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Discover The History Of Figure Skating!

Learn all about the fascinating world of figure skating history with Skate Guard Blog. Explore a treasure trove of articles on the history of figure skating, highlighting Olympic Medallists, World and National Champions and dazzling competitions, shows and tours. Written by former skater and judge Ryan Stevens, Skate Guard Blog also offers intriguing insights into the evolution of the sport over the decades. Delve into Stevens' five books for even more riveting stories and information about the history of everyone's favourite winter Olympic sport.

The 2016 Canadian Championships: From History To Mystery

Back in 1966, the Canadian Figure Skating Association's membership was swelling at over one hundred thousand and was expected to triple within three years with government support from the Physical Fitness and Amateur Sports Council. At the previous year's World Championships at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Petra Burka had won the gold medal in the women's event. In the men's event, Donald Knight had claimed the bronze. Knight, Burka, Valerie Jones, Susan and Paul Huehnergard and Carole Forrest and Kevin Lethbridge had all won medals at the 1965 North American Championships in Rochester, New York. The future looked bright as thousands packed Peterborough, Ontario's Memorial Arena to see Canada's best contend for medals on home turf at the 1966 Canadian Figure Skating Championships. Due to a February 8 entry deadline from the ISU for entries for that year's World Championships in Davos, Switzerland, the competition schedule had to be overhauled, with senior events held at the beginning of the event on February 5 and 6 and novice and junior events scheduled afterwards. The senior events were broadcast on television and commentated by Bruce Hyland and unlike today, there were no press conferences where journalists jockeyed for positions, no cell phones, no social media. It was a different time.

Ice dancers Judy Henderson and John Bailey and Gail Snyder and Wayne Palmer. Photos courtesy "Skating" magazine.

In the senior pairs event, siblings Susan and Paul Huehnergard, representing the Upper Canada Skating Club defended the national title that they'd won the year before in Calgary ahead of two other sibling teams, Alexis and Chris Shields and Betty and John McKilligan. However, it was another pairs team who would be the talk of the competition. After an IOC investigation found that German skaters Marika Kilius and Hans-Jürgen Bäumler had signed professional contracts before the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, they'd been (at that time) stripped of their Olympic silver medals. It was in Peterborough that IOC executive James Worrall presented the bronze medallists in Innbsruck, Canada's Debbi Wilkes and Guy Revell with an upgrade - a gorgeous pair of Olympic silver medals - in a special ceremony. In ice dance, Carole Forrest and Kevin Lethbridge, also of the Upper Canada Skating Club, also defended their national title. With the retirement of Lynn Matthews and Byron Topping, Gail Snyder and Wayne Palmer moved to second and Judy Henderson and John Bailey claimed bronze. Predictably, Donald Knight of Dundas also defended his national men's title, handily fending off challenges from 1964 Canadian Champion Dr. Charles Snelling and three time Canadian bronze medallist Jay Humphry of the North Shore Winter Club.

Senior winners at the 1966 Canadian Championships

However, it was another skater from the North Shore Winter Club that would capture the imagination of the packed audience that year. The youngest of the skaters in the senior women's event was none other than thirteen year old Karen Magnussen. The 1973 autobiography "Karen: The Karen Magnussen Story" (written by Karen with Jeff Cross) noted that although five thousand people had packed the Memorial Arena for the women's free skate - most there to see Petra Burka defend her title - it was Magnussen who stole the show: "It was the kind of challenge she could not resist. Karen placed fifth in the compulsory figures, in itself a fine performance in her first senior national competition. But the best was yet to come. Her free-skating performance at Peterborough is still regarded by many as the most electrifying ever seen in the Canadian championships. It earned an ovation from the crowd. Dr. Suzanne Francis, an international judge, awarded her a mark of 5.9 (out of 6.0) for artistic impression - the highest mark of the competition, and higher by one-tenth of a point than the same judge's mark for Miss Burka. When the marks were added up, Karen was in second-place in the free-skating section, right behind world champion Petra. She had been practicing [her senior free skating program] for only two months... [She] finished in fourth overall, but veteran observers there had seen enough to convince them they were watching a future champion." They were right. Although Petra Burka won her third and final Canadian title that year in Peterborough ahead of Valerie Jones and Roberta Laurent, it wouldn't be long before Karen Magnussen was Canadian Champion. Jim Proudfoot, writing for the Toronto Star in February 1966 noted, "it was [in Peterborough] that Canadian figure skating officials became excited about her, and instructed coach Linda Brauckmann to make sure Karen got through the tests necessary to qualify for international competitions." The people of Peterborough were right on the money. The future of Canadian figure skating couldn't have been brighter and Karen would prove to be its biggest star looking forward to the seventies.

Left: Karen Magnussen in Peterborough. Photo courtesy North Vancouver Museum Archives. Right: Petra Burka in Peterborough. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

A lot has changed fifty years later. Gone are school figures and compulsory dances; here to stay is the 'new' judging system that replaced the beloved 6.0 system following the scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The sport barely resembles what it once looked like but the standard of skating this week at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships couldn't be higher.

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage speaking at the opening press conference for the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

At the opening press conference for the event on Thursday, January 21, two time Olympic Silver Medallist Elvis Stojko (the Athlete Ambassador for the event) reflected on his experience competing in Halifax at the 1990 World Championships and Skate Canada CEO Dan Thompson and HRM Mayor Mike Savage welcomed athletes, their families and fans to Halifax. History continued to emerge as a theme throughout the day. Although I unfortunately ultimately missed the Ellen Burka documentary at Pier 21 that I was so excited about attending, I did have chance to meet and chat with four time Canadian Champion Louise Soper, who was sitting in the row behind us while we watched the pairs practice. She was there with her husband and dance partner Barry and explained that while she no longer skates, she does still follows the sport. This month marks the one month anniversary of the passing of the late, great Toller Cranston and she remembered her former teammate fondly.

From the past to the back to the present! Today the Canada's elite men, women, pairs and ice dancers will take to the ice for the phase one of the senior competitions. Who doesn't love men? I know I do! No less than eighteen of Canada's best on blades will be showing each other up in the senior men's event. The buzz surrounding the comeback of Olympic Silver Medallist and three time World Champion Patrick Chan is no joke. And why not? He's won seven Canadian titles and took gold at his first major international competition since the Sochi Olympics earlier this season. Based on his short program result as the free skate was cancelled in light of the Paris attacks, he finished off the podium at the Trophée Éric Bompard. It was fourth place for him at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona. Undaunted, Chan has taken a more big picture approach to coming back, stating, "I'm going for my eighth title but I think there's a lot more at hand that I'm trying to achieve at Nationals in terms of adding technical elements and trying it for the first time and seeing how it works... and also, like I said at the beginning of the season just getting my legs under me this year and get myself ready for the next two years to make them a lot smoother than this year." His biggest competition will of course come from the defending champion Nam Nguyen, who trains at the Cricket Club in Toronto under Brian Orser, the coach of Olympic Gold Medallist Yuzuru Hanyu and World Champion Javier Fernandez. I have a feeling that Nguyen's decision to switch back to his fabulous short program to Nina Simone's "Sinnerman" from last season could very well pay off dividends today. There's always something to be said for going back to something that you know works, right? The fight for bronze is perhaps going to be as interesting if not moreso than the media driven rivalry between Chan and Nguyen. A half a dozen or so men could all quite easily enter the medal conversation. Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, British Columbia, Elladj Baldé of Montreal and Liam Firus of Vancouver certainly have the experience, but there are any number of men who could challenge for the podium. One to keep your on? Keegan Messing. After rolling in the deep field of American men's skaters, this Alaskan made the clever decision to compete for Canada and with choreography by Douglas Webster of the Ice Theatre Of New York and Ice Dance International fame and coaching by Olympian Ralph Burghart, he's going places.

Interview with three time Canadian Medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier

In the ice dance event, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, Ontarians who train at the Detroit Skating Club under Pasquale Camerlengo, Angelika Krylova, Shae-Lynn Bourne and Natalia Annenko-Deller, are heavy favourites for the lead. They have been unbeatable so far this season, claiming gold at the Finlandia Trophy, Skate Canada International, the Rostelecom Cup and the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain. On the journey this season, Weaver said, "I feel like we're really enjoying ourselves this year and we're growing with each competition and enjoying the day to day and I think that's really important with overall well-being. We're not spring chickens anymore and I think that happiness is an advantage and it helps us to perform better and better." Among the other thirteen senior ice dance teams, their biggest threats will come from Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of the Scarboro Figure Skating Club and Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam of the Barrie Skating Club and Élisabeth Paradis and François-Xavier Ouellette, who train at the Club de patinage artistique Gadbois in Montreal.

Interview with Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford

Interview with Julianne Séguin and Charlie Bilodeau

Interview with Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro

Interview with Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch

The senior pairs competition is looking like it's seriously going to be quite the epic showdown. The favourites are of course Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford. They have won the last four Canadian titles, a silver medal at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, last year's World title in Shanghai, China and both of their Grand Prix assignments this season. Although they have two quad throws (the Salchow and the Lutz) in their bag of tricks, after finishing second at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona sportswriters have opted for the tired 'having a difficult season' storyline based on one result. Don't buy into it. They've got the goods to perform well here, their practice last night was near perfect and with the support of a rowdy East Coast crowd and their programs this season, I have a feeling we are going to witness something really special from these two in Halifax. The battle for the other two podium spots is a different story altogether. If I was a betting homosexual, I'd put my money on Quebec's Julianne Séguin and Charlie Bilodeau for the silver. They've been on an upward trajectory, winning the bronze medal at both of their Grand Prix assignments this season and their free skate to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" (alas, not the Annie Lennox version but fabulous nonetheless) really brings the wow factor. But then again, I don't know nor does anyone really. There's a whole host of other extremely strong teams who will be putting the heat on Duhamel and Radford, among them Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, Lubov Ilyushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch, Hayleigh Bell and Rudi Swiegers and Vanessa Grenier and Maxime Deschamps. I wouldn't dream of counting anyone out for a second in the pairs event this season based on how they were all practicing last night. It's going to be a battle!

Interview with 2013 and 2014 Canadian Champion Kaetlyn Osmond

Interview with 2015 Canadian Champion Gabby Daleman

Interview with 2015 Canadian Silver Medallist Alaine Chartrand

The women's event is going to be equally interesting. After missing last season due to injury, two time Canadian Champion Kaetlyn Osmond (originally of Marystown, Newfoundland) is on the comeback trail. A crowd favourite, Osmond said, "If I had any little injuries through the beginning of my season, they are completely healed now and I'm feeling better than ever. I haven't been practicing better in my life... Nationals is always my favourite competition of the year so I'm really happy to be back." Her results on the Grand Prix were less than stellar - eleventh at Skate Canada International in Lethbridge and sixth at the NHK Trophy in Nagano, Japan - but the past is the past and this is the present. Her biggest competition will of course come from defending champion Gabby Daleman of Newmarket, Ontario, Alaine Chartrand of Prescott, Ontario and Véronik Mallet of Sept-Îles, Quebec. It's going to come down to who lands the jumps and as we all know, anything can happen.

3X Canadian Medallists Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam. Due to a technical glitch, my interview with them didn't
make it, but they're going to be fabulous!

So grab yourself an urn of coffee and keep them coming... it's going to be a busy weekend here in Halifax. Who will take home the medals this weekend is a compelling mystery that will only be solved as new history is carved on the ice. You do not want to miss a minute of the action!

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 2016 Canadian Championships: Novice And Junior Highlights

In its prior incarnation as the Metro Centre and in the last two years as the Scotiabank Centre, the host venue for the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships has played host to divas galore over the years - Céline Dion, Elton John, Tina Turner, Billy Idol and Cher among them - and like the divas who have graced the stage to wow audiences, the best young skaters in Canada have been bringing the glitz, glamour and guts this week in the novice and junior events here in Haliwood.

If history is any indication, this week's young winners have bright futures ahead of them. There's absolutely a precedent of skaters who have won medals at the Canadian Championships on the novice or junior level in Halifax going on to great things. In fact, in only those three times (1981, 1995 and 2007) that the city has hosted the country's top skaters in national level competition, no less than ELEVEN medallists in the novice and junior ranks at those events have gone on to become Olympians later in their careers. The first two were Melinda Kunhegyi and Lyndon Johnston, who won the junior event at the 1981 Canadian Championships and went on to represent Canada at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics. Since then, Neil Paterson, Karyn and Rod Garossino, Michael Farrington, Patrice Archetto, Emanuel Sandhu, Vanessa Crone, Paul Poirier and Mitch Islam have all proved that winning a medal in the novice and junior ranks in this city can be absolutely be a precursor of Olympic greatness to come.

Whether you've been watching in the stands or at home on the live stream, you also don't have to look much further than the kiss and cry to see the continuing influence of former skaters turned coaches who have won senior medals in Halifax at the Canadian Championships on a new generation of skaters. It's been a who's who of names, names, names sweetie. With Marie-France Dubreuil to Annabelle Langlois and Cody Hay to Kristy Wirtz and of course Brian Orser all standing rinkside mentoring the stars of tomorrow, the past of Canadian figure skating has been meeting the present this week in a very tangible way.

As much as I'd secretly love to be, I'm no Jackie Wong honey. You won't be finding exhaustive play-by-plays here. That said, I've had my eyes and ears open this week, have been watching more skating than you can shake a Skate Guard at and I want to share with you some of my impressions of the standout skaters moving up in the ranks that I really believe are going places:

IT FACTOR ICE DANCERS

Chatting with Mackenzie Bent and Dmitre Razgulajevs in the mix zone after their winning free dance

Coached by Carol and Jon Lane and Juris Razgulajevs in Toronto, Mackenzie Bent and her new partner Dmitre Razgulajevs were just delightful in the junior dance competition. You'll of course remember Mackenzie as the winner of last year's Canadian junior title with Garrett MacKeen and let me tell you, this new partnership is a keeper. They've only been together since last autumn yet already there's a great connection there and sense of interplay between them on the ice and technically, they had good carriage, attack and stretch. The duo claimed the junior dance title with a score of 145.31 and made history as the first skaters to be awarded medals at this year's event. If you haven't watched their short dance to Nelson Riddle's "La Valse Grande" and "Happy Ending" and Margaret Whiting's "Time After Time", make the time. It earned them a mean 57.71 with a TES of 29.73 and PCS of 27.98.

Hometown favourites Gina Cipriano and Brad Keeping-Myra on the ice for their free dance set to "Ammore Annascunnuto" by Céline Dion and "Broken Sorrow" and "Thunder" by Nuttin' But Stringz. They finished tenth in the junior dance event with a score of 116.20

They weren't the only junior ice dancers who made a strong impression. Laval's Melinda and Andrew Meng's "Danse Macabre" short dance was just lovely and another junior dancer who caught my eye was young Haley Sales (a student of Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe), who with her partner Nikolas Wamsteeker really brought the 'it' factor and personality plus. The Meng's claimed a bronze medal behind Quebec's Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, exceptional students of Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon and team in Boucherville. Sales and Wamsteeker ended the competition in an impressive fourth and a score of 134.73.

In the novice dance event, winners Olivia Han and Grayson Lochhead of the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club maintained their lead after the pattern dances over Quebec's Alicia Fabbri and Claudio Pietrantonio with a quirky, challenging free dance set to "Steampunk Telegram" by Raphaël Beau to take the title by less than a point. Han and Lochhead's program was cleverly choreographed to place the twizzles and more challenging step sequences right in front of the judges. Their team's gutsy move clearly paid off by dividends.

GO GO GADGET GOGOLEV

Owing the power of social media (which in case you haven't heard is kind of a thing these days) there was considerable buzz surrounding Brian Orser's prodigiously talented eleven year old student Stephen Gogolev from the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club before he even stepped foot on the ice in the novice men's event. In the short program to Meyebeer's "Les Patineurs", Gogolev tumbled on his opening jump, the triple Lutz, but rebounded with a clean triple Salchow/triple toe combination to lead the pack with a score of 46.02.

The final flight of the novice men's free skate at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Halifax. Grab yourself a cocktail and bunker down - lots of potential among these young men!

In the free skate, Gogolev certainly faced competition. Thornhill's Jack Dushenki (coached by 1998 Canadian Champion Angela Derochie and David Long) reeled off four triples, Benjam Papp (the younger brother of Finnish Champion Béla Papp) landed three as did Corey Circelli, an impressive thirteen year old student of Lee Barkell. Alistair Lam of Hamilton, fresh off a win at the International Children's Games in Innsbruck, Austria only days before, also gave a very impressive performance in his free skate choreographed by Shawn Sawyer to "The Show Must Go On" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen that showed good attack and energy. Yet, Gogolev persevered for the win with an on again, off again swingin' free skate set to "Sing Sing Sing" and "Harlem Nocturne" that included a massive triple Axel. He took the title by over twenty points with a score of 142.30. However, if there was an award for heart, it definitely had to go to the silver medallist. Fifteen year old Matthew Markell of Prescott, Ontario is a training mate of 2015 Canadian Silver Medallist Alaine Chartrand and his free skate to Dvořák's "Cello Concerto Symphony No. 8" was to die for. Despite a fall on his second triple toe-loop attempt, Markell landed two triples and two double Axels and performed a fine Biellmann spin and change edge spiral for good measure. His obvious joy in the kiss and cry on winning his first national medal was enough to even make even the most jaded skating fan smile.

BRINGING THE SASS AND SMILES

Alberta's Grayson Rosen competing in the junior men's event. Photo by Danielle Earl Photography.

I want to rave about a skater I'd never heard of before this week who I thought was just fabulous. Representing the Flightway Figure Skating Club in Edmonton, eighteen year old Grayson Rosen was like a breath of fresh air in a junior men's event where we saw some strong triple jumps but I'm afraid far too many sweater vests and stumbles. Picture a purse sized Shawn Sawyer bringing the flair and big, sassy arms - his short program to Christina Aguilera was sassy as all get out and I just loved it! I ran into him before his free skate and he promised he'd be bringing the glitter factor. He may have finished the competition in thirteenth place with a score of 130.91, but there's a lot to be said for those skaters who add a little colour to the sometimes grey tapestry of jump, jump, jump...

Another one of the junior men who made an impression was seventeen year old Christian Reekie of Liz Manley's old alma mater, the Gloucester Skating Club in Ottawa. Skating is a lot of fun and you're supposed to look like you're loving every minute. Whether attempting triple flips or lutzes or showing off his skills as an ice dancer in his footwork sequences, he absolutely did. Reekie, a student of Darlene Joseph, won the bronze medal with his free skate set to selections from the soundtracks of "First Knight" and "Man In The Iron Mask", earning a score of 164.65. The gold went to Joseph Phan of Laval, Quebec and the silver to Edrian Paul Celestino of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, a student of two time World Professional Champion Daniel Beland.

Small but mighty siblings! Olivia and Mackenzie Boys-Eddy skate their short program in Halifax. They earned a score of 46.40 with TES of 27.71 and PCS of 18.69 and earned fifth place in this phase of the competition but their personalities just shined out there!

The same can be said for the young brother/sister pair team of Olivia and Mackenzie Boys-Eddy from Brampton, Ontario. Their short program to ZZtop and "Black Betty" had personality plus and it was clear that they were having a lot of fun out there. Not taking anything away from the top four junior pairs - Hope McLean and Trennt Michaud, Bryn Hoffman and Bryce Chudak, Allison Eby and Brett Varley and Justine Brasseur and Mathieu Ostiguy - but tiny Olivia beaming during the lifts in their free skate to "The Addams Family" was too cute for words. They ended up in fifth with a score of 130.03, well behind McLean and Michaud's strong score of 154.45 but I have a sneaking suspicion we'll be hearing more about this team coached by Ashley Greenhalgh in the future.

EWW... YOUR CANADIAN WOMEN'S ARGUMENT IS SO 1995!

2016 Canadian Novice Women's Champion Aurora Cotop skates her winning free skate to "Sabrina". She earned a total score of 123.85, besting all of her rivals in the free skate with a score of 81.17 in that phase of the event. Her coaches are Jonathan Mills and Myke Gillman.

The novice and junior women also proved that the really tired, cliché sportswriter argument about Canadian women's skating being a splatfest is just that... tired and cliché. In the warmup for the novice ladies short program, a young woman named Béatrice Lavoie-Léonard was going for her triple flip (yes, triple flip in a novice women's short in Canada - process that for a minute) and saved it with knees that many of the senior women would be jealous of. Aurora Cotop of the Thornhill Figure Skating Club took home top honors among the novice women with a score of 81.17. She presented a quite stylised free skate to the theme from the "Sabrina" soundtrack that featured two double Axels, a triple loop, a triple toe/double toe combination and fine spins. The silver medallist, Olivia Gran of Kelowna (a student of Karen and Jason Mongrain) put out a gutsy free skate with a nice triple toe, triple Salchow and two double Axels and demonstrated a mature, controlled style that belied her twelve years.

In the junior women's short program, Sarah Tamura of Vancouver (a student of the one and only Joanne McLeod) skated to "Asturias" by Albeniz with commanding presence and a triple Lutz/double toe combination, triple flip and double Axel to boot. A botched final spin left her with a score of 52.48 that has her just ahead of the Minto Skating Club's Alexis Dion, with eight other women with scores of 45 or better trailing closely behind. The junior women's free skate is happening tonight and it's shaping up to be a nail biter.

Yes, among these young Canadian women there have certainly been tumbles but hey, this is figure skating. It happens in every discipline and country, sunshine. It may be a different ballgame than in Japan or Russia but you know what though? There's a heck of a lot of promise among the women that are coming up in this country. They aren't looking down constantly. They aren't popping jumps. They are going for them! You wouldn't have even said that in back in 1995 in this same building when Netty Kim took home the senior women's title with one clean triple jump. The times, they aren't a-changin'... they have already changed.

CONCLUSIONS

Conclusion number one: Carol Lane is just gorgeous.

Conclusion number two: The skaters I've highlighted today need to be on your radar if they aren't already. To be honest with you honey, the last few days was kind of an unexpected treat. I don't usually even watch novice or junior events so I have zero vested interest in any one skater or team so I really don't think I'm biased.

In all seriousness though, it takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there in front of a rink full of friends and strangers and I have to give huge respect to all of the athletes who are doing that this week. They make it look easy and in reality, it's incredibly difficult stuff and it (obviously) doesn't get easier in a pressure cooker environment. The future looks brighter than ever and I think these novice and junior skaters collectively have buckets of potential. Look out world... Canada's a-comin' for you just as they always have been. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

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.

Halifax's Skating History (Part Four, From The Forties To The Future)

Violet Snair congratulating Joan Dorey at the 1949 Bluenose Skating Club competition (clipping from the local figure skating history collection at the Halifax Central Library on Spring Garden Road)

FROM THE FORTIES TO THE FUTURE

We have already looked at Halifax's first covered rink in what is today the Public Gardens, the grand Exhibition Building Rink and the legacy of pond skating here in Halifax. Why not take a trip forward in time in the time machine and look at how organized figure skating really developed in the city? By the early forties, the Halifax Skating Club (which operated for a time as the Halifax Skating Assembly) had applied to the Canadian Figure Skating Association for accreditation. The Club remained operational during World War II, during which time a talented young skater named Mary (Thorne) White dazzled audiences with her skating prowess.

Left: Clipping from "Skating" magazine, 1942. Right: Photo of Mary (Thorne) White.

By the sixties, the Halifax Skating Club was using the Dalhousie Memorial Rink as its home base, with its head coach being Alexander Balisch, a former Austrian Champion who emigrated to Canada's East Coast after a career touring Europe as a professional skater.

Alexander Balisch

Concurrently, the Bluenose Skating Club was in operation in the city. It had formed in 1941, using the Shirley Street Arena as its home base, and later moved to the Halifax Forum. An October 28, 2004 article from The Chronicle Herald noted the popularity of the club's annual carnivals from the forties through sixties, which were taken on the road and performed at the Greenwood Air Force Base. Violet Snair, a co-founder of the club with her brother-in-law Roy Snair, recalled, "we had as many as twelve dressmakers for the shows. Kathleen O'Toole, who has since passed away, was instrumental in making and designing the many costumes. She was instrumental in the club's operations."

Many of the club's members went on to become coaches, judges and professional skaters with the Ice Capades. Among the club's members was Evelyn McCall, who is of course the mother of the late Olympic Bronze Medallist and eight time Canadian Champion Rob McCall. McCall holds the distinction of being the first and only Nova Scotian skater to win medals at the Canadian Championships the novice (1975), junior (1977) and senior (1978-1988) divisions. He announced his decision to turn professional in the spring of 1988 after winning the bronze medal at the 1988 Olympic Games and World Championships with partner Tracy Wilson. In a April 28, 1988 interview from The Mail-Star, McCall said, "there would have been nothing better than to win a world championship in Halifax. But unfortunately for Tracy and I it would have been a shallow victory because by that time we would have inherited the title and we didn't want it that way... [but] the only thing I really haven't accomplished is to become world champion. That's the one thing I really wanted to do." Tragically, just three years later he passed away from AIDS-related brain cancer.

Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall's ragtime free dance from the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta, still every bit as fabulous to watch today as it was back then!

McCall's memory lives on here in this province. For decades, the Skate Dartmouth competition was been the premiere open competition in Atlantic Canada, drawing skaters of all levels from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and even Quebec. Renamed in recent years to the Rob McCall Memorial, this year's competition will be held from February 5 to 7 at the Dartmouth Sportsplex, where all of Canada's best skaters have been practicing away all week in preparation for their turns competing on the ice in front of the always discerning judges. Both Marie Bowness (who won the 1981 Canadian ice dance with McCall in this very rink) and Tracy Wilson will be in the house with week and if the rousing reception to Nova Scotian's lone ice dance entry Gina Cipriano and Brad Keeping-Myra in the junior free dance was any indication, Nova Scotia loves its figure skaters more than ever.

Halifax's Skating History (Part Three, Pond Skating)

Steele's Pond in Point Pleasant Park, back in the day

From Patrick Chan, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje and Kaetlyn Osmond to the stars of tomorrow, the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships has brought the best skaters in Canada to center stage right here to Halifax, Nova Scotia this week. Today, the four part feature on the host city's rich skating history continues. Whereas the last two blogs looked at the role those of affluence played in popularizing skating in Halifax, today we'll look at the role the 'unwashed masses' - in other words, everyday Haligonians - played in developing local skating history:

POND SKATING

Going back to part one of this blog, we recall that Griffin's Pond (the original home of the Halifax Skating Club) was fed by The Fresh Water Brook, now underground and part of the Halifax Commons. This brook actually fed an incredible number of skating ponds all through Halifax's south end and where the brook didn't provide, the Halifax Fire Department would often flood depressions in the North Commons to make temporary rinks to meet the needs of the throngs of Halifax skaters looking for a place to 'cut a fancy figure' or 'turn a Valse'.

In his January 2 and 9, 1988 "Walking" columns from The Mail-Star, late Halifax historian, lecturer and author Lou Collins noted that The Fresh Water Brook "wended its way southeast by way of Fenwick Street and small valleys and gullies until it reached the east end of Inglis Street and then entered Halifax Harbour not far from the present railway pedestrian tunnel. Ships' crews had for over a century rowed ashore to the mouth of this brook to fill casks with fresh water, hence the name: Fresh Water Brook... In the course of the last two decades of the 19th century the Reverend Robert Murray, Presbyterian scholar, hymnodist, and editor of the Presbyterian Witness, took over Studley on Coburg Road, the estate that once belonged to Sir Alexander Croke, stern Judge of Vice-Admiralty and elevated Anglican. In a hollow fringed by willows, just north of the Murray Homestead, was an attractive small pond, popular in winter with skaters. According to a local report, a group of British Army officers from the garrison chose to skate on Murray's Pond [northeast of the Dalhousie University chemistry building] on a Sunday. While they were told courteously that they might skate on the Pond during week days, they were informed, in high Victorian style, that they were to leave immediately and not repeat their Sunday escapade on Murray's Pond."

More accessible South End ponds were the 'Pogey' or 'Poor House Pond' on South Street, on the future site of the Grace Maternity Hospital. Collins' Pond was located in the depression in Collins' Fields between Inglis and South Streets and is long gone as well. Two ponds existed on the north edge of Point Pleasant Park (according to Hopkins's Atlas Of Halifax Of 1878) but only Quarry Pond remained as of 1988. You don't see people skating there these days either. Collins also recalled that "perhaps the best known of the south-end ponds was [Steele]'s Pond, now covered by the Haltern Containerport and its adjacent parking lot. On this pond Haligonians were to enjoy skating for many years. It is said that the historic Halifax Skating Club grew out of the skating opportunities provided by [Steele]'s Pond." So that gives you another indication as to where the members of the Halifax Skating Club might very well have gone after the Murray's Pond and Exhibition Building rinks ceased to be.

In addition to ponds, skaters even ventured on to marshes. In the January 31, 1963 issue of the Mail-Star, E.G.L. Wetmore recalled, "How many who were Southenders in their youth have happy memories of Ritchie's swamp in Marlboro Woods? Now it's all houses, lawns and wide residential streets... Probably a hot potato never tasted better than one retrieved from glowing embers of a wood fire built in shelter of the big rock which was the time honored place for putting on boots and skates. Some of the spuds would be eaten, and others tucked into the toes of the temporarily abandoned walking boots. For some of the skaters there would not even be in need to exchange footwear, they would just clip on the popular Acme spring skates turned out by Starr in the Dartmouth plant."

In the area west of the Northwest Arm were such popular skating spots as Williams' Lake and The Frog Pond. Collins wrote, "in Edmond's Ground, the Duck Pond near the old barn may have known very young participants... When winters were more severe and there was less pollution in the North West Arm, its surface was frozen often enough to be recorded as a popular destination for skating. While not providing the hard, glass-like surface of fresh-water ice, salt-water ice is firm, less brittle and more flexible, although eroded at the tide mark by the rise and all of the tides." Chocolate Lake (between Herring Cove Road and St. Margaret's Bay Road) was the most popular skating spot on the Isthmus until World War II. Collins recalled, "it had become so popular in the years immediately before the Second World War, that change huts, complete with canteens, had been provided by enterprising residents and others. These, for a small charge, provided warmth, safety for footgear, and reduced the need to hide one's boots under the roots of a tree in the darkness of the western shoreline." Other popular skating destinations were McFatridge's Pond on Robie Street, the playfield south of Gorsebrook School, Deal's Pond (east of Bayers Road) and Devlin's Pond (just north of Dutch Village Road) and Stanford's Pond, a shallow pond full of reeds and grass just below St. John's Anglican Church and cemetery. Although people certainly skated on the latter, it was considered the least attractive option in the area as the ice often wasn't great.

"Hints To Skaters" from The January 25, 1883 edition of "The Irish Canadian"

The cutting of ice blocks for refrigeration became a regular problem faced by Halifax skaters. Not only would men from Farmers cut ice from Deal's Pond for their dairy on Windsor Street, citizens would often take matters into their own hands for food storage. Crystal Martin of the Dartmouth Heritage Museum explained, "a lot of people cleared off lakes to skate or play hockey; then they would go back the next day to find that the ice had been cut."

The Northwest Arm would freeze in parts and daring skaters would often venture as far west as Williams Lake but most skaters had the sense to turn back to warnings of 'warm springs' and thin ice. Legends even persist of skaters crossing sections of the Halifax Harbour. Late historian George Mullane wrote that in 1821 "when the harbour was frozen over, but the ice by no means thick enough to be considered safe, many broke through, although many tried to use the ice surface to travel between Halifax and Dartmouth in that January... Drownings were recorded... A son of John Gibbs, messenger to the House Of Assembly who was immersed, was so exhausted that he died in a few hours. Today an ice coated harbour is only a memory."

Speaking of memories, stay tuned to the blog! Tomorrow we'll have the final part of this series and on Thursday, a recap of how the best skaters in Canada are MAKING history in 2016 in the novice and junior events leading up to the marquee events at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships later this week. You do not want to miss it!

Halifax's Skating History (Part Two, The Exhibition Building Rink)

Etching of a Skating Carnival at The Exhibition Building Rink from the April 10, 1880 issue of The British newspaper The Graphic. I've got the original in my private collection - how 'bout that?

This covered rink, like the one in the Gardens, was built by The Halifax Skating Rink Company. Interestingly, the company's secretary-treasurer was a direct descendant of Richard John Uniacke, the abolitionist and former Attorney-General of Nova Scotia who played an extremely prominent role in Nova Scotian history. He would have been in attendance at these lavish skating carnivals that rivalled the Montreal Masquerades. Entrance tickets were sold almost like a movie ticket by session for 'gentlemen', 'ladies' and 'families' as opposed to a yearly membership.

Like in the Gardens rink, Valsing (waltzing on ice) was extremely popular with an emphasis placed on the pleasures of skating. Although The Dominion of Canada was part of The Commonwealth, 'fancy skating' in Halifax was the polar opposite of the rigid English Style practiced overseas. School figures would have been of little interest to these skaters; it was all about the ice dancing and carnivals.

An article from the February 7, 1899 issue of The Halifax Daily Echo described one such carnival at the Exhibition Rink: "The Royal Canadian regiment and St. Patrick's bands rendered a splendid programme, including many waltzes, which the skaters and spectators enjoyed. The ice was never in better condition, and one well known skater said he had never seen a better sheet in his life. There was nothing very strikingly new in the costumes, though nearly all were very neat and some very pretty. There was only one group noticeable – the Geisha girls (Frank Stephen, D'Arcy Weatherbee and C. Grant) who were made up to represent three very presentable maidens. A lampshade costume, worn by Mrs. Green, was of crimpled paper arranged with pretty effect. Among the ladies who wore particularly nice costumes were Misses Burns and Seeton, as Black and White supplement; Miss Cameron, Yuletide; Miss Dimock, as Phyllis; Miss Darville, as an olden time lady, and Miss Farrell as Folly. Another costume that attracted notice was that of the Daisy, worn by a lady whose name was not among those registered. On a dark green dress were worked daisies, and she wore a little cape with a yellow centre near the neck and the petals falling over the shoulders. On her head was a hat which was a perfect representation of a large daisy, with a yellow centre and the rim of white petals. Among the gentleman's costumes was the Pink Un', by Mr. Jones, R[oyal] A[rtillery]. It consisted of white satin knickerbockers, with pink satin cutaway coat and vest. A tall pink silk hat, with a miniature horse race on the crown, completed the costume, over which were scattered cards and sporting papers, the whole representing a well known English sporting paper. During the evening a couple of sets of lancers were danced, and these, with the waltzing, would give visitors an idea of how well Halifax people skate."

When the Halifax Skating Club lost its home in 1889, it's entirely likely that its members would have come crawling to the competition, but at any rate, it would have all been short-lived. MacDonald explained that "an act was passed in 1896 to enable the city council to sell the Exhibition Building and grounds. New exhibition buildings, later destroyed by the Halifax Explosion, were erected on the corner of Robie and Windsor Streets at the end of the century. In 1906, six of the grounds' lots were sold to St. Luke's congregation (later amalgamated with All Saints) for $3,000 dollars each. The sod-turning ceremony took place on September 25, 1907. In the same year, the towers of the old Exhibition Building were destroyed and the building moved to South Street. It continued to operate as a rink for a few more years."

We've heard about where it all started and now, about the role that the Halifax Explosion played in Halifax's skating history, but there's so much more to the story! As the novice and junior events at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships get underway over the next few days, we'll continue exploring the city's unique skating tradition.

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.

Halifax's Skating History (Part One, The Halifax Skating Rink)

From Patrick Chan, Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje and Kaetlyn Osmond to the stars of tomorrow, the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships will bring the best skaters in Canada front and center right here in Halifax, Nova Scotia starting tomorrow. Due largely to geography - the East Coast always seems to get the short end of the stick - the city's rich skating tradition is often overlooked. Although we've explored Halifax skating history before on the blog, it's high time that we took a more in depth look:

THE HALIFAX SKATING RINK

Visiting Griffin's Pond in October 2015

Griffin's Pond, which we today know as the beloved duck pond in the Halifax Public Gardens, played a tremendously important role in Canadian skating history. A brook (now underground) in the Halifax Commons actually fed Griffin's Pond and a host of other skating ponds in Halifax in the nineteenth century.

In his "Walking" columns from the January 2 and 8, 1988 editions of the Mail-Star, late Halifax historian, lecturer and author Lou Collins explained, "Beginning at the height of land near the intersection of Cunard and Windsor streets, the Fresh Water Brook ran through a swampy area south of the intersection of Cunard and Robie streets. It provided water for the Egg Pond in the Central Common, a pond now, unfortunately, left dry. It then found its way to Griffin's Pond in a rough area of the Common was to be transformed into the north section of the Halifax Public Gardens." In those days, the Public Gardens were owned by the Halifax Horticultural Society and ice skating became tremendously popular among its members in the winter.

In 1861, a barn was constructed on the east side of the Gardens near the original entrance on South Park Street and a short distance from Griffin's Pond with the intention of being used as a 'skating house' but it was too late in the season and the ice was too thin for the facility to be made use of that year. The following year, the Halifax Skating Club was formed by 'fancy skating' enthusiasts. The November 1, 1862 issue of "The Acadian Recorder" explained that "prisoners at Rockhead cleared snow from Griffin's Pond and made good skating." Although skating was first enjoyed on the pond itself, it was (perhaps for safety reasons) the area next to it where history would be made.

Skating Rink in the Public Gardens in Halifax - 1851 map from The Halifax Horticultural Society, reproduced from the Along The Garden's Path blog, shows the area where the covered skating rink was later constructed in the lower right corner, framed by trees

This 1851 map from The Halifax Horticultural Society, reproduced from the Along The Garden's Path blog, shows the area where the covered skating rink was later constructed in the lower right corner, framed by trees.

By 1863, a covered skating barn was constructed in the area adjacent to the pond (one of the first covered rinks in Canada) and the members of the Halifax Skating Club had a home... The Halifax Skating Rink. I want to offer my thanks to Phillip at the Nova Scotia Archives for helping me track down this wonderful primary source on microfiche describing the official opening of the rink on January 3, 1863. Reproduced in its entirety with permission, here's the article "The Skating Rink" from the Monday, January 12, 1863 issue of "The Nova Scotian":

"This 'institution' is located on the Horticultural Society's grounds on Spring Garden road. The building enclosing the Rink is 60 feet wide and 180 feet in length, and this area of ice constitutes the extent of the skating facilities. The structure is permanent in its character and is tastefully fitted up, and gas is introduced so that the Rink can be lighted at night. At the entrance end of the building, and joining upon it is a commodious room separated from the Rink, furnished with a stove, which is a desirable arrangement in connection with the enterprise. The building is constructed in such a manner as to give an apparent lightness of effect combined with strength. In the centre of the far end is a recess with an elevated dais for the Band. By day the Rink is lighted by a row of large windows on the two sides, and by night by four pendants each containing several burners. On Saturday, 3d inst., the Rink was formally opened by the Lieutenant Governor. A large number of the elite of the city congregated to witness the ceremony. The Band of the 17th took their station upon the dais and played some lively tunes in that style for which they are so justly celebrated in this city. At the appointed hour His Excellency arrived, and after making a few well chosen and appropriate remarks, declared the Rink open. He remarked that the exercise of skating would prove condusive to the health of those engaged in it, besides affording very agreeable amusement and pastime. He expressed his extreme satisfaction with the arrangements that had been made, and complimented the [promoters] of the enterprise upon the success that had crowned their efforts. So soon as the Rink was declared open, some fifty or sixty ladies and gentlemen, being provided with skates, glided out upon the ice and enjoyed the pleasure of the 'giddy whirl' to their hearts content. The weather being extremely mild, the ice was rather too soft for the sport, but nevertheless all seemed delighted with its condition. Owing to the situation of the Rink and its exclusion from the sun's rays, the ice was in much better condition that might have been expected. Judging from observation no expense seems to have been spared in rendering the rink and its associations in every way comfortable for ladies and gentlemen, at a very moderate subscription price. We wish those interested in the enterprise that success which their efforts so well merit."

As David Irish's CBC article from earlier this month noted, membership at the Halifax Skating Club in its early days was much like skating clubs everywhere in those times - a trifle choosy. Membership wasn't open to the general public. You pretty much had to be a member of the Horticultural Society, have money, know someone or all of the above. In fact, "such was the popularity of the sport at this time that within three weeks the directors were forced to close the membership," explained Shirley Ellis on October 4, 1964 in the "Mail-Star".

The skating season, owing to the use of natural ice, was generally from January to March with the pond opening early in years where the winter kicked in early. The late George Mullane, in his "Mail-Star" column "Many Old Ponds No Longer Remain" noted that one autumn "the frost must have come early because scores of ladies and gentlemen [skated], the ice being in capital condition, and the scene presented was a gay one." Who doesn't love a good gay scene? That's what I want to know!

Skaters were also often treated to tea and light refreshments ("The Acadian Recorder" noted ice cream and strawberries were served) and live music from the Union Harmonic Orchestra. In the summers, the rink was floored and used for roller skating. We won't judge them for that. Okay, we will a little, but that's okay.

In her delightful 1992 book "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves notes that "the first authentic waltz on ice is believed to have originated... in Halifax, Nova Scotia, developed by a British officer stationed there who had experimented with the waltz at Davos or St. Moritz. Somehow he discovered the figure three with a stretched free leg before turning the three as the key to waltzing on ice. Replacement of this once-back style of valsing with the Valse using three turns took time and spread gradually from country to country, from continent to continent." This unnamed British officer's introduction of valsing to Haligonians was an important milestone in terms of turning the upper crust on to the joys of ice dancing.

The fate of the 'Griffin's Pond rink' remains somewhat shrouded in mystery but it's possible we can put two and two together. "The Acadian Recorder "tells us that the rink was illuminated with coal gas and near the main entrance, a reception room was equipped with a coal stove. A December 28, 1976 article from The "Mail-Star" notes that (lord Jesus!) there was a fire in that covered rink, perhaps as a result of someone going out to get a cold pop? As a result of that (and perhaps a little competition, which we'll get into in the next blog) the rink was eventually demolished in 1889, although skating on the pond was revived briefly when the city opened the rink during a particularly frosty winter in the seventies "much to the surprise of resident ducks and visiting seagulls", according to Collins.

Stay tuned daily throughout the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships for more fabulous skating history on Skate Guard!

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 Penman's Dam Brawl

I wouldn't know a thing about overindulging in alcohol whatsoever. Alright, I'll be honest with you. I couldn't even keep a straight face when I typed that. Yes, I'll admit it. I do from time to time indulge in a glass or three of Pinot Grigio too many but I can say with absolute certainty that I have never gone skating after one drink too many. The same can't be said for the figure skaters of Paris, Ontario in 1883.

For those of you who have no clue where Canada's Paris is, it's a small town on the Grand River in Brant County. Today its population is a mere eleven thousand but back in 1883 the town's population was just over three thousand and was mainly comprised of gypsum miners and their families. Like proper nineteenth century Canadian settlers, they loved their skating and it was an immensely popular pastime during the long winters.

The February 1, 1885 edition wrote of a special performance by Professor Heine who "was the champion of Michigan, and gave a very pretty entertainment in the Paris Skating and Curling Rink on Friday last. He gave universal satisfaction to those present, when he amazingly skated on stilts, eighteen inches high, on the bottom of each of which was a coloured light. He also jumped over barrels and other obstacles." Every bit as popular as skating was a little nip now and then... and you can't really blame the residents of Paris because - let's be real here for a minute - Ontario winters can be brutally cold. You have to keep warm somehow, don't you?

But here's the thing... Not everyone in Paris, Ontario was a fan of drinking. In The Brant Review two years before Professor Heine's visit, Reverend H. Hughes of the Congregational Church spoke "pretty strongly about the depraved youth of Paris. He was struck with the prevalence of drunkenness among the young men. He had recently witnessed, on Saturday night, between thirty and forty men coming out of a certain hotel, which he named; the oldest not more than thirty, and the majority between sixteen and twenty. He further stated that a livery-stable owner said, 'The young men love darkness better than light because their deeds are evil.'"

It turns out that these hotel drinkers after party of choice was the frozen Penman's Dam, site of the Paris Skating and Curling Rink. The Brant Review wrote that these 'depraved youth' in question (labelled largely as American workers who had come to Paris to work in the town's button-making shop) went to go "fancy figure-skating" in 1883 and "had become deliberately intoxicated when they should have been home in their beds and had several bottles of whiskey and other liquors, and later could hardly make their way home." It all came to a head, according to Donald A. Smith's book "At the Forks of the Grand, Volume I: 20 Historical Essays on Paris, Ontario" when that same year, one button-maker who worked at the shop that was behind what is now the town's post office "became so drunk at the rink, that, as he wobbled around, he continually bowled over other skaters. Finally, the caretaker, Mr. Luxford, ordered him off. The drunk replied by throwing Luxford to the ice. Then Luxford's son rushed to the defence, and after a fierce struggle subdued the assailant - and the cost of a bitten cheek and a chewed thumb."

Biting? Really? You'd think that was where it all ended but sadly, no. The drunken button-making skaters returned as an angry mob a month later to settle their score with the rink's caretaker Luxford but were again tossed out on their asses after more yet more fisticuffs. The grand finale to the story of this drunken skater's brawl? After they got kicked out of the rink, the button-makers made their way to the Windsor Hotel on Grand River Street where according to The Brant Review "they insulted and attacked Mr. F.O. Allworth and lady friend. One struck him from behind and another jumped on his back." In irony, the drunken skater was fended off when "Allworth cut one's hand with his skates before freeing himself." Are you kidding me?! I never would have thought of Paris button-makers being so in-Seine, but hey, now we all know so we can be on the lookout!

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.

La Fée Carabosse: The Shaun McGill Story

Photo courtesy Kathleen McGill

"To me, Shaun's great beauty came from inside. He was everything a parent could want and hope for. He showed a tremendous strength, helped me see other ways of life and not to be judgemental and showed us all what true love was. Not once did I ever hear him complain and all he asked for was laughter and smiles, not sad faces. I know I'm stronger because of him and I try to be a better person because of him. I always enjoyed watching him skate." - Kathleen McGill

The son of Joseph and Kathleen McGill, Shaun McGill grew up in Mississauga, Ontario and started skating at the age of eight. He soon began train at Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. An artist among athletes, he made his first big splash at the national level as a skater when he finished second in the novice men's event at the 1978 Canadian Championships in Victoria, British Columbia, beating a young Paul Martini. That autumn, he moved up to the junior ranks, finishing second at the Central Ontario Sectionals behind Brian Orser on his way to a third place finish in the junior men's event at the 1979 Canadian Championships behind Orser and Kevin Parker. He remained in the junior ranks until 1981, when at the age of nineteen he finished second behind Neil Paterson at the Canadian Championships despite competing with bone splints on both legs, which were taped for his free skating performances.

In 1982, Shaun moved up to the senior ranks, placing third at the Eastern Divisionals in Montreal that year behind Brian Orser and Gary Beacom and winning the Central Ontario Sectionals in 1983. However, in an age of Canadian men's skating when difficult triple jumps were becoming increasingly more valued than musical sensibility, he made the decision to join the professional ranks and tour with John Curry's company. Although his amateur competitive record might not have been as impressive as some of his peers, he gained respect from critics for his artistry. However, his turbulent off ice relationship with Curry spilled out on the ice. In his book "Alone: The Triumph And Tragedy Of John Curry", Bill Jones noted that "private off-ice turbulence frequently spilled out frequently into rehearsals."Shaun left the company and in 1985 joined fellow Canadians Gary Beacom, Gia Guddat and Kelly Johnston and John Thomas, touring Austria, England and Canada with legendary ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. He was rewarded with a bluesy solo act in the 1986 Canadian tour.

Video courtesy Scott Werry

Perhaps Shaun's most famous role as a skater was in the 1987 made for television production "Sleeping Beauty On Ice", choreographed by Lar Lubovitch. Appearing alongside Robin Cousins, Rosalynn Sumners, Lea-Ann Miller and Bill Fauver, Nathan Birch, Patricia Dodd, Catherine Foulkes in a thirty member cast, Shaun portrayed the wicked Fée Carabosse and owned the role to the extreme. Dance critic George Jackson lauded him for "intricate footwork, fleetness, and his streamlined silhouette," also noting that "McGill suffused his technique with a demonic intensity that made him right for the role of Carabosse in the televised ice version of 'Sleeping Beauty', Drosselmeyer in the Chicago ice spectacular of 'The Nutcracker', and for the personifications of character or mood in the solos he set for himself." In both December 1987 and 1988, he finished second at the World Professional Figure Skating Championships in Jaca, Spain. He unfortunately lost the 1987 title to fellow Canadian Daniel Beland by less than a point.

Shaun appearing as Carabosse in "Sleeping Beauty On Ice"

Just as Shaun's professional career was starting to really take off, in 1989 at the age of twenty seven he was told that he was HIV positive. A January 25, 1993 article in "People" magazine, quoting his surviving long term partner Regis Gagnon shares the story of his diagnosis and final years: "'He was very calm,' recalls Regis Gagnon of skater Shaun McGill in 1989 after McGill was told he had AIDS. Gagnon, 32, a program adviser at the Ontario Ministry of Health, lived with McGill in Toronto for four years prior to McGill's death. 'I kept informed about the latest AIDS treatments. Shaun said to me, 'Just tell me what I need to know. I'll take the pills I'm supposed to take. But don't bother me. I've got work to do.' Gagnon claims McGill did some of his finest choreography and skating after his condition was diagnosed. 'There was an intensity, a real need to produce,' says Gagnon of his friend, who never won an Olympic medal but was regarded by his peers as one of the most creative skaters of his generation. 'He wanted to get his work out because he knew his time was finite.' McGill, who spent a lot of time traveling, was one who kept his condition secret for fear that he would not be allowed to enter the U.S., where most professional skaters find work with various ice shows. One spring day in 1991 his secret was nearly revealed. On his way to Baltimore, home base of The Next Ice Age, a professional troupe he was working with, he was stopped by U.S. immigration officials in Toronto. 'He didn't look totally well, so they look him into a room and interrogated him [about whether he had AIDS],' says Gagnon. 'He had to tell them something so he'd be allowed to cross the border. So he told them he had cancer.' The officials told McGill that they would have to confirm his statement and asked for the name of somebody they could call. He gave them Gagnon's. Then, while the officials left him momentarily unattended, 'Shaun sneaked out of the customs office, found a phone and called to tell me what kind of cancer he'd told them he had,' says Gagnon. 'It was pretty traumatic.' Only when McGill grew too weak to skate, shortly after that incident, did he stop performing. McGill's friend Tim Murphy, a co-founder of the Next Ice Age, remembers McGill's final performance with the company. 'He said, 'I think this is the last time I'll do this,' Murphy recalls. 'We had a little cry and a hug. It was the only thing I ever heard him say about how he was affected by AIDS.'"

Video courtesy Scott Werry

Shaun passed away on March 23, 1992 at the age of thirty, leaving behind his parents, partner, two brothers and coaches Jack Raffleur, Louis Stong, Bruce Lennie and Mrs. Ellen Burka. An ailing John Curry wrote, "Hard to believe that one so full of energy and spark should be dead". Nathan Birch recalled him as "one of the most inventive, artistic skaters of all time, and he really inspired younger skaters to push the envelope a bit and be more experimental." His former competitor Gordon Forbes recalled him as "a wild man; sad but funny, and incredibly talented." In a December 13, 1992 interview with the Calgary Herald, his mother Kathleen said that she hoped his legacy would live on and that "when people think of Shaun and Brian [Pockar] and Rob [McCall] and Dennis [Coi], I hope they forget AIDS and remember them for what they did for skating and for other people. They never did anything to make us ashamed. We're very proud of them."

Video courtesy Scott Werry

I never met Shaun McGill. I was eight years old when he passed away. However, as a young gay man who grew up skating in Canada in the era of Elvis Stojko pumping out quads yet looking to the Toller Cranston's of skating - the artists - as who I wanted to emulate, I can't help but personally feel some connection to Shaun McGill's story. I would have loved to have met him!

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.