Toller Cranston Visits The Magic Planet

Having already covered his 1982 "Strawberry Ice" and 1985 "The True Gift Of Christmas" television specials on the blog, I really thought it was time that I revisited the Toller Cranston's much acclaimed series television specials and the lesser remembered gem "The Magic Planet".

Broadcast in both Canada and the U.S. on CTV and ABC in March of 1983, "The Magic Planet" was a futuristic ice odyssey like no other. It was narrated by none other than William Shatner himself and directed by David S. Acomba. Skating acts were fused with performances by dancers from the Alvin Ailey company of New York and the George Faison Dancers. Although music was provided by the London Symphony and recorded in England, it was scored and conducted by Canadian Paul Hoffert. Like in Toller's other specials, costuming was designed by Olympic Silver Medallist and two time World Champion Frances Dafoe. The cast included Cranston and actor/musicians Ann Jillian and Deniece Williams and skaters Brian Pockar, Sandra and Val Bezic and Wendy Burge.

The premise of the show was that of an astronaut (Cranston) having his NASA space capsule hit by an asteroid. When the craft lands on a strange "magic planet", Cranston's skating wins the the heart of the Queen Of The Outerworld People. Cranston's character is confronted by Fraze (Pockar), an evil leader of the Outerworld's rival Underworld. Fraze seeks the Queen (Burge)'s hand in marriage, but after a scuffle Fraze is banished from the Outerworld. Fraze abducts the Queen, taking her to his kingdom. A sorcerer approaches the astronaut and gives him a pair of magic skates which aid in his efforts to rescue the Queen.

In an 1983 interview regarding the show with Lynne St. David, Toller Cranston said "What's most exciting about Strawberry Ice and The Magic Planet is that we have been able to combine skating with the more traditional elements of entertainment, such as dance. It's ironic because in the field of entertainment, Canadians are usually thought to be two steps behind the United States, but this is an area where we are breaking new ground... working with the most sophisticated electronic equipment and techniques that television can provide, we were able to incorporate the different mediums into a visual delight. In all my travels, with all of the work I have done, the most clever and creative individuals I have worked with, bar none, have always been Canadians. My costume designer, Frances Dafoe, is a perfect example. She is better than anybody, the best internationally, but nobody knows her name." He claimed that his 1983 production "goes far beyond skating. Often you forget that the characters are on ice at all. A lot of people come up to me and say, 'You know, I never watch skating, but I watched your show.'"

"The Magic Planet" was classic Cranston at his best... great music, costuming, theatrics and skating melded together to create a unique storybook that (though at times a little kitschy) captures your imagination like a book you just can't put down. I still think that's what made Toller the enigma he was. You just couldn't look away.

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.

A Seminar In Shadow Skating History

Without a question, one of the earliest and most defining changes in the discipline of pairs skating was the introduction of shadow skating. Although combined figures and dance steps had obviously already been introduced, competitive pairs programs prior to World War I in no way resembled the programs we see today. Throws, lifts and death spirals weren't part of the pairs skating vocabulary yet but shadow skating, introduced to the sport by the British, laid the foundations for the inclusion of side-by-side jumps and spins.

To explain what shadow skating was in a nutshell, imagine two skaters side-by-side performing a footwork sequence in unison, mirroring each others movements. Although T.D. and Mildred Richardson were the first two to introduce the art to competition in 1923, it was actually the Richardson's well-respected coach, Bernard Adams, who gave the first known exhibition of it publicly some years prior. T.D. Richardson wrote of his former coach: "It was Bernard who, with his brother, first demonstrated shadow skating, a form of pair skating which he introduced. They looked like two figures cut out in black paper. The show consisted of turns, quick-moving steps and what would nowadays be considered simple jumps. But it was skated with great precision, in beautiful style and very fast. The term shadow skating was not used until 1923 when the late Kenneth Dundas applied it, in the 'Manchester Guardian', to the pair programme skated by my wife and me, and built on the lines of that of Bernard and Alex. A few years ago in an American show brought over by John Harris (Ice Cycles), it had been revived most beautifully. Bernard also had a foursome, consisting of the Adams brothers, with two other Princes instructors, Christian Soldan, a Swede, and Leonce Pesquier, a Basque from Biarritz, who had learnt his skating at the Palais de Glace in Paris and in Nice."

The Richardson's introduction of shadow skating at the 1923 British Championships received mixed reactions. When both they and Ethel Muckelt and John Page incorporated it into their Olympic programs at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, British judge Herbert Ramon Yglesias marked the Richardson's down severely... and put Muckelt and Page first. In his book "Ice-Skating: A History", figure skating historian Nigel Brown explained that when "T.D. Richardson and his wife executed almost an entire programme along these lines... a controversy started among the leading skaters as to whether to condemn or approve it as an interpretation of pair-skating... Some authorities would not even look at it, believing it not to be pair-skating at all, others thought it the highest form of pair-skating. It was more difficult to perform, and when the future World Champions, Pierre Brunet and Andrée Joly, developed it to a high standard and incorporated it in their programme, shadow-skating became a classic department of pair-skating art." 

I think it would only be right to finish off with a lesson in shadow skating from T.D. Richardson himself. Here's his description from his hugely popular book "Skating With T.D. Richardson", published in 1952: "[Shadow skating] is by far the most difficult, depending for its effect on complete unison of length of edge, sway, swing of the arms, shoulders, free leg and hip, and of tilt of the head - the last being the most difficult of the lot to acquire and the one which, when all the others are in accord, completes the picture. Another very important factor in this form of skating is, that it must be close together - not more than arm’s length apart. Perfect shadow skating requires hours, days, even years of patient practice, with a neutral eye constantly on the alert for any break in the uniformity. And finally it must have speed. Acquiring Spontaneity The best and quickest way to acquire all this is to take a simple step and work at it in sections, adding to it as soon as each section becomes entirely automatic - because there must never be the appearance of 'thinking' in a pair programme and it must give the impression of complete spontaneity. Let me give an example of one of these steps. Lfo (long), Rfi-Lfo (short), Rfo (long), drop three to Lbo (long), back cross-roll on to Rbo, a quick three turn on to Rf i and finishing with a 'cut-away' on to Lfo. This little step sounds very simple. It is. And if it is 'just done' it looks nothing at all. But do it in style, together, with a wide throw of the free leg on the cross-roll, on the three turn and on the cut-away, with a full shoulder swing, the arms in alignment, flowing very freely and with the heads moving round at the same angle; do it at speed and put it in the middle of a programme and someone is sure to say to you 'I did like that little step just before you went into...' This movement will not take you very far, so from your Lfo continue with a cross drop counter and back change, and so on into a lift, spin, or a jump. It would be a simple matter to enumerate dozens of these little opening phrases, but it is better and much more interesting and self-satisfying to work them out for yourself. It is extremely doubtful if you will find anything original, and if you do, only your closest admirers will give you credit for it. You will always be subject to the accusation of plagiarism, which of course is nonsense. Your steps should vary in speed of movement, that is to say, some should be com- posed of turns and changes, rockers, counters, and threes, combined and performed with such rapidity that even the best-informed student of this type of skating finds difiiculty in following its complexity. The others should be of long, flowing, deep, and powerful edges with position for a three jump, back loop, or Salchow; and these in their turn will develop into Axel Paulsens, double- loop, and double-Salchow. Frequently in these shadow dance steps, you will find a position simply asking for toe-Salchows, Lutz, back counter or rocker jumps, and as soon as this feeling is experienced, start at once and include them."

Just when you thought you'd had absolutely enough of cut-away's, they're back in their original splendour. Grab yourself a partner, test out T.D's shadow skating lesson and let me know how it goes!

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.

Patinage Poetry: The Language Of The Ice (Part Trois)

How doth I love skating? Let me count the ways... Just prior to the Sochi Olympics, I put together a collection of poetry about skating called "Patinage Poetry: The Language Of The Ice". The topic of poetry recurred in "Georg Heym: The Skating Prophet", "Canada's Valentine", a second edition of "Patinage Poetry" and a recent review of Elee Kraljii Gardiner's wonderful book "Serpentine Loop". And guess what sweetie? I just can't get enough. From the whimsical to the humorous to the touching, the third installment of "Patinage Poetry" is jam packed full of wonderful gems. Put on your beret and get ready to snap afterwards for more fabulous skating poetry:

"TINTYPE ON THE POND, 1925" BY J. LORRAINE BROWN

Believe it or not,
the old woman said,
and I tried to picture it:
a girl,
the polished white ribs of a roast
tied to her boots with twine,
the twine coated with candle wax
so she could glide
uninterrupted
across the ice -
my mother,
skating on bones.

"RULE 5711: EPITAPH FOR A TANGO" BY MURIEL KAY

Once, long ago there was danced on the ice
The Harris Tango - it was rather nice;
Danced hip to hip with a long curving glide
it involved quite an art to effect the change side.
With chasse staccato and sinuous roll,
It was a la flamenco and zapateado,
A dance full of joy, coquetry and passion,
It was quite exciting when danced in this fashion.
But alas sad to say, for the dancers today,
It is robbed of its vigour
A true change of sides is no longer de rigueur,
No true character now - a pretence only false
I.S.U. has decreed that the hold shall be a Waltz!

"MIRROR ON THE ICE RINK WALL" BY M.J. SANDERS

Mirror on the ice rink wall
Do I look like this at all?
No! Until you skate on edges,
You will look like two steam dredges.
For a graceful lean like a sailing ship
Leave those flats. (Just take this tip.)

Mirror on the ice rink wall
Do I look like this at all?
NO! What makes you look so badly
Is your head, that's drooping sadly.
To watch the ice there is no need
Because it's always there, indeed!

Nine-tenths of skaters over twenty
Skate for exercise aplenty.
So, why that purpose to defeat
Keep looking down at your own feet?

"MCGINTY, KING OF THE RINK" BY CHAS. CRANDALL

Oh, they call me the "King of the Rink,"
A skater I am, so they think;
For when I appear the people all cheer,
And the ladies at me slyly wink.
So fondly at me they will glance.
When I have on my Oscar Wilde pants
And tight polo cap, their hands they'll clap,
For "McGinty, the King of the Rink."

I can skate, for I bate ev'ry man in the rink I
At "go as you please;"
I did pose on my toes, when they call'd out,
"McGinty, you're King of the Kink."

When I skated at Coney Island,
They have a fine rink on the sand,
I made fancy whirls, which captured the girls,
When the music struck up by the band.
I thought I would give the grape-vine,
When a fellow came up from behind;
But soon he was floored and everybody roar'd
For "McGinty, the King of the Rink."

Now a lady with bright auburn hair
Last Saturday evening was there;
And how she did skate, I'm sure it was fate.
That I met this young lady so fair.
We did all the movements in style,
When she turn'd, saying with a sweet smile,
"McGinty, old man, do well as you can,
For we know you're 'King of the Rink.'"

"ICE" BY GAIL MAZUR

In the warming house, children lace their skates,
bending, choked, over their thick jackets.

A Franklin stove keeps the place so cozy
it’s hard to imagine why anyone would leave,

clumping across the frozen beach to the river.
December’s always the same at Ware's Cove,

the first sheer ice, black, then white
and deep until the city sends trucks of men

with wooden barriers to put up the boys’
hockey rink. An hour of skating after school,

of trying wobbly figure-8’s, an hour
of distances moved backwards without falling,

then—twilight, the warming house steamy
with girls pulling on boots, their chafed legs

aching. Outside, the hockey players keep
playing, slamming the round black puck

until it’s dark, until supper. At night,
a shy girl comes to the cove with her father.

Although there isn’t music, they glide
arm in arm onto the blurred surface together,

braced like dancers. She thinks she’ll never
be so happy, for who else will find her graceful,

find her perfect, skate with her
in circles outside the emptied rink forever?

"THE DUFFER'S LAY" BY CECIL HUNT, B.W.S.

When I go Dancing on the Ice
I illustrate each single vice,
I prance, I kick, I turn my knee
Inward, when outward it should be,
And scrape and mutilate the three.
My word I pledge, I'm on no edge;
I'm well aware I'm on the flat,
But what of that, Sir, what of that?
My free leg, too, I never fail,
To whirl it round me like a flail,
And oftentimes you may descry,
My free leg pointing to the sky.
Further, with questionable taste,
I limply grasp my Lady's waist
With shifting grip - Oh hand of mine,
Why play banjo on her spine?
My left arm - here's another scandal
Moves up and down like a pump handle.
Last horrid thought, I know that I'm
Invariably ahead of time!
And so I lurch and skid and sway
And double-track upon my way,
Wholly oblivious that the rest
Regard me as a perfect pest.

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.

Four Forgotten Ice Princesses Of The Fifties

Ája Vrzáňová, Jeannette Altwegg, Jacqueline du Bief, Tenley Albright, Gundi Busch, Carol Heiss... these 6.0 talented women each stood upon the top of the podium at the World Figure Skating Championships in the fifties. History loves to remember its champions and rightfully so! However, the fascinating stories of many talented young women who rose to fame in their own respective countries during the decade of 'Carol versus Tenley' have been largely forgotten in the sands of time. Today, we'll meet four forgotten fifties ice princesses whose stories absolutely deserve a mention:

LIDY STOPPELMAN

Born July 3, 1933 in Amsterdam, Alida Elisabeth (Lidy) Stoppelman spent much of her youth in The Netherlands studying dance. Translating her prowess on the dance floor to the frozen stage, she divided her winter training time between Amsterdam and The Hague. Summers were spent in England playing tennis and training under legendary coach Arnold Gerschwiler. At the age of seventeen in 1950, she won her first medal - a bronze - at the Dutch Championships. The following year, she defeated Holland's reigning champion Reitje van Erkel to claim her first of three consecutive Dutch titles. After finishing second in an international competition in England behind Yvonne Sugden, in 1952 she made history as the very first woman in history to represent her country in figure skating competition at the Olympic Games. Although she placed a disappointing twenty second at the Oslo Games, her pioneering effort paved the way for women like Sjoukje Dijkstra and Dianne de Leeuw to compete and medal in the Olympics. After winning a bronze medal in the Richmond Trophy and cracking the top ten at the European Championships, Stoppelman ended her short but sweet competitive career abruptly in 1954 when she finished fourth in the figures at the Dutch Championships behind three younger skaters (Nelly Maas, Joan Haanappel and Dijkstra) and decided to call it quits before the free skating. She married Briton Jack Leonard Mason and taught skating in Davos, Switzerland and at the Houtrusthallen, the first indoor rink in The Netherlands.

ANNA BURSCHE-LINDNEROWA

The daughter of attorney Alfred Bursche, Anna Bursche-Lindnerowa was born on August 6, 1922 and grew up on a villa close to the border of Konstancin, near Warsaw, Poland. Her first career wasn't as a skater, but as an Army liason during World War II. In a May 7, 2010 article in "Poradnik budowlany", Anna's nephew Alexander described her harrowing escape from captivity during the War: "Immediately after the capture by the Germans in Warsaw, all the male Burschów family was arrested - on Hitler's personal order. The brother of the owner of the house - the bishop of the evangelical church of Ausburg - was taken to Berlin and lost there. He was imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he died two years later. His widow spent the occupation in a villa near Warsaw. Here, too, she found the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising. My father and his sister Anna Bursche Lindnerowa (multiple Polish champion in figure skating on ice) belonged to the Army - tells the owner. My father, as a soldier, fought in Mokotów. My aunt was a liason. After the surrender, like most of Warsaw, they were in a transit camp in Pruszkow, from which she managed to escape. After two days of hiking through fields and woods, without shoes, that had somewhere been lost, with [injured] feet got she home... But war and turmoil here has left its mark. In the countryside bombs fell, in front of family members, at the front entrance. Fortunately, [they were] a small caliber, but traces of the explosion are still visible on the door." After surviving her horrific escape, Anna won five consecutive Polish women's titles from 1949 to 1953. She then switched to pairs skating, claiming another three National titles with partner Leon Osadnik. Finally, she gave ice dancing a try and made history as Poland's first ice dance champion. Although Anna's only trip to a major international competition was a last place finish in the pairs event at the 1955 European Championships, she penned the Polish language book "Lyzwiarstwo figurowe w szkolnym klubie sportowym" ("Figure Skating In The School Sports Club") in 1957 and went on to coach in Warsaw. 

Among her students were nine time Polish Champions Teresa Weyna and  Piotr Bojanczyk. She married actor, director and fencing instructor Slawomir Lindner, who himself was imprisoned in a P.O.W. camp in Woldenburg during the World War II occupation of Poland, and passed away on August 21, 2002 at the age of eighty.

DAGMAR LERCHOVÁ

Born October 22, 1930, Dagmar Lerchová was raised in Holešovice, a suburb in northern Prague. Her parents skated on the frozen Vltava river and as a girl, she attended the nearby Štvanice rink, where she'd try to emulate the better skaters as they gracefully flew by. When it became clear she had a passion and a knack for skating, she started receiving formal training. However, like many European skaters during that era, her skating career was interrupted by World War II. After the War ended, she resumed training and made her international debut at the first post-War European Championships in 1947, where she finished a respectable eleventh of the nineteen competitors. The following year, she moved up five spots to sixth and earned a trip to the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. Had it not been for a disastrous fifteenth place finish in the school figures, she would have placed in the top ten in only her second international competition. Although she skated in the shadow of Ája Vrzáňová and Jirína Nekolová, when both of her compatriots defected she rose to prominence as her country's leading hope. Lerchová claimed three consecutive Czechoslovakian women's titles from 1953 to 1955 and proved herself as a superb free skater  - even twice placing as high as fifth at the European Championships - but despite twelve tries, she ultimately failed to reach an international podium. After retiring, she got married, taught English, served as an international judge and referee and gave birth to ice dancer Liliana Střechová (Řeháková), who placed fourth at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid with partner Stanislav Drastich. Sadly, Dagmar outlived her daughter, who passed away suddenly in 2008. As of 2012, she was living in an assisted living facility in Praha and devoted her time to art and singing.

TSUYAKO IKUTA

Born in 1929, Tsuyako Ikuta began skating at the age of six in Osaka, Japan under the tutelage of Yasuzo Nagai. Incredibly, only three years after she took her first cautious glides on the ice she won Japan's junior title. Although she skated in the shadow of Etsuko Inada and Yoshiko Tsukioka early in her career during World War II, she claimed four medals at the Japanese Championships between 1941 and 1951, even training during blackout conditions at risk of air raids. Taking a break from the sport following the 1951 Japanese Championships in Tokyo, she returned to the skating spotlight in 1954 as a graduate of Kwansei Gakuin University... and a married mother of two! Despite medalling at the Japanese Championships during two Olympic years, she sadly never had a chance to compete internationally due to post-World War II bans on Japanese athletes. She retired from competitive skating after winning two Japanese titles in 1944 and 1955, coached both of Yuka Sato's parents and helped establish the All Japan Figure Skating Instructors Association with Etsuko Inada and several others. In 1968, the loss of her own Olympic dream was vindicated when her eldest daughter Kazumi Yamashita - a four time Japanese Champion in her own right - qualified for the Grenoble Games. She continued to coach in Osaka until 2003.

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.

#Unearthed: The Barbara Wagner And Bob Paul Edition

When you dig through skating history, you never know what you will unearth. In the spirit of cataloguing fascinating tales from skating history, #Unearthed is a once a month 'special occasion' on Skate Guard where fascinating writings by others that are of interest to skating history duff are excavated, dusted off and shared for your reading pleasure. From forgotten fiction to long lost interviews to tales that have never been shared publicly, each #Unearthed is a fascinating journey through time. This month's #Unearthed is a fascinating article by the late Gordon Wesley written the autumn after Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul won their first of four World titles. It originally appeared in the October 1957 issue of "Imperial Oil" magazine and has been shared with the permission of the fine folks at Imperial Oil.

"HER FUTURE'S ON ICE" (GORDON WESLEY, SHARED WITH PERMISSION FROM IMPERIAL OIL)

One brisk December day 13 years ago, a well-bundled five-year old took her first faltering steps on her first pair of skates on a Toronto backyard rink.

Last February the same girl, now a well-proportioned young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair and a contagious smile, stepped confidently on the ice in Colorado Springs' posh Broadmoor Ice Palace. For five minutes, she and a slim, handsome youth swooped and spun across the slick surface, climaxing their routine with a daring shoulder-high knee-catch. Applause roared from the stands as skating-wise spectators anticipated the judges' decisions - Canadians Barbara Wagner, 18, and Robert Paul, 19, were the new world's champion pairs skaters.

If tears were seen to glisten in Barbara's hazel eyes, there was good reason. The seemingly effortless performance by the two young skaters was the product of thousands of hours of rugged rehearsing. Their easy-looking physical harmony was the result of a regimen that would tax a professional fighter. For six years they had dedicated themselves to skating. For Barbara there had been few parties because there wasn't time, no skiing because she might injure herself, no swimming because it tends to over-relax skating muscles, no sundaes because skaters must watch their weight.

Nor were Barbara and Bob the only ones to have made sacrifices. Barbara's father, James H. Wagner, a senior member of Imperial's public relations department, had shown his faith in his daughters ability by spending thousands of dollars for lessons and equipment. A 15-minute skating lesson costs $3.25. Skates and boots are worth $110 a pair and Barbara wears out a pair in nine months. A two-month stint of summer-skating in Schumacher, Ont. costs him $900 a year.

But Jim, an immensely proud father, shrugs off these expenses. "Our car is three years old," he says with a smile, "and maybe we could spend the money on new furniture. But we prefer it this way. Any parent with a talented child would do as much, and after all, doesn't any other parent do as much, say when he puts his child through medical school?" But what of Barbara? Does she sometimes long to be a normal teen-ager? Has the sacrifice been worth it? If that five-year-old in the Wagner backyard had known what was in store for her, would she have exchanged her skates for a doll-house?

"I would have chosen to skate," says Barbara. "Anything you have to do continuously - like skating or golf or even business, I suppose - you get tired of sometimes. But deep down you have to love it or you wouldn't be able to continue."

And there's another side to it. "Look at all the things my skating has brought me," she points out. "I've crossed the Atlantic twice. I've skated all over North America and travelled all over Europe. I've been entertained in palaces and met all sorts of fascinating people. I have friends all over the world."

Barbara's natural cheerfulness and her keen zest for living have stood her in good stead on her travels. At the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy, her off-ice activities won the hearts of the Italians. Speaking a sort of pidgin Italian, Barbara, dubbed "Leetle Mees Canada" by the Italians, spent her off-hours wandering through the village's picturesque streets, chatting with newsboys about the day's headlines or picking up interesting items about the town's history from the Cortina town clerk. Her energy astounded everyone. In her two weeks in Cortina, she visited every church and historical site within a five-mile radius. The Canadian Press described her as "one of Canada's top goodwill ambassadors."

Oddly enough, neither Barbara or Bob particularly wanted to win the Olympic gold medal that year. They wanted to see another Toronto couple, veterans Frances Dafoe and Norris Bowden, crowned champion. "Franny and Norry are retiring at the end of this year and it will be a shame if they don't win," said Barbara before the competition. As it turned out, the Bowden-Dafoe team lost out to an Austrian entry, [Schwarz] and Oppelt. Barbara and Bob placed sixth, then went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, for the world championships and finished fifth - and that was the beginning of their climb to the top.

"We knew 1957 would be their year," said coach Sheldon Galbraith, 34-year-old professional at the Toronto Skating Club. It was indeed their year. All the month of February they won the North American title at Rochester, the Canadian pairs title at Winnipeg and the world pairs title at Colorado Springs.

Now they have their sights fixed on the 1960 Olympics at Squaw Valley, California. For the next two and a half years, they will dedicate their time and energy to preparing for that single five-minute performance that will decide their right to be Olympic champions. At least until they get a chance at the Olympic title, they will remain amateurs. They will defend their various titles and give occasional exhibitions to keep themselves in top condition. After the Olympics - who knows? "Maybe," said Barbara, "if neither of us is married and there are good offers, we'll turn professional." But that's a long way off.

Barbara's story properly begins when she was taken to ballet school at three and a half. With a natural responsiveness to music and her long golden curls, she was an immediate success. But her parents soon decided she had had enough. "I didn't want her to spend her life travelling around as a ballet dancer," says her father. To which Barbara laughs, "Look at me now!"

Discarding her ballet slippers for skates, Barbara taught herself to stay upright in short order. At nine she joined the University Skating Club in Toronto, but soon found that Saturday mornings were not enough. She moved to the Toronto Skating Club and in 1951, without ever had a professional lesson, she won the club championship for girls under 12 years old. The next year she took two junior titles and, with a young lad named Robert Paul, was runner-up in the junior dance competition.

Compared to Barbara, young Bob had got off to a pedestrian start. He had reached the ripe old age of nine when his parents bought him a second-hand pair of figure skates so he could keep up to a young girl cousin. The next year he contracted polio - luckily, a non-paralytic type. While recuperating in hospital, he told his family, "When I get out of here, all I want is a nice new pair of skates." He got his skates.

Meanwhile, Barbara's progress, largely self-taught, was not going unnoticed. Sheldon Galbraith, who had coached Barbara Ann Scott to her World and Olympic titles in 1948, saw her possibilities and convinced her parents she needed professional coaching. She was only 12 years old when Galbraith suggested to her parents that she "summer-skate". The Wagner's balked. Mrs. Wagner argued that Schumacher was about 500 miles north of Toronto and Barbara was still a little girl. Jim Wagner objected - after all, he said, there was more to life than figure skating; she should be playing tennis and swimming and doing all of the other things girls of her age were doing. Barbara broke down all the arguments in typically feminine fashion; showing her usual determination she wept until her parents agreed to at least have a look at Schumacher.

Barbara was a little taken aback by the frontier appearance of the mining town. Still she was pleased with the McIntyre arena with its three artificial ice rinks and other recreational facilities, all built primarily for employees of the McIntyre Porcupine gold mines. Galbraith assured the Wagners that their daughter would be well-chaperoned and cared for and they headed back to Toronto minus their skating daughter.

At first Barbara did nothing but figures and solo skating. But she was short - she's only five feet one inch today - and Galbraith thought it might lengthen her stride and improve her technique to pair her with Bob Paul, who is now six feet and weighs 175 pounds. So well did they perform together he decided to train them as a pair and the following spring - 1954 - they won the Canadian junior pairs title at Calgary. Obviously they were naturals. As Galbraith put it: "Any weakness one might have is corrected by the other. Barbara has the grace and expression and Bob has the muscle power."

In 1955, now seniors, they were runners-up to Dafoe and Bowden in the Canadian Championships held in Toronto. That same year Barbara and Bob ventured into even deeper water, competing in both the North American Championships at Regina and the world meet at Vienna. Not that they had any hope of winning, but their coach deemed it important they gain international experience. So good an impression did they make that they were invited with other Canadian skaters to give exhibitions in Davos, Lausanne and Zürich in Switzerland; Paris, France; and several North American cities.

Psychologically, the youthful stars have now reached a crucial point. "Right now," says Galbraith, "they're going through their worst period. They would like to let up because there's not the same incentive. There are times where there's nothing left but willpower."

Sheldon seldom lets up on their training, driving himself as hard as he drives his pupils. Skating around the pair in lazy circles, he calls out, "Now!" for the timing of a lift, and then, "Feel it now, feel it!" Sometimes he will signal for the music to be stopped, show Barbara how he wants her to do a split mazurka and tell her to try again with the half-serious warning, "Three thousand of those and you'll have it right!"

Even if they wanted to, Barbara and Bob are usually too out of breath for repartee. In a sport which temperament - and temper - is accepted almost as the norm, these two are noted for their serenity. The pair avoid seeing too much of each other of the ice because, as Barbara says with typical good sense, "We've seen too many pairs go down the drain because they let themselves get emotionally attached. Besides, she says, they have different off-the-ice interests.

Barbara has developed a highly effective method of avoiding temper outbursts. When she finds herself becoming angry, she simply turns her back and walks away. "I can't see any point," she says, "in saying something you'll regret later."

Her charm and even disposition have won her friends all over the world. Almost every day letters and requests for photographs arrive from some distant corner of the world, usually from people she has never met. Some are addressed simply, "Miss Barbara Wagner, Champion Figure Skater, Canada". She makes a point of answering all her fan mail and carries on a regular correspondence with two girls in Lausanne, Switzerland. Fame she finds very pleasant. As for the crowds who regularly turn up to watch her skate: "The more the merrier - I love them!"

She admits to one superstition - the number 13. When she started school, she came home with a 13 for her mother to sew inside her coat and she graduated from St. Clement's girls' school last June 13. In most competitions she manages to find a 13 either on a hotel room or a street number. Always on the watch for her lucky number, Barbara was happy when she found out she had been assigned no. 58 in the World Championships in Colorado Springs. "After all," she points out, "eight and five make 13, don't they?"

An avid reader - she prefers modern fiction - Barbara regrets her career allows no time for university. Last year she began a course in fashion design, her favourite hobby, but her skating forced her to drop out. Her skill in dress designing has not been wasted - she usually designs her own skating costumes and her mother sews them, a major economy.

Naturally thrifty, Barbara does her best to hold down expenses. As a world champion, she has most of her travelling costs paid for by the Canadian Figure Skating Association. Earlier trips to competitions, however, were financed by her father. When Barbara competed at the World Championships in Vienna in 1955, her mother went with her as chaperone - and Jim footed the bill. Last year Jim took advantage of a month's holidays to take his wife and 24-year-old son, John, to Italy and Germany to watch Barbara skate. "It was expensive," he smiles, "but worth every cent of it."

As far as the expenses are concerned, Barbara and Bob seem to be over the hump. At a reception for the pair at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club last March, both were presented with life memberships, to which Barbara reacted with unbridled enthusiasm. "Just think," she bubbled happily, "I'll be able to skate free until I'm 90!"

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.

Henie And Hanscom Park: Omaha's Unique Skating History

"It's not the sign that ice is firm,
Nor cold wave worth berating,
When Charley does the inside edge
And spends the night in 'skating.'"

- Omaha World-Herald, 1899

Founded in 1854, Omaha, Nebraska was a popular transportation hub during the nineteenth century. The city was the birthplace of U.S. President Gerald Ford, actors Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift and dancer Fred Astaire. Nearby Lincoln, Nebraska today plays host to The National Museum of Roller Skating, America's only museum dedicated to preserving the history of ice skating's 'sister sport'. Although roller skating history may reign supreme in Nebraska today, the early history of ice skating in The Gateway To The West is a colourful one certainly worth exploring.

A mere thirty years after Omaha was founded, ice skating was already so popular among its residents that a covered rink was opened on St. Mary's Avenue. "The Omaha Bee" on January 4, 1884 advertised, "Plenty skates, ice good, rink well lighted and dressing rooms well heated. St. Mary's avenue rink." Despite this early effort, in the harsh winters of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, skaters in the city were more drawn to ponds and lakes.

Chester P. Petersen, Louis R. Bostwick and Miss Stockbridge and Martha Parks skating at Hanscom Park

The 'Old Muddy' Missouri River and Cut Off Lake weren't really considered safe locations for skating even in the coldest temperatures. The ice was rough, often covered in sand and snow and there were often numerous air holes. Carter Lake, Lake Manawa and Miller Park were well-loved skating spots in Omaha but by far, the circular lake in Hanscom Park was considered prime skating territory. Protected by huge oak and elm trees, the frozen lake was maintained by the city's park commission and flooded twice a week during cold weather at a cost of up to five hundred dollars... in the late nineteenth century! Fires were built on the shore of the lake for warmth, skates were available for rental and the Omaha & Council Bluff Street Railway Company even took out advertisements in local papers suggesting that skaters "take a street car" when ice conditions were favourable in the winter months.

Pete Vaughn

Skate sailing was one novelty that caught on particularly in the city but without a doubt, in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, figure skating was more popular than speed skating and ice hockey combined. Omaha's earliest documented figure skating star was a Coca Cola representative named G.C. Vaughn who was known simply as Pete. He was a popular draw at Hanscom Park, where he demonstrated his fancy figures and even reportedly performed "the sensational trick off whirling a girl or boy around his head" like Norval Baptie and Gladys Lamb. On more than one occasion, city police refused to allow him to perform his feats on ice because too many skaters would crowd one part of the ice to watch, bearing the ice unsafe. On January 9, 1916, the "Omaha Daily Bee" proudly exclaimed, "New York can boast of its [Irving] Brokaw and its [Norval] Baptie and its Charlotte and the rest of its assembly of expert and fancy skaters, who step forth on an ammonia rink and cut innumerable and unfathomable figures on the ice, but Omaha lays claim to the amateur champion at fancy skating."

In Omaha, skating wasn't all fun and games. In December 1910, one John Piper pleaded guilty to the charge of assault and battery when he struck a laundry worker named W.H. Mick across the eye with his skate in a jealous rage while skating in Hanscom Park. On December 16, 1910, the "Omaha Daily Bee" noted, "The prisoner explained that Mick had become escort to a young woman to whom Piper was giving attention. The disappointed swain then followed the pair from the park and attacked Mick at Twenty-ninth and Castellar streets. He was fined $25 and costs by Judge Crawford." I don't know about you, but twenty five dollars seems like a pretty light sentence for slashing someone in the eye with a skate!

In 1939, the Figure Skating Club of Omaha was established. Its skaters first took to the ice on the flooded tennis courts at the Omaha Country Club. Two years later, three time Olympic Gold Medallist Sonja Henie made her first and only appearance in the midwestern city... and literally melted hearts. The Nebraska State Historical Society noted, "Her agent asked Nebraskan Barney Oldfield to help publicize the show. Oldfield decided to present Henie with a green, heart-shaped ice sculpture. The frozen heart quickly began to melt, foiling the skater's attempt to autograph it with a heated nail. Oldfield vowed to keep the heart in Omaha until Henie returned, but she never did. After Henie's death in 1969 Oldfield returned to Omaha to place a rose on the now shrunken sculpture. In 2003 the heart was missing from its cold storage site."

Peggy Fleming's winning free skate at the 1967 U.S. Championships

In 1949, an outdoor oval skating rink was built behind the Coliseum and Physical Education building on the city's university campus. It was flooded by the Lincoln Fire Department. Almost twenty years later, Omaha played host to a major figure skating competition for the very first time: the 1967 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. There was considerable pressure for the untested host city, as at the time the U.S. Figure Skating Association had a rule that the club sponsoring the U.S. Championships had to guarantee at least five thousand dollars in profit to cover expenses. In a 2013 interview with Erin Golden, Joan Lubischer recalled, "I remember the skaters were a little leery of coming to Omaha, Nebraska... and they were absolutely astounded at the wonderful ice we had." In the end, the event was a roaring success. The six thousand, one hundred seat Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum was sold out as skating fans watched Peggy Fleming win her fourth U.S. title and the fire marshal even allowed two thousand additional 'standing room only' tickets to be sold. Gary Visconti, Cynthia and Ron Kauffman and Lorna Dyer and John Carrell claimed gold medals in the men's, pairs and ice dance competitions. The U.S. Champions in all four disciplines in Omaha all went on to medal at the World Championships that year... a feat that has yet to be duplicated since.

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.

Behind Closed Doors: Revisiting The Madge Syers Story

Madge and Edgar Syers

Few historical glimpses of figure skating's rich history neglect to touch on the story of Madge Syers, the first woman to compete at the ISU's World Figure Skating Championships. Although (as Nigel Brown's 1959 book "Ice-Skating: A History" reminds us) "Miss A. Malmgren of St. Petersburg competed against some of the finest men skaters of the day in an international competition held in 1890 in the Russian capital", Madge Syers has been rightfully honoured for her important role in the development of a competition for women in ISU competition. Although we first explored her story back in 2013 in "Spotlight On Madge Syers: The Mother Of Figure Skating", I want to take the opportunity today to explore some fascinating new information that has recently been discovered about Madge Syers' private life.

Madge and Edgar Syers

Madge's father, Edward Jarvis Cave, was born in September 1840 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. Ashworth Mansions blog tells us that "Edward Cave was born in Leicester but made and then lost his fortune in London. Beginning with just £100, he played a critical role in developing middle class flats and was responsible directly or indirectly for most of the blocks in and around Maida Vale and West Hampstead.  By 1889 he was promoting a company to buy up a number of pubs and restaurants including the Angel, Islington. In 1898 he was raising money for the Hampstead Electric Supply Co – which was supplying over 500 houses by this time using his new blocks as captive customers. Cave was a sharp operator. In 1895, he worked with Boehmer and Gibbs to build a row of shops on Kensington High Street. The client was Jubal Webb, a celebrity cheese-monger. Webb was a showman who had exhibited the world’s largest cheese at the Chicago World Fair in 1893 and whose address for telegraphs was 'Gorgonzola London'. Webb asked Cave to insert a restrictive covenant  explicitly forbidding any other cheese seller from taking one of the premises. Cave persuaded Webb that such a clause was not necessary and then promptly sold one of the leases to Hudson – a rival cheesemonger. Jubel Webb sued. And lost. Edward Cave went bankrupt in 1900 with liabilities of over £500.000. Throughout his career, he had built with borrowed money. Things began to go wrong in 1896 with the development of Broad Street House in the City. Cave was forced to sell this development at a loss and was also hit by a failed attempt to rebuild the Black Lion pub in West Hampstead. Then, having overbuilt, he couldn't find tenants or purchasers for a number of his appartment blocks. Though his fortunes declined, Edward Cave kept on spending. His personal outgoings were a prodigious £4.000 a year. This included a house at the seaside, a share in a shooting box, expenses to maintain various ladies under his protection and, for his amusement, a 375 acre farm in Hampshire. At the time of his bankruptcy he was building a mansion for himself in Hampstead complete with stables and wineries. Edward Cave's financial collapse also brought down two of his sons. Henry Jarvis Cave built Lauderdale Mansions in which he lived. But he could not let the flats at high enough rents and was declared bankrupt in 1903. Henry stayed trading a little longer than his brother Edward Athelstan Cave whose 'rash and hazardous speculation and unjustifiable extravagance in living' forced both bankruptcy and a move from his Hampstead mansion to the comparative squalor of Flat 57 Biddulph Mansions. Edward Cave's daughter, Florence, was rather more fortunate. She won the figure skating gold medal in the 1908 London Olympics under her married name of Madge [Syers]. Cave sold the lease on Ashworth Mansions and some other blocks to Harry Charles Costello Shaw, doctor turned property investor. Shaw kept a close eye on his flats but was much too grand to live in an apartment, instead residing in a splendid villa at 125 Maida Vale with his large family and five servants. After the bankruptcy, the Cave property empire was packaged into a new company called Mansions Consolidated Ltd which operated a number of blocks in Hampstead, Highgate and Maida Vale, including Ashworth, Biddulph, Elgin and Lauderdale Mansions. Mansions Consolidated, itself, went into liquidation in 1910 but did not disappear without trace. Notably, it made a major contribution to the financial ruin of its chairman, Dan Harries (DH) Evans, the department store magnate, who was finally declared bankrupt in 1915. DH Evans founded his store on Oxford Street in 1879 with just £1.500 and sold it, just fifteen years later, for £160.000. Once a wealthy man, D.H. Evans died in penury having lost all his money speculating in London property. Mansions Consolidated cost him, personally, £65.000. Mansions Consolidated also left its mark in property law due to a test case at Lauderdale Mansions that is still cited today. Frederick Jaeger, tenant of flat 161, complained that some other apartments were being used 'as places of meeting between men and women for improper purposes.' He refused to pay his rent as his quiet enjoyment of the property was being interfered with. The judge ruled that the landlord was not responsible for any disturbance caused by other tenants unless this had been actively encouraged by him."

Madge Syers painting by Charles Ambrose

Here's where things get even more scandalous. Genealogical records recently uncovered by BIS historian Elaine Hooper suggest that at the exact same time Madge's father Edward was married to her mother Elizabeth Ann Chapman, he had a second family on the go in Hanover, Middlesex, England. Madge was the tenth of Elizabeth Ann and Edward's twelve children, the last being born in 1884. However, between 1896 and December 1910, Edward Cave fathered another ten children with Pauline Bretzfelder. When Madge's mother Elizabeth Ann passed away on May 8, 1909, Edward Cave wasted no time in marrying Pauline. When I say wasted no time, I mean there wasn't even a mourning period. He waited a month.

Madge Syers

Elaine gleaned some wonderful further insight into Madge's family life from primary sources: "Edward Cave may have been made bankrupt in 1900 but in the 1901 census they were still living in Hampstead, having moved from Chislett Road and downsizing so much that they now only had two servants, a cook and a housemaid! It seems that bankruptcy did not leave them poor. BIS' 1896 to 1902 membership books note that Madge and two of her sisters were residing at Westgate, Chislett Road, West Hampstead. This has since been renamed Compayne Gardens and all the house are exceedingly large and have now been converted into very expensive apartments. The 1891 census has them living at 78 Portland Square and they have a butler, a cook and two housemaids. When Edward died he lived in Twickenham. All of the above, were then and are now fairly exclusive areas. You would certainly need plenty of money to afford property there. When Madge died she was living in St. George's Way, Weybridge in Surrey. These days, St. George's Way is a gated community and the large old houses are still single dwellings, mostly occupied by the rich and famous. I have seen a copy of Madge's will in the National Archives and when she died she left £975-7s-6d (old money £975-72p). I would think that would have been quite a lot of money in 1917." In case you're wondering, with inflation Madge's estate would be considerably over one hundred thousand dollars in present day.

Edgar Syers

But what of Madge's skating partner and widower Edgar Morris Wood Syers? We know he was one of the most passionate advocates of the Continental Style, that he coached and wrote prolifically about skating and that he had a thing for the younger ladies, Madge being twenty years his junior. Much like Madge's father, Edgar didn't waste much time in remarrying after his wife's death either. In 1921, fifty eight year old Syers tied the knot in Brentford, Middlesex, England, this time to twenty one year old Eva V. Critchel. Edgar lived into his eighties and died in early 1963 of natural causes.

In the 1908 book "Book Of Winter Sports", which Madge co-authored with Edgar Syers, she said that "many Englishwomen have become remarkably proficient, equal, indeed, to any but the very best of the other sex. Skating is an exercise particularly appropriate for women; it requires not so much strength as grace, combined with a fine balance, and the ability to move the feet rapidly. In these qualifications a woman has often the advantage, particularly in our own country, as Englishmen are usually inclined to be rather slow and heavy skaters." Knowing a little more about the men in her life, one almost has to wonder if that last jab was partially coloured by Madge's impressions of men in general. I think we can safely speculate that she probably put up with a lot. 

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.

Echoes Of The Eisballets

"When I was a child in 1910 I already skated this new style and [at] twelve years I jumped already the Axel and Axel Paulsen himself saw me do it...." - Charlotte Oelschlägel in a letter to Dr. Arthur N. Foxe, January 29, 1968

If the word Admiralspalast rings a bell, it is with good reason. Early in the twentieth century, the Berlin venue played host to a series of highly popular Eisballets. They starred none other than the famous German professional skater Charlotte Oelschlägel, then only a teenager, who later went on to become a sensation in New York City in the Hippodrome's lavish ice shows. Today on the blog, we are going to delve a little deeper into the stories and scandals surrounding these productions.

Founded in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Berlin's Admiralsgartenbad was first home to a swimming pool, salon, over sixty baths (first and second class), two electric baths, a Russian steam bath and forty one brine baths. In 1910, the facilities were expanded by The Admiralspalast Aktien-Gesellschaft. Architects Heinrich Schweitzer and Alexander Diepenbrock added a cafe, 'Japanese salon', cinema, restaurants, ice arena and public baths to the Admiralspalast facilities, making the venue a 'one stop shop' for Berlin residents and visitors to the city. Not long after the 30 X 60 ice arena opened in April 1911, German impresario Leo Bartuschek set to work scouting talent for a series of Eisballets, which provided entertainment to diners seating around the rectangular ice surface.

Among Bartuschek's Eisballets were "Montreal, the Town on Skates", "Magic Of The Alps", "Yvonne", "Alpen Zauber", "Frau Fantastie", "The Merry Doll", "Abrakadabra", "Die Roten Schuhe" ("The Red Shoes") and "Flirt At St. Moritz". Charlotte Oelschlägel was indeed the star of many of these productions, but other skaters in the shows included Ellen Dallerup, Hans White, Alfred Jainczik and Hilda Rückert. The number of skaters who actually participated in these shows varies vastly from source to source. Arthur Goodfellow's 1972 book "Wonderful world of skates; seventeen centuries of skating" claims there were sixty five in the cast whereas "The Sketch: A Journal Of Art And Actuality" in 1914 claimed the cast consisted of "seventy five girls and twenty five men." Howard Bass in his book "This Skating Age" notes that "the late manager of Dundee Ice Rink, Stanley Fryett, an Englishman who truly lived for skating, became a professional at the Admiral Palast at that time and has told me that ["Flirt At St. Moritz"] was well worthy of its historic importance that there were more than a hundred performers in the original Berlin cast." In stark contrast numbers wise, Jacqueline du Bief, in her book "Thin Ice" wrote that "Mr. Hans White, who was for a long time the star of the company, tells us that ballets were presented regularly by a permanent company of fifteen to eighteen professional skaters. He also tells us that the company even had its hired supporters of whose applause the artistes could be assured on payment of five marks a month." The varying numbers - from fifteen to over one hundred - may well be explained by the fact that there were multiple Eisballets which would of course had different casts.

The historical record does tell us that these shows were indeed very well attended, with up to a thousand spectators sometimes present for the suppertime skating soirees. Nic Leonhardt, in the 2013/2014 issue of "The Passing Show", the newsletter of The Shubert Archive, noted that "Flirt In St. Moritz" was "directed by Leo Bartuschek with music by Julius Einödshofer, choreography by B. Bernar, and costumes from the workshop of Hugo Baruch & Co., it is considered to be the first ice ballet with a plot. Its simple story allowed for various physical effects on stage, while the diverse cultural backgrounds of the characters provided an excuse for the display of colorful costumes and representations of national stereotypes. The main character was Kitty Goldberg, the young and beautiful widow of an American millionaire, who travels to St. Moritz, Switzerland. There she meets Oti, a Japanese Marquis, and Oluf Jacobsen, a Norwegian sportsman, who both fall for her – the American socialite becomes the talk of the town. The show was a huge success. Picture postcards featuring characters and scenes from the ballet were used for promotion and are still in great demand by collectors on both sides of the Atlantic."

The writings of American author and humorist Irvin S. Cobb provide an extremely rare primary source glimpse into what it would have been like to have been in the audience at the Admiralspalast watching one of Bartuschek's Eisballets. In 1914, he wrote "in the Friedrichstrasse there is another place, called the Admiralspalast, which is even more attractive. Here, inclosing a big, oval-shaped ice arena, balcony after balcony rises circling to the roof. On one of these balconies you sit, and while you dine after after you have dined you look down on a most marvellous series of skating stunts. In rapid and bewildering succession there are ballets on skates, solo skating numbers, skating carnivals and skating races. Finally scenery is slid down on runners and the whole company, in costumes grotesque and beautiful, go through a burlesque that keeps you laughing when you are not applauding, and admiring when you are doing neither; while alternating lightwaves from overhead electric devices flood the picture with shifting, shimmering tides of color. It is like seeing a Christmas pantomime under an aurora borealis. In America we could do these things - at least we never have done them. Either the performance would be poor or the provender would be highly expensive, or both. But here the show is wonderful, and the victuals are good and not extravagantly priced, and everybody has a bully time."

The success of these shows translated into plans for a massive 'ice palace' that was modelled after the Admiralspalast to open in New York City. Irving Brokaw, The Shubert's and Frank J. Godsoll were all involved in the planned project but it never came to fruition. Instead, Bartuschek and much of the Eisballet's cast, including Charlotte and Ellen Dallerup became stars in New York City" when "Flirt In St. Moritz" became "Flirting In St. Moritz" and took the Hippodrome by storm. However, that's not where the story ends. Not even close. As Charlotte wowed with her thrilling Axel's and signature spiral, scandal brewed behind the scenes of the Hippodrome shows. By scandal, I mean that Bartuschek almost had the Lederhosen sued off him. "Variety" on June 2, 1916, reported that "Marietta Lorette Lorens, through her attorney, Nathan Burkan, has secured a judgment of $1,146 against Leo Bartuschek, of Berlin, owner of the ice ballet at the Hippodrome the past season. The action was started against Barthuschek when Miss Lorenz did not receive her salary of $400 per month after January 15. Bartuschek received $1,500 per week for the company and contracted with the plaintiff to manage it at the above-mentioned salary. Bartuschek claims that his contract ran out Jan. 15, and Miss Lorenz was employed in the Hippodrome thereafter, and should look to it for salary."

Meanwhile in Germany, Eisballets continued to be held at the Admiralspalast for a time in Bartuschek and Charlotte's absence, but things weren't going so well there either. The Bendigonian on June 14, 1917 reported that "an instructive sidelight is thrown on the Teutonic character by a story which is told in the Berlin 'Vortwarts': The management of the Admiralspalast (a well-known Berlin music hall) engaged a number of young girls who were to figure on the stage as 'skating artists'. Their pay was to be twenty marks a week. Herr Wagner, the manager of the hall, must imagine that a girl who can maintain herself in the present state of things on that sum is not only a 'skating artist,' but also an artist in starvation. When three of these tried to convince him of the impossibility of living on such a wage he coolly observed, 'What of that? You are good-looking girls... and you will doubtless find additional means of adding to your income.' The girls thereupon brought an action against Wagner on the charge of 'offensive suggestions.' The Trades Court, in giving judgment, held that while the charge of 'offensive suggestion' appeared to be well founded, the complainants, having signed a contract with their employer, were duty bound to carry it out on the terms agreed upon. They were, moreover, condemned to pay the costs of the action. These unfortunate girls will therefore be driven to the necessity of setting aside a sum of money from their wretched stipend to pay their employer's legal expenses, besides their own. If they are further forced by grim want to adopt Herr Wagner's infamous suggestion, the responsibility will lie heavily on judge who tried their action." No word on how those unnamed German figure skaters made out, but chances are they had bigger worries in their lives to contend with by the end of World War I.

There is indeed evidence of the continued existence of the Admiralspalast ice rink after World War I.
The "Wiener Salonblatt" notes that the German Ladies Figure Skating Championship was held in the indoor skating venue in 1919, with Elaine Winter taking top honors ahead of Margarete Klebe. Incredibly, you can still go to the Admiralspalast, once home to Charlotte's famous Eisballets, today.

With echoes of Eisballets past resounding in its walls, the space reopened as a theatre in 2006.

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 1957 North American Figure Skating Championships

Photos courtesy "Skating" magazine

Hosted by the Genesee Figure Skating Club, the North American Championships in Rochester, New York on February 9 and 10, 1957 were so well attended that potential spectators were actually being turned away at the doors. Seven thousand, two hundred and fifty skating aficionados from both north and south of the border packed the city's War Memorial Arena for the free skating events with bated breath, anxious to see who would take home brand spanking new trophies donated by F. Ritter Shumway and the Rochester Institute Of Technology. In the end, Canada and the United States ended up in a stalemate, with gold medals in two disciplines each. Who was victorious? Who fell short? Let's take a look at how it all played out!

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

Maria and Otto Jelinek

"These kids have worked hard for this one and I'm pulling for them to come through," said Maribel Vinson Owen of the international debut of her students Nancy Rouillard and Ron Ludington. However, the 1957 North American Championships were one battle even the unstoppable Maribel couldn't win. Canadians Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul and Maria and Otto Jelinek claimed the top two spots in the pairs event in Rochester, a testament to the utter dominance of Canadian pairs teams in the fifties. Wagner and Paul went on to win the Canadian and World titles in spectacular fashion... all within sixteen days. Their winning program was set to the ballads "Love Letters", "Amor" and "Kalman Memories". In his April 2010 interview with Allison Manley on The Manleywoman SkateCast, Paul recalled their training during that period: "We were, I say, trained like machines. Sheldon [Galbraith] would bring out the stopwatch, and we could go through that program without the music and end up within a half-second of when the music was there. And our music was on 78s, and every rink had a variable speed on its record player, so they could get it exact. I don't think that happens with CDs today."

Three judges (two Canadian and one American) had Wagner and Paul first, while two American judges voted for the Jelinek's and Rouillard and Ludington. Mary Kay and Richard Keller of the Buffalo Skating Club finished fourth. Emily Van Voorhis recalled, "The smooth, perfect rhythm of [Wagner and Paul's] simultaneous movement was thrilling to watch. Skaters of equal ability, they exhibited shadow skating at its best. Their identical separation moves were highlighted by an exquisite knee catch, reminiscent of of the stag jump in free skating, and by Barbara's beautiful lifts which always ended on sure, soft knee." After their performance, an elderly woman came up to Wagner and Paul with tears in her eyes, exclaiming that it was the first time in forty years she'd seen 'the palace glide'.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Carol Heiss. Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library. Used for educational purposes under license permissions.

On January 20, 1957 - Carol Heiss' seventeenth birthday - Tenley Albright dropped a huge bombshell. In a telegram to the United States Figure Skating Association, she announced her retirement. Up until that week, she'd been training six hours a day for the North American Championships. Suddenly Heiss, who had unseated Albright at the previous year's World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, found herself with a hell of a lot less competition to worry about in Rochester. The blonde and athletic student of Pierre Brunet from Ozone Park, New York, dressed in red with a sequin crown, skated brilliantly to take the gold in a unanimous decision of all five judges.

Margaret Crosland

Second was Canada's Carole Jane Pachl, who fell on a double loop early in her free skate. Third was seventeen year old Joan Schenke of Tacoma, followed by Canadians Karen Dixon and Margaret Crosland and Santa Ana, California's Claralyn Lewis.

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

David Jenkins in action

At the 1956 World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Colorado Springs' David Jenkins had won the bronze medal. Right behind him in fourth was Toronto's Charles Snelling. They both had to be shaking their heads in disbelief when young Donald Jackson, who hadn't even competed at the previous year's Worlds, won the first school figure in Rochester. His beginner's luck ran out quickly when he blew the next three. Seventeen year old Snelling gave Jenkins a run for his money in the remaining figures but in the free skating, Jenkins utterly dominated. Performing a clean triple loop, double Axels and dizzying spins, he was the unanimous choice of all five judges. Hayes Alan Jenkins took a break from Harvard Law School to cheer his younger brother on. He praised him profusely: "I have thought Dave always was a better free skater than I... I thought his freestyle exhibition was magnificent. He is the only man now skating who can do the triple loop." American Tim Brown claimed the bronze over Jackson, who had an uncharacteristically disastrous free skate and finished fourth. Tom Moore of Seattle finished fifth. In his 1977 Jackson biography "King Of Blades", George Gross noted, "When Don had returned to Ottawa in the fall, he and Otto [Gold] had decided to put together a completely new skating programme. They had only a couple of months to prepare it for competition. Don skated well during the early stages of the five minute routine but took a fall at the half way mark. He was back on his feet in a flash continuing his performance. Yet, his desire was not enough to overcome his inexperience with the programme. He fell three times in the final minute."

THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION

Bill McLachlan, Geraldine Fenton, CFSA President F. Herbert Crispo, Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

With three teams from Canada and three from the United States, the ice dance competition seemed doomed for a gridlock from the get-go. All six teams powered their way through four gruelling rounds of compulsories (the Rocker Foxtrot, Westminster Waltz, Quickstep and Argentine Tango) and a free dance. Geraldine Fenton and Bill McLachlan were ranked only second in Canada at the time as the North American Championships in 1957 were held prior to the Canadian Championships. The Torontonians pulled off a major upset in Rochester, defeating U.S. Champions Joan Zamboni and Roland Junso. In winning, Fenton and McLachlan made history as the first Canadian ice dance team in history to claim the North American title, ending a ten year streak where Americans dominated the event. Emily Van Voorhis, describing the couple's winning free dance in the April 1957 issue of "Skating" magazine noted, "Their rich fluidity created by a soft knee bend and lovely lean lent a smoothness and flow which radiated from the couple's rhythm and lightness." In her book "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves noted that the "competition was so close among the top three that the winning couple could not be determined by a majority of ordinals. The lowest ordinal total was used in the final decision." Another Canadian team, Sharon McKenzie and Bert Wright, actually won the free dance with two first place ordinals, but finished third overall, hampered by a collision in the boards during the Rocker Foxtrot. Toronto's Beverley Orr and Hugh Smith, penalized for performing pair moves in their free dance finished in last place behind Canadians Lindis and Jeffrey Johnston and Americans Carmel and Ed Bodel.

Clipping courtesy "Skating" magazine

Off the ice, the social calendar in Rochester couldn't have been fuller. There was an ice dance session in the Ritter-Clark Memorial Building rink where the figures were contested, a cocktail party for out-of-towners, a dinner with F. Ritter Shumway and his wife, a buffet luncheon and a dinner-dance at the host Manger-Rochester Hotel that was so packed that the tables extended out into the lobby. Dr. Sidney Soanes and Minerva Burke, representing the CFSA and USFSA Dance Committees, also hosted an informal discussion on the differences of the test structure in Canadian and American ice dance.

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.