction. It's probably my most popular pro routine and again, needed to and did exactly what I wanted. In my show, it kicked off the finale. For other skaters, I very proud of taking a great skater, Denise Biellmann, out of her comfort zone with the aria from "La Wally". We had a wonderful few years building up a relationship that allowed her to grow and she was the most disciplined skater I have EVER worked with. I had to beg her not to do every jump and spin every time the music went on when we were creating programs!

Q: What do you think your coach Carlo Fassi would think of the state of figure skating today?

A: He loved to teach and had such passion for his students. I'd like to think he'd do what all the great coaches have done and that is to adapt to the times without compromising his basic coaching principles.

Q: What do YOU think of the current state of competitive skating and what would you change if it were up to you?

A: I'd get rid of the grey areas. Either you land on one foot backwards on a running edge or you don't. You stand up or fall over. I believe in rewarding and encouraging youngsters for 'having a go' at the juvenile and intermediate levels but you shouldn't be rewarded for 'having a go' at the Olympics. By all means, take the risk but the consequences need definition. Either you do it and get the credit or you don't do it and don't get credit. I worry that there's too much shorthand going on just to get the instant result. My words to anyone who loves and knows what the foundation of our sport is - and if you don't know, get out! - and that's to simply teach people to skate and know that the IJS is the system by which your students are judged. It's not the system you should use to teach! I hate when you ask a skater to do a left inside counter and they look blankly until you show them and they say "oh, I know that step!" Obviously you don't! They do things because they can and not because they know how. Teach them HOW and more importantly... WHY!

Q: If you could offer one piece of advice to all skaters, what would it be?

A: Trust your instincts and never do anything you wouldn't be happy to watch someone else doing. Learn by making mistakes. Just don't make the same one a second time!

Q: Earlier this year, the sport lost one of its greatest icons... your former competitor Toller Cranston. What is your favourite Toller story?

A: There are so many! A favourite Tollerism that was most often heard in rehearsals would have to be "Where's the coffee? Daddy needs fuel if he has to give birth to another double axel!"

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

A: Only three? Not fair! These picks are exceptional as I borrowed liberally from all three of them with no apology! John Curry, for showing the world why you should never be anything but yourself as a performer and not be pigeon holed into conformity. Toller Cranston, for putting a kaleidoscope of colour into the simplest of movements and for never leaving room for more! Janet Lynn... Oh, that half the skaters in the world could perform with such pure joy and natural emotion. Just thinking of her name has made me smile! But then there's Sergei Chetverukhin, Ron Shaver, Moiseeva and Minenkov, Torvill and Dean, Michelle Kwan, Scott Hamilton, Gordeeva and Grinkov... can I continue?

Q: You can do whatever you want! I do have another question though. What is one thing most people don't know about you?

A: I don't like team sports!

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

A: A performance of any kind must never start in fear and end in relief.

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.

Are You Free, Miss Brahms?

Like any self-respecting homo who grew up in the nineties, thanks to the good folks at PBS I watched my fair share of the fabulous British sitcom "Are You Being Served?" Okay, I'll come clean. I've probably seen every episode five times and if you asked me over for a marathon I'd have my shoes on faster than you could say "my husband will be home in five minutes". The BBC comedy ran for ten seasons between 1972 and 1985, was wildly popular in Great Britain and even spawned a movie and a two season spin off sequel "Grace And Favour" in 1992 that was actually ever bit as well written as the original and should have carried on far longer.

Casual viewers of the show will of course remember the flamboyant Mr. Humphries and the hilarious and brightly coiffed Mrs. Slocombe (played by John Inman and Mollie Sugden, respectively) but although the cast changed over the years, the core cast remained largely the same. Frank Thornton (Captain Peacock), Nicholas Smith (Mr. Rumbold) and Wendy Richard (Miss Brahms) also appeared in all sixty nine of the original series' episodes, alongside other long running memorable characters such as Young Mr. Grace, Mr. Lucas, Mr. Spooner and Mr. Grainger.

Are You Being Served? wasn't without its skating references. Mr. Lucas (played by Trevor Bannister), who often flirted with Wendy Richard's character on the show, arrived at Grace Brothers with a pair of skates around his neck in the second episode of the show's second season with a pair of ice skates around his neck. Mr. Humphries said to him: "Oh look! It's Sonja Henie!" One of the funniest moments on the series' final Christmas special was Miss Brahms' assumption that the Welsh singing festival Eisteddfod "had something to do with ice skating". In reality. Wendy Richard knew quite a great deal about skating.

She was a talented and quite versatile actress who had appeared in numerous television series in the sixties. She even found success as a singer reaching #1 on the UK singles chart in 1962. The year "Are You Being Served?" ended, she took on the role of matriarch Pauline Fowler on the popular British sitcom EastEnders, a character she portrayed for an incredible twenty two years, even concurrently with her reprisal of the role of Miss Brahms in "Grace And Favour", which was presented to U.S. audiences under the name "Are You Being Served? Again!" After being diagnosed for breast cancer in 1996, she had an operation and seemed to be doing okay but the cancer returned in 2002. She again went through treatment and went into remission, being given a clean bill of health by doctors in 2005. However, the next year, the cancer was back. Richard passed away on February 26, 2009 at a London clinic, living a remarkable life and touching the lives of many, but never getting to realize one of her greatest childhood dreams... to be a champion figure skater.

In a 2003 appearance on the ITV Wales series "My Favourite Hymns", Richard was interviewed by John Stapleton and asked about her skating aspirations. Richard explained, "Oh, yes, I used to go to ice skating classes down at Queensway Queen's Ice Rink. And I thought I was going to be the next Sonja Henie or something like that, but unfortunately it didn't work out." A childhood tragedy was the real reason Richard's skating career was cut short. Her father, a pub landlord, committed suicide when she was eleven. Only a young girl, she was the one that found her father's body, and as her mother wasn't really dealing that well with what went on she sent young Wendy off to a boarding school to live. Her interest in film and pantomime, which also played a huge role in her childhood, saw her go off to drama school, and she never laced up seriously again. She may never have been Sonja Henie, but she was every bit as much a legend in her own right.

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 Petr Barna

I've long admired Petr Barna's skating. Without question an example of a skater who was able to achieve both technical excellence and develop an artistic craft as a skater throughout his lengthy and successful career as a competitive skater, Barna's crowning achievements on paper were his 1992 Olympic bronze medal and European title. There's so much more to his story though. This seven time Czechoslovakian Champion was the first skater to complete a quadruple jump in Olympic competition, the first man to earn a 6.0 in the technical or short program in World competition and a skater who earned the praise of judges, audiences and peers alike for his masterful interpretation of music. When he was on, Petr Barna had 'the whole package'. Since turning professional in 1992, he's worn many hats: husband, father, professional skater and most recently, coach in Switzerland. It was my absolute privilege to have chance to reflect with Petr on his competitive career, talk about the current state and future of skating and life today in this short but sensational interview I'm thrilled to share:

Q: Your "amateur" career was such an incredible one. In addition to the Olympic bronze medal in 1992, you won four medals at the European Championships (including gold in 1992), were credited as the first person in history to land a quad jump at the Olympics and were also the first men's skater to earn a perfect score of 6.0 at the World Championships in the short program. Add to that eight Czechoslovakian titles, over ten international titles... Wow. Looking back at that time in career now, what moments are you the proudest of and which were the most challenging?

A: I think the most challenging was my bronze medal at Europeans in Birmingham, because I had skated with a sprained ankle on my right foot. I am happy about all my achievements, but of course the Olympic medal is number one on my list. I am proud that I was able to be competitive consistently for ten years on the highest level and give a challenge to the skaters from the U.S.A. ,Canada and Russia. I have to give thanks to my coach who was protecting me from the Communist system at the time.

Q: You actually started training in an outdoor rink in Czechoslovakia in the early seventies the same year that Ondrej Nepela won his Olympic gold medal. How influential was Nepela's skating on your own career?

A: Actually, I was not so much looking up to Ondrej as a skater but more as human being. He was always a very down to earth kind of person. He always treated me and other people very nicely and that is what I took from knowing him personally.

Q: You of course competed constantly against Jozef Sabovcik throughout your careers both as ISU eligible and professional skaters. Was there a friendship there, a rivalry, or both?

A: I think for me Jozef was more always more of a friend than a rival. He was a massive jumper!

Q: You turned professional in 1992 and had a successful career that spanned over a decade, touring with Champions On Ice and the World Cup tour and competed in countless professional competitions including the World Professional Championships, Challenge Of Champions and Miko Masters competition in France. What are you proudest of about your professional career and what would you have done differently?

A: I do not think I would want do anything differently. I would just want do it again. I do not regret what I have done. What I regret is what I haven't done. The best time as a skater is always when you get that standing ovation.

Q: Of all of the programs you have skated over the years, if you had to pick a favourite what would it be?

A: I like all my programs. They are part of me and my team who helped me to build them. The most memorable ones though would have to be "Paganini", "Hamlet" and "Chaplin".

Q: Was returning to eligible competition during the ISU reinstatement period before and after the Lillehammer Games something you ever considered?

A: In 1993, I was not thinking about it. When I think about it now, I would go for it. It would have prolonged my skating career but then again I would have missed many other things outside of skating.

Q: As a coach, you now have the opportunity to view the sport through a different lens. Do you like or dislike the direction that skating is going in these days and how do you perceive figure skating's future?

A: I think for coaches, it is easier. You do not have to be so creative. You know what needs to be in the program. There is not much time left for interesting stuff, though. I feel bad for the skaters. They have to do a one minute step sequence and three fifteen second spins. It is very energy consuming and that is why they have no energy to create masterpieces. Only very few are able to create memorable programs. I wish skaters would have more freedom, then they would be able to create memorable programs. They are so talented and they could do so much better. I think the future is in the quality rather than in the quantity.

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

A: Igor Bobrin was very inventive. Robin Cousins for his posture, flow and extensions. Brian Boitano for his dedication to training and jump technique.

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

A: I started as skier before skating, I am very good in table tennis and have handicap of five in golf. 

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

A: Keep going and do not look back.

 
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.