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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.
Founded in the thirteenth century, the city of Lviv changed hands many times over the centuries. Now considered one of the ten largest cities in Ukraine, Lviv has been taken over by the Soviets, Lithuanians, Poles, Germans and countless others over the centuries. Residents of this city respect the importance of history but even today, the contribution of two of its residents to figure skating's history is something that has been long forgotten.
Photos courtesy National Archives of Poland
Born on May 31, 1894, Tadeusz Kowalski was the son of Mieczysława and Emilii (Kubala) Kowalski. Joining the Wojsko Polskie (Polish army) as a young man, he rose through the military and was promoted to the rank of Captain in August of 1924 at the age of thirty for his service during the Polish-Soviet War. A year earlier, his friend Henry Bilora had achieved the same honour. Both young men played football together at the 1st Military-Civilian Sports Club, a vast sporting complex in
Czarni Lwów that included football fields, cycling and running tracks, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts and an ice rink. It was at that one-stop shop sporting facility (known as the 'Czarni') that he was introduced to his friend Bilora's younger sister Zofia Bilorówna. Zofia, five years younger than Tadeusz and ten years younger than her brother Henry, was considered one of the most talented skaters who held membership in the Sports Society.
Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland
Zofia and Tadeusz teamed up in 1926 and the very next year, won their first of an incredible nine consecutive Polish pairs titles. On February 23, 1934, they made history twice at the European Figure Skating Championships... by being both the first Polish pairs team to compete at a major ISU championship and by being the first Polish pairs team to win a medal at a major ISU championship. Following up their feat with top five finishes at the 1934 World Championships and 1935 European Championships, they ended their competitive career in 1935. Their 1934 medal win was Poland's best result internationally for decades until Grzegorz Filipowski came on the scene and won two European medals and a World bronze medal in the eighties.
Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland
Both Tadeusz Kowalski and Henry Bilora were involved in the defense of Lviv during the Invasion of Poland. Captured by the Charkowie branch of the NKWD in 1939, they were both murdered during The Katyn Massacre. It's believed Henry was killed in Kiev; Tadeusz in Kharkov. In a matter of months, Zofja mourned both her brother and skating partner. Little is known about her fate in the years that followed aside from the fact she passed away on June 23, 1962 in Rzeszów. What we do know is that team has never really received much attention... and it is time that changed.
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.
In the height of the roaring twenties, the 'bright young things' of England flocked to halls to sip gin rickeys and dance the charleston. It was during this carefree era that Molly Spain and Frank Ford introduced a combination Quicktime Foxtrot and Charleston dance for two which became known as the Quickstep. The dance gained popularity as quickly as its syncopated steps and by the early thirties, it was a bona fide ballroom dance with its own strict tempo and characteristics.
But how did it become an ice dance? In the summer of 1938, the National Skating Association of England held a two-day dance conference at Queens Ice Rink at Bayswater, London. One of the main topics discussed were the rules for 'new dance competitions', where couples were encouraged to use their ingenuity to come up with new ice dances. The September 1938 issue of "The Skating Times" noted that judges were looking for new dances that met the following requirements:
"1. Does not contain any steps such as would preclude its being generally skated in the usual dance intervals.
2. Has a well-marked rhythm.
3. Is easy to learn.
4. Is always progressive around the rink.
5. Maintains ease of guidance at all times."
On November 22, 1938, the National Skating Association held a new dance competition at the Westminster Ice Rink in London, which was open to both amateur and professional couples. The judges put a cross on their cards by the dances they wanted to see again. The winning dance - the Argentine Tango - was performed by the only amateurs in the event, Daphne Wallis and Reginald Wilkie. Wallis and Wilkie also demonstrated two other new dances at this event for the first time - the Paso Doble and Quickstep. Though these dances didn't place in the top three, they both received crosses from the judges. Wallis and Wilkie again performed their Quickstep at a similar competition in December of that year. It became an instant hit with British ice dancers and was quickly adopted as a Gold (First-Class) Dance by the National Skating Association.
The Quickstep was first demonstrated in America the following summer at Lake Placid, and by 1940, the Skating Club of New York was including the dance in its triweekly dance sessions. In 1941, the Quickstep was added to the USFSA's new Gold Dance test schedule. It was first tested in the summer of 1941 at Lake Placid and introduced to the USFSA's competition schedule not long after. The ISU was equally enamoured with the Quickstep and included it as a compulsory dance at the 1952 World Championships in Paris, where another British couple - Jean Westwood and Lawrence Demmy - rose to the top of the podium. Interestingly, the dance was first performed at a tempo of forty four beats per minute. By 1950, the tempo was one hundred; by 1980 its current one hundred and twelve. Today, the Quickstep is now almost three times as fast as it originally was!
In his 1951 book "Dancing On Ice", Erik van der Weyden remarked, "The fairly advanced skater should get considerable pleasure from the Quickstep. It is a lively dance, with plenty of go, and a simple yet not too long sequence, requiring a fair amount of skating skill and control, but giving ample opportunity for strong edges. No sense of satisfaction can be derived from dance if not on good edges, but if skated with élan, it has a peculiar sway and character which makes it thrilling to dance, and pleasant to watch."
The Quickstep was introduced as an OSP during the 1984/1985 season. ISU regulations permitted dancers to include toe steps (but not toe jumps) in their dances and specified that couples could stop during their OSP "in ballroom quickstep fashion, so long as the stop did not disrupt the course of movement." When first performed at the St. Ivel International competition at Richmond in September 1984, the winners of the Quickstep OSP were Canadians Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall. They skated their Quickstep to Lew Pollack's ragtime standard "That's A-Plenty".
The Quickstep continued to be performed as a compulsory dance at the international level throughout the eighties and nineties and returned as an Original Dance rhythm during the 1994/1995 season. It was during this season that Finns Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko debuted their legendary Quickstep to the Claude Bolling's score from the 1970 Jacques Deray gangster film "Borsalino". Their delightful dance became ratified as its own compulsory dance - the Finnstep - in 2008, and became a required sequence in the Short Dances during the 2014 Olympic season.
Most recently, figure skating fans tuned in to "Dancing With The Stars" to watch Tonya Harding dance the Quickstep with an axe and a man in a bear suit in her quest for the Mirrorball Trophy. Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" may not have been the music Molly Spain and Frank Ford would have envisioned their dance would have been performed to, nor would have Daphne Wallis and Reginald Wilkie known that skating and the quickstep would have such an enduring relationship.
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.
"You've got to be kidding me." Those had to have been the words that came out of the mouth of Joe Geisler, the Chair of the 1967 North American Championship Committee, when he learned just a week prior to the event he had spent three years planning was in very real danger of having to be postponed or cancelled. Just a week prior to the 1967 North American Championships, Montreal's civic employees went on strike, abruptly closing the doors of the advertised venue, the five year old, eighty five by two hundred foot Maurice Richard Arena on Viau Street, which could seat over six thousand, three hundred spectators.
With little time to spare, Joe Geisler and his Committee members - the CFSA's George J. Blundun and Dr. Sidney Soanes and USFSA's Spencer Cram and Robert T. McLeod - met with the manager of the closed venue and Montreal's skating clubs in hopes of finding a speedy solution to their dilemma. It was ultimately decided to split the event between three (less dazzling) venues, the Town of Mont Royal Arena, University Of McGill Arena and Centre Sportif of the Universite de Montreal. Members of the sponsoring club, the Montreal Silver Blades, jumped in to handle everything from catering to ticket and program sales. Skating fans even stepped up to the plate to volunteer and the local newspapers and radio stations did their best to help advertise the change in venues so that ticket sales wouldn't suffer.
Addresses from Presidents of the USFSA and CFSA. Courtesy Sandra Bezic.
This 'show must go on' last minute effort allowed the event to be staged from February 10 to 12, 1967 as planned. Sheldon Galbraith even showed up with his Ampex 3/4 inch reel recording equipment in tow so that his students would have the advantage of reviewing their practice sessions and competitive performances after they'd skated. It was the first time instant replay had been used at the North American Championships.
Let's take a look at how the event played out! As we'll learn in today's blog, the behind the scenes drama paled in comparison to much of the excitement on the ice that chilly February.
Skaters coming off the ice after an opening 'parade of contestants'. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
THE PAIRS COMPETITION
Though audience members complained that the drafty McGill Arena where the compulsory pairs short program was held was just as cold as it was outside - minus twenty five degrees Celsius - Seattle siblings Cynthia and Ron Kauffman didn't seem affected by the bone-chilling temperatures. They took a strong lead, earning first place ordinals from six of the seven judges. Conditions weren't quite so brutal at the more modern Centre Sportif, where free skating events in all four disciplines were contested. This time, the Kauffman's - who drew first to skate - set a bar so high that none of the other five teams were ultimately able to match. Though again placed second by one of the four Canadian judges, they won the title and Layman Trophy by a comfortable margin. Susie Berens and Roy Wagelein and Betty Lewis and Richard Gilbert completed a historic first time American sweep of the pairs podium at the North American Championships.
Photos of competitors. Courtesy Sandra Bezic.
THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION
To the surprise of few, defending North American Champions Lorna Dyer and John Carrell took a unanimous lead in the compulsory dances over Canadians Joni Graham and Don Phillips and Americans Judy Schwomeyer and Jim Sladky. Similarly to the Kauffman's in the pairs event, Dyer and Carrell drew first to skate in the free dance... and their marks were so high that there really wasn't much room for the teams that followed to have beaten them no matter how well they skated. Considering they were the reigning World Bronze Medallists and none of their challengers had even attended the 1966 World Championships in Davos, this wasn't exactly surprising. Graham and Phillips finished third in the free dance, but narrowly defeated Schwomeyer and Sladky for the silver. After the morning practices on the final day of the event, there was an informal dance session "for out-of-town guests and Host Club members". THE MEN'S COMPETITION
Chilled to the core at the McGill Arena, the six men's competitors shuffled positions early in the school figures, with Canada's Donald Knight coming out on top of Scotty Allen and Gary Visconti by a considerable margin when the dust settled. The men's free skate was perhaps one of the most evenly matched ever contested at the North American Championships, for not only were Knight, Allen and Visconti outstanding skaters. They were joined by Dr. Charles Snelling, Jay Humphry and Tim Wood - all excellent performers in their own rights. First to skate was Humphry, who delivered perhaps his finest performance to date, landing a triple toe-loop in the last minute of his program. Allen, who skated second, faltered on several jump landings. Knight followed with a confident performance, and Visconti, who skated fourth, was an audience favourite. Snelling's performance was marred by an untimely fall caused by a camera flash... which led to a back injury. Wood, last to skate, drew generous applause for his exciting and technically demanding performance. The judges, who had their work cut out for them, split their marks largely between Knight and Visconti in the free skate. With the figures factored in to the game, Knight took the gold and Rogers Trophy with first place ordinals from six of the seven judges, followed by Allen, Visconti, Humphry, Wood and Snelling.
Photos of competitors. Courtesy Sandra Bezic.
THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION
Peggy Fleming and Valerie Jones skating their figures. Photo courtesy Valerie (Jones) Bartlett.
The women's school figures were the first event of the Championships and the free skating the last. At the outdated Mount Royal Arena, defending World Champion Peggy Fleming established a healthy early lead over Valerie Jones, Tina Noyes, Karen Magnussen, Roberta Laurent and Jennie Walsh.
In the free skate, Valerie Jones dazzled with her use of vocal music near the end of her program, which at that point in time, though seldom used, wasn't yet 'outlawed'. Fleming skated remarkably and won over many Canadian fans who had previously viewed her negatively as 'that American girl who beat Petra Burka' before they actually got the chance to see her skate live. Karen Magnussen struggled on her first few jumping passes. Then, out of the blue, the music stopped and the power in the arena went out. She spent forty minutes in a dark dressing room with her coach and a screwdriver fixing a blade problem then restarted the program at the beginning and skated superbly. Despite her effort, she tied for last place in the free skate and was unable to move up from fourth. Fleming was the unanimous winner, followed by Jones and Noyes.
Matchbook from the Fontainebleau Motel
Prior to the event, skaters had been bussed to the nearly-completed site of Expo '67 for a press briefing on the World's Fair. During the event, they partied it up at a 'special evening' at the Fontainebleau Motel. After the competition, a banquet was held where prizes were awarded and pictures were taken. In "Skating" magazine, Janet Carnegie Dolan recalled, "As usual for this kind of event, the wait for the results seemed longer than necessary. and the presentations an anti-climax. Because of the power failure, the afternoon had already been longer than scheduled. Those who had been following the events closely realized there was little chance of any startling changes in the standings from the compulsory events. On the whole, the championships had been a success. The favourites had won in most cases. Even the least technically-minded spectator at a skating championship who becomes more of an expert than the judges could find little cause for complaint. It is no small chore to organize a Championship of this caliber. In the face of extraordinary difficulties, the 1967 North American Championship Committee and the sponsor club... had come through splendidly and deserved straight sixes across the board."
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.
Marion McDougall and Chauncey Bangs. Photo courtesy Library And Archives Canada.
Born February 28, 1901 in Ottawa, Ontario, Chauncey Robert Bangs was the son of Alice Maude May Hurdman and Chauncey Ward Bangs, Jr. His grandfather, Chauncey Ward Bangs Sr. was the city's mayor in 1878, and his father was a prominent coal merchant. The Bangs family - Chauncey, his sisters Norah and Madeleine and parents - lived on Frank Street in a quiet area of Ottawa near what is now called Centretown. A devout Presbyterian even in his youth, Bangs was educated at the Model School and Ottawa Collegiate and started skating at the Minto Skating Club when he was only a young boy.
When Chauncey was only seventeen, his older sister Madeleine died of an accidental overdose of corrosive sublimate, prescribed to treat "neurasthenia", a catch-all diagnosis for "bad nerves". Perhaps wanting to escape the gloom of the household, he left to study law at the University Of Toronto for a time but returned midway through his studies to help his father manage the family business, the C.W. Bangs Coal Company.
Chauncey Bangs and Marion McDougall
In 1921 at the age of twenty, Chauncey competed at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships for the first time. Entering the fours event with Lady Rachel Cavendish, J.R. Booth, Jr. and Lily McGee as the 'Minto four', he experienced the disappointment of losing the title to a four from the Montreal Winter Club. After a five year hiatus, he returned to the Canadian Championships in 1926 and claimed the silver medal in both the pairs and fours events, skating with his partner Marion McDougall and Edith Secord and H.R.T. Gill.
Competitors and judges at the 1927 Canadian Championships. Back: Miss Morrissey, Dorothy Benson, Margot Barclay, John Machado, Elizabeth (Blair) Machado, Cecil MacDougall, Mr. Sharp, Norman Mackie Scott, Evelyn Darling, Constance Wilson, Jack Eastwood, Maude Smith, Bud Wilson. Front: Kathleen Lopdell, Paul Belcourt, Frances Claudet, Jack Hose, Henry Cartwright, Isobel Blyth, Melville Rogers, Marion McDougall, Chauncey Bangs. Photo courtesy "Skating Through The Years".
The years that followed would be happy ones for Chauncey. In October 1927, he married a Haligonian, Dorothy Page, at the Fort Massey Church on Queen Street in Halifax. The couple returned to Ottawa and took up residence at an elegant house on Monkland Avenue, designed by W.E. Noffke as a wedding present from his parents.
Marion McDougall and Chauncey Bangs
In both 1927 and 1928, Chauncey and Marion McDougall claimed the Canadian pairs title. Maribel Vinson recalled their partnership thusly: "They have made dances the leitmotiv of their programs, weaving every other move, the jumps, lifts, etc., into the dances, and subordinating figures that might have been high lights into the rhythm of the dance itself." Unfortunately, Chauncey and Marion's partnership ended when Marion married Bradley Grainger and moved to London.
Marion McDougall and Chauncey Bangs. Photo courtesy Library And Archives Canada.
After another brief hiatus from skating, Chauncey returned in 1931 with a new partner, Frances Claudet. They too presented a program that resembled ice dance more than pairs skating, not separating or adding highlight moves like small lifts or jumps. The judges must have liked what they saw, as duo reclaimed the Canadian pairs title with ease. It was as if thirty year old Chauncey had never left the sport!
Frances Claudet and Chauncey Bangs. Photo courtesy "The Seigneur", Lucerne-in-Quebec Association magazine.
Frances and Chauncey lost the Canadian title the following year to Constance and Bud Wilson, but earned spots on the Canadian teams being sent to the 1932 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid and the 1932 World Championships in Montreal. In Lake Placid, they placed an impressive sixth, right behind the Wilson's. The February 13, 1932 issue of "The Ottawa Journal" noted, "Miss Claudet and Chauncey Bangs executed a novel and interesting program of figures and dance steps with ease and grace, meriting the fine ovation they received." In Montreal, Frances and Chauncey moved up to fifth, besting the Wilson's and earning the top placement of the four Canadian pairs who participated. Tragically, his figure skating career was cut short not long after when he suffered a serious fall on the ice which knocked him unconscious.
Though he was a tennis enthusiast and a member of the Royal Ottawa Golf Club, he devoted most of his free time after his retirement from competitive figure skating to the management of the Minto Skating Club. Then, on January 27, 1942 at Civic Hospital in Ottawa at the age of forty, Chauncey passed away of a heart attack suffered after a bout of pneumonia. He was outlived by his wife, parents and sister. His funeral was attended by a who's who of the Ottawa figure skating community, including Melville Rogers and Elmore A. Davis. Less than six months later, his mother passed away too. Though he was a three time Canadian Champion, Olympian and devoted himself to the Minto Skating Club his entire life, his story really isn't what one would call a happy one.
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.
History affectionately remembers figure skaters who have succeeded in achieving their goals and leaving the sport better than they found it. Great champions like Sonja Henie, Toller Cranston, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and Kurt Browning are names known to even the most casual observer of figure skating. For every great champion, there are literally thousands upon thousands of skaters who - despite their greatest efforts - just couldn't seem to catch a break in this slippery sport. Today, we'll beat a trio of very determined skaters who (try as they might have) faced more than their fair share of tough breaks.
BODO BOCKENAUER
Photo courtesy the German Federal Archives
Born December 22, 1940 in the East Berlin borough of Weißensee, Bodo Bockenauer was groomed as a figure skater under the tutleage of Inge (Kabisch) Wischnewski at the East German sports training center Sports Club Dynamo Berlin. In 1959, he won his first of three East German men's titles and placed an unlucky thirteenth in his international debut in that year's European Championships in Davos, Switzerland. After a dismal fifteenth place finish the following year at the European Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he placed an impressive eighth at the 1961 European Championships in Berlin and was regarded as a skater whose career was on an upward trajectory.
Photo courtesy the German Federal Archives
After the cancellation of the 1961 World Championships due to the Sabena Crash, he returned to the international stage in 1962, placing an impressive sixth at the European Championships in Geneva, Switzerland. At that event, he gave what was perhaps the best performance of his career. All but one judge had him in the top three in free skate and the Italian judge actually had him first in that phase of the event ahead of Alain Calmat, Karol Divín and Manfred Schnelldorfer. Sports journalist Heinz Magerlein described Bodo's performance in Geneva as "surprisingly strong and very difficult" in his 1964 book "Triumph auf dem Eis". However, at the World Championships in Prague that followed, he placed a disappointing eleventh. After competing at the Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle on December 12, 1963, he attended the second of two joint qualifying competitions between East and West German skaters for the 1964 Winter Olympics in West Berlin on December 19, 1963. Mid-competition, he took off and sought asylum through the West German embassy. It wasn't long before the STASI took a special interest in the Sports Club Dynamo Dynamo Berlin and "ideologically unstable and fluctuating people with connections to West Berlin and the non-socialist countries."
Bodo Bockenauer and Ralph Borghard; Photo courtesy the German Federal Archives
After establishing a new training base at the Augsburger Eislaufverein, Bodo made a bid to return to the international stage representing West Germany. In 1965, he won the bronze medal at the West German Championships and won an international competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, defeating Great Britain's Malcolm Cannon and Czechoslovakia's Jan Sramek, but it wasn't enough to earn him a spot on the West German team. Moving up to second the following year, he made his return to the World Championships in Davos, but placed a disastrous twentieth in a field of twenty one competitors. After finishing an equally dismal sixth at the following year's West German Championships, he opted to turn professional. Entering the World Professional Championships at Empire Pool, Wembley that spring, he defeated Great Britain's Allan Williamson in a three-two split to claim the World Professional title, ending his competitive skating career on somewhat of a high note. Moving to Zürich, Switzerland, he set up base as a coach at the skating club in Küsnacht, where he worked with Swiss skaters and hockey players for decades. Though Bodo's big switch may have worked out for him in the end, it certainly did not have the effect on his competitive skating career he may have been looking for.
ANITA DE ST-QUENTIN
Born November 13, 1901 in the spa town of Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, Anita Louise Brown-White had perhaps the shortest and least sweet of skating careers in history. After marrying a French real estate man named Christian de St. Quentin, she moved to Nice, devoted herself to figure skating and opted to represent France alongside Andrée (Joly) Brunet in the women's event at the 1928 Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. At those Games, Anita placed dead last of twenty entries in both the school figures and free skating, setting a record for the lowest score ever at the Olympics under the judging system in place at the time. Her total of 1114.25 points was over hundred points lower than nineteenth place finisher Elvira Barbey and over one thousand, three hundred points lower than the winner, Sonja Henie. Under that system, she was also the only skater in Olympic history to earn less than half as many points as the winner. Never competing at the European or World Championships, she retired from the sport in disgrace and died in her forties near the end of World War II.
TSUGIO HASEGAWA
Photo courtesy Asahi Newspaper Compilation Center
Born June 18, 1913, Tsugio Hasegawa came of age during Japan's Taishō period and graduated from Keio University in Minato, Tokyo... Japan's oldest institute of higher education. Using his book smarts to his advantage, Hasegawa attempted to teach himself the in's and out's of figure skating completely by studying diagrams of school figures and pictures of skaters in Western books. Receiving very little in the way of formal instruction, he entered the Japanese Figure Skating Championships three years in a row while studying at Keio and each time lost to Toshikazu Katayama.
Tsugio Hasegawa, Toshikazu Katayama, Kazuyoshi Oimatsu and Zenjiro Watanabe. Photo courtesy National Archives Of Poland.
At the age of twenty two, Tsugio was offered a chance of a lifetime when Japan sent a team of five skaters to Europe to compete at the 1936 European Championships, Winter Olympic Games and World Championships. Clearly out of his element, he withdrew from the European Championships in Berlin after placing second to last in figures. Mustering up the courage to give it a second go at the Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he placed a disastrous twenty third out of twenty five skaters... over one hundred points behind the winner. He was the lowest ranked of the four Japanese men who entered the event. Urged on by his teammates, he made the trip to Paris in hopes of redeeming himself at the World Championships. He again placed dead last. After participating in a carnival on ice at the Old Sanno Hotel that December, he considered giving up the sport but decided to give it one last go and returned to the Japanese Championships... where he lost to Katayama for a fourth time. After participating in a nation wide winter sport championship for students the following winter, he retired from the sport and faded into obscurity.
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.
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 buffs 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. Today's gem, reproduced with permission from the good folks at Skate Canada, is a Louise Wright piece called "Skating Inspires Ballet: Putting Skaters On Stage". It comes to you from the December/January 1979 edition of the "Canadian Skater" magazine.
"SKATING INSPIRES BALLET: PUTTING SKATERS ON STAGE" (LOUISE WRIGHT)
Sara Neil, the first director of the New Zealand School Of Dance, performing in Sadler's Wells Ballet's "Les Patineurs" in 1957
Ballet has always exerted an influence on the skating world. Competitors have long realized the value of dance training increasing gracefulness and musical programs are frequently skated to music arranged for ballet. In the forties, Iceland, located near San Francisco, made entertainment history by combining stage ballet and ice ballet and by actually presenting a true ballet, "Coppelia", on ice.
More recently, the efforts of Toller Cranston and John Curry to present skating as a performing art have strengthened the tie between the two disciplines. Curry commanded the attention of skaters everywhere when, in November 1976, he performed "After All", a piece created especially for him by choreographed Twyla Tharp. Both Kenneth MacMillan, director of the Royal Ballet, and Peter Darrell, director of the National Scottish Ballet, have staged works for Curry's "Theatre Of Skating". Toller Cranston, although he himself disapproves of the comparison, has been dubbed 'Nureyev on ice' because of his interpretive, balletic style.
In view of this newly reawakened enthusiasm for skating's artistic qualities, it is satisfying to note that the influence between dance and sport has not been entirely one-sided. Skating on ice has inspired the creation of two ballets by major choreographers.
"Les Plaisirs de l'Hiver, ou Les Patineurs - The Pleasures Of Winter" or "The Skaters" - was first presented at Her Majesty's Theatre in London in 1849. Choreographed by the theatre's ballet-master, Paul Taglioni, it was performed to a selection of Hungarian melodies arranged by Cesare Puni. A 'ballet-divertissement' rather than a 'ballet d'action', "Les Plaisirs de l'Hiver" is a light, entertaining piece in which plot and characterization is kept at a minimum.
The ballet is comprised of two scenes, the first of which is set in a conservatory filled with flowers, a kind of 'winter garden'. Here, a group of merrymakers is celebrating the wedding of a young couple. After partying throughout the night, they emerge at dawn to continue their festivities in the cold, crisp, winter air.
Scene two opens with the sun rising resplendently over the frozen Danube. Even at this early hour, the river is crowded with skaters, some of whom hurriedly go about their daily business, while others seem concerned only with the pleasures of the sport. Women bundled up in fur-trimmed outfits glide by on horse-drawn sledges: men stand about in small groups, chatting and admiring the Montagne Russe, and vendors peddle a variety of wares.
Soon the wedding party arrives, and a group of young and women, chilled by the cold, attempt to dance themselves warm in the 'pas de frileux'. They rub their hands together, beat on their breasts and dash from bank to bank. Then, two of the principal dancers, dressed in Hungarian costume, engage in the 'pas de la Hussarde'. Their performance is followed by the 'quadrille des patineurs', in which the skaters display their grace and talent until twilight and a light snowfall put an end to their activities, and the ballet comes to a close.
From a figure skater's point of view, one of the most interesting aspects of "Les Plaisirs de l'Hiver" is the fact that Paul Taglioni equipped his dancers with roller skates so that they would be better able to imitate the movements of ice skaters. A critic for "The Times" noted that this was not the first time roller skates had been so used, but praised the choreographer for "the elaboration of the idea with a 'Pas de Patineurs'." Commenting on the same 'pas', a writer for the "Illustrated London News" enthusiastically remarked: "Here the illusion is complete; the mechanism entirely concealed, the mazes varied, intricate, fantastic and original... find their solution in simple movements that fill the audience with delight and surprise, and keep up constant laughter and applause."
In contrast, the later ballet, "Les Patineurs", first produced at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London in 1937, presented "skating" on stage without mechanical assistance. Said never to have been at an ice rink, choreographer Frederick Ashton skillfully duplicated a variety of skating movements. Good stroking technique, waltz jumps, mazurkas, spirals and one-foot spins - even mistakes, such as rising up on one's toe-picks - are all easily recognizable. Performed to music by Giacomo Meyerbeer, the piece is also a 'divertissement'; but, unlike 'Les Plaisirs de l'Hiver', which contains only as a 'pas des patineurs', it deals in its entirety with skating on ice.
The ballet opens at twilight. Sleigh bells jingle, and a frozen lake, gaily decorated with multicoloured lanterns, gradually fills up as the skaters take the ice. All are bundled up in fur-trimmed jackets; the men sport fur-trimmed caps as well, and the ladies wear bonnets and wide, knee-length skirts. There are both serious and recreational skaters, and three small groups readily distinguish themselves.
First, one notices two young women with the complacent attitudes of accomplished skaters, who proudly hold themselves apart from the others . Their confidence is temporarily shaken when, crossing a rough piece of ice, they stumble and almost fall. Nevertheless, they regain their composure, and later join with their instructor to display their skating skills in a brilliant and exciting 'pas de trois'. Then there are the lovers, wearing dazzling snow-white costumes. Their 'pas de deux' is Ashton's rendition of pair skating, and includes exquisite lifts and delicately beautiful spins.
Two girls with muffs, who evidently have just progressed beyond the beginner's level, contrast with these serious skaters. They move along smoothly and confidently until, somehow, they end up sitting on the ice, with characteristically puzzled expressions on their faces. Frequently, skaters line up and, holding on to one another's waists, glide gleefully by, or pick their way across choppy ice on their toe-picks, forming an amusing procession 'sur les pointes'. But the risk of joining one's fate with that of one's companions becomes apparent when one of the skaters stumbles, and threatens to unbalance the entire group.
As a light snow begins to fall, the skaters gradually disperse. The only ones remaining are the instructor, his students and the girls with the muffs. As the ladies pirouette off stage, the instructor begins to spin and continues to do so "so perfectly, and with admirable poise," one writer (Beaumont) comments, "that real ice seems to be the only logical explanation for such a dazzling succession of 'pirouettes sautés'.
Always a popular piece, 'Les Patineurs' remained in the Sadler's Wells Ballet repertoire for many years. It is still being revived today, with Canada's two leading dance companies, the National Ballet of Canada and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, both including it in their performance repertoires this winter.
Could today's free skating inspire the creation of another ballet? Probably not - unless one reverted to Taglioni's [experiment] of using roller skates! Although both skating and ballet have become more athletic since Ashton's work premiered, the athleticism in skating has come to depend largely on the ability to exploit the ice surface. It is difficult to imagine any stage ballet that could satisfactory duplicate the speed, multiple revolution jumps and changing position spins of today's free skating programs.
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.
Born February 6, 1900, Henry Kriefer 'Heinie' Brock was the son of German immigrants Henry and Evelyn Brock. He was raised with his younger sister Lucille in St. Paul, Minnesota, where his father worked as a salesman for a telephone company.
Fred Premer and Heinie Brock. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
Heinie got his start on the ice as a teenager. In the February 4 edition of "Boys' Life" magazine, he explained, "Everybody skates in St. Paul. I didn't have any skates and I wanted the best because I decided to be a champion. So, I added a second newspaper route (I was already running one) and in almost no time I had my skates and was on my way." The enthusiastic young skater's plans for greatness were derailed for eight months at the age of fourteen, when he was diagnosed with polio. While bedridden, he would eye the pair of skates hanging from a hook on his closet door, vowing he would skate again. Soon, he was cutting it up on the ice in carnivals, skating a comedy act with Fred Premer.
Skate he did, but diminutive, one hundred and fourteen pound Heinie also excelled in a wide variety of pursuits in his youth, skating just being one of them. He was a Boy Scout and while attending the University Of Minnesota, played baseball, football, hockey and basketball with other young men twice his size.
Photo courtesy "World Ice Skating Guide"
Heinie was a member of the Delta of Sigma Nu fraternity and Illinois Athletic Club Swimming Team, as well as a teammate of a young Johnny Weissmuller. While a member of St. Paul Athletic Club, he became the intercollegiate central A.A.U. diving champion. After finishing university, he opened a clothing store in Minneapolis but the Great Depression forced him out of business. Instead, he opened a boy's camp on Lake Carlos which focused on drilling young men in athletics.
In 1936, Heinie joined Ice Follies, quickly earning accolades and fans with his comedic stylings on ice. Many compared his style to that of Charlie Chaplin. He earned the nicknames 'the master mimic' and 'the diminutive comedian'. In one of his acts, he 'paddled' onto the ice in a canoe filled with empty rum kegs. In another, he portrayed a sloppy drunk. In an interview in "The New York Post" on December 3, 1938, he explained, "I have five stock, or basic, situations in my routine and branch out from them into different variations in accordance with the response of the crowd. I've been building up my act for ten years, but I still have no set plan when I go on the ice. I listen intently for the laughs and let them be the guide for my next stunt. The spectators play a very important part in my act. In fact, they're indispensable." The master improviser and comedian's routines varied widely. The December 18, 1936 of "The Chicago Tribune" noted, "Brock's biggest laugh comes from rubber legs and his comic pantomime has been compared to that of Toto, the silent clown. In one of Brock's numbers at the Stadium he will be dressed as a Chinaman, doing a burlesque of [Bobby] McLean's barrel jumping act. Brock gets over eight barrels with a flourish, but winds up with some of his former fancy diving technique by sliding forty feet off the rink. In his second number, the clown from St. Paul will burlesque Sonja Henie's interpretation of Pavlova's 'Dying Swan' dance classic." Show programs listed the act as "One Of The Back Row Girls". Heinie called it "The Dying Duck".
This 'Dying Duck' program once got Heinie in quite a bit of hot water. In her book "Thin Ice", Jacqueline du Bief recounted a hilarious story where Heinie and Papa Henie squared off backstage during a show: "A story that I thought rather funny was told me recently by someone who was a member of the company for ten years. It happened in Chicago during one of their first engagements and, because the show was still very short, as an addition to the programme Sonja Henie had been engaged and was presented as a guest of honour. Amongst other exhibitions, she gave her rendering of the dying swan. Immediately after this number, a young comic skater by the name of Heinie Brock, who is to-day one of the most famous comics on ice, made his entrance dressed as a duck and, bathed in blue light, he parodied the pitiful gestures of the dying swan. The public laughed heartily and so did his friends but when Heinie Brock made his exit he was greeted back stage by the threatening stick of Papa Henie. Out of breath after his performance, the young man did not understand what was the matter at first, but then, taking to his heels he led Mr. Henie in a chase which took them - he in his duck’s costume and Mr. Henie brandishing his stick - through all the passages and corridors of the arena." Just quackers!
Heinie left Ice Follies in 1946 and headed to Europe, where he appeared in Holiday On Ice and skated in Brighton and at London's Stoll Theatre. He also appeared in "Rose Marie On Ice" alongside Barbara Ann Scott, Michael Kirby and Pat Gregory and "Robinson Crusoe" at Wembley with Daphne Walker.
In 1952, Heinie skated in Dorothy Lewis' ice show in the Minnesota Terrace Room at the Hotel Nicollet in Minneapolis and in 1953, returned to England to appear in Tom Arnold's "Coronation Ice Cavalcade" with Micheline Lannoy. Throughout the fifties, he supplemented his skating with minor television appearances in such shows as "Raintree County", "Gunsmoke" and "I'll Cry Tomorrow". He even appeared on the game show "Do You Trust Your Wife?" with his first wife Mary.
After Mary passed away in 1975, Heinie remarried and welcomed three step-children to his life. He opened a restaurant called El Paseo in Santa Barbara, California and lived out his final days in Woodland Hills. He passed away August 20, 1989 at the age of eighty nine from complications of emphysema. Regarded by many as one of the finest ice comedians of his era, Heinie set the bar high for the many ice comedians who followed in his footsteps.
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.
Cindy Conner and Warren Keahey posing with event organizers at AM&A's department store
Dawn's "Knock Three Times" topped the music charts and the cost of a brand new cassette recorder was twenty nine dollars. The world was mourning the victims of the Ibrox tragedy in Glasgow and the death of fashion icon Coco Chanel... and from January 27 to 31, 1971, one hundred and thirty three of America's best skaters descended on Buffalo, New York to compete in the 1971 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The event, which was televised by ABC's Wide World Of Sports, was conducted at two venues: the Dann Memorial Rink at The Nichols School and the ten thousand seat Buffalo War Memorial Auditorium.
The selection of Buffalo as the host of the U.S. Championships as part of that year's celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the USFSA was no coincidence. The Buffalo Skating Club was one of the first seven 'founding clubs' of the USFSA yet had never been given the opportunity to host the Nationals before.
Program from the 1971 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Courtesy Sandra Bezic.
In a novel attempt at marketing, a block of tickets were sold from a booth at AM&A's Sheridan Plaza store while shoppers enjoyed a meet and greet with local junior pairs team Cindy Conner and Warren Keahey and a live performance by the Ken-Ton Symphony Orchestra. The event was largely a sell-out despite inclement weather and featured a number of notable performances. Let's take a quick look at how it all played out!
"Put Me Off At Buffalo" by Welcome Little Stranger. Used with permission.
THE NOVICE AND JUNIOR COMPETITIONS
Laurie Brandel (left); Terry Kubicka (right)... 1971 U.S. novice champions
In the novice women's event, thirteen year old Laurie Brandell of Los Alamitos, California took the lead over her eight competitors in the school figures and maintained it to win the gold. Barbara Saloman moved up to take the silver ahead of Patti Gyllenswan of Culver City, California, who had been second in figures. In the novice men's event, twelve year old John Carlow, Jr. of Scottsdale, Arizona (the youngest competitor) dominated the figures, earning first place ordinals from all five judges and a sizable lead over fourteen year old Terry Kubicka of Cypress, California. Kubicka rebounded with an outstanding free skate to defeat the early leader. Mark Henry of the Long Island Figure Skating Club took the bronze.
Left: Cathleen Casey and Francis Cassella. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine. Right: Local favourites Cindy Conner and Warren Keahey.
Sixteen year old Cathleen Casey and seventeen year old Francis Cassella of Hartford, Connecticut took a narrow lead over Myra and David Chrien early in the junior (Silver) dance event and maintained it. The bronze went to Beatrice Sexton and James Thorn. In 1970, Jim Hulick had won the silver medal in the junior pairs event with Laurie Brandell. Teaming up with a new partner, Cynthia Van Valkenberg, proved to be the ticket to the top of the junior pairs podium in Buffalo. The silver went to siblings Gale and Joel Fuhrman and the bronze to Michelle McCladdie and Richard Ewell III.
Michelle McCladdie and Richard Ewell
McCladdie and Ewell's medals were the first ever medals won in the pairs event at the U.S. Championships by an African American team. Fifteen year old Melissa Militano of Dix Hills, New York took the junior women's title ahead of Mary Marley and Patricia Shelley, landing a triple toe walley... a rarity in the junior ranks at the time.
David Santee (left); Melissa Militano (right)... 1971 U.S. junior champions
Eleven young men representing seven states vied for the junior men's title. Thirteen year old David Santee of Park Ridge, Illinois edged Mahlon Bradley of Watertown, Massachusetts and Scott Cramer of Wyncole, Pennsylvania in the school figures. The three skaters stood in exactly that order on the medal podium. THE PAIRS COMPETITION
Jojo Starbuck and Ken Shelley. William L. Udell photograph.
Nine teams vied for the senior pairs title. Teenagers JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley of Downey, California took a slight lead in the compulsory short program with first place ordinals from six of the seven judges ahead of fifteen year old Melissa Militano and her sixteen year old brother Mark, siblings from Dix Hills, New York.
Sherri Thrapp and Larry Dusich of the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club practicing prior to the event. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
Starbuck and Shelley only expanded their lead in the free skate, debuting two new elements - the split double twist and a three position overhead lift - in their performance to music from Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake". Their only slight error was a missed side-by-side double flip. They took the gold with first place ordinals from every single judge. The Militano's missed a death spiral and settled for silver, ahead of Barbara Brown of Edgewater, California and Doug Berndt of Denver, Colorado, who suffered a scary fall on an overhead lift early in their free skate. Sherri Thrapp and Larry Dusich moved up to place fourth ahead of hometown favourites Kathy Mormile and Gregory Taylor to the disappointment of the Buffalo crowd. THE MEN'S COMPETITION
Many were anxious to see nineteen year old Richard Ewell (the previous year's junior men's champion) go up against the top senior men, especially after his medal win in the junior pairs event. Unfortunately, the nineteen year old from Los Angeles wasn't among the twelve men vying to fill the shoes of Tim Wood, who had left the senior men's title up for grabs after turning professional.
Gordon McKellen, Jr. (left) and John 'Misha' Petkevich (right)
Entering the event, the heavy favourites were twenty one year old John 'Misha' Petkevich, a Harvard student from Weston, Massachusetts and eighteen year old Ken Shelley, a charismatic young skater from Downey, California who excelled in both singles and pairs. After a fierce battle, Petkevich came out on top ahead of Shelley, Gordon McKellen Jr., and sixteen year old James Demogines of Pacoima, California, the previous year's silver medallist in the junior men's event. A young Charlie Tickner placed tenth in his first trip to the U.S. Championships as a senior.
John 'Misha' Petkevich. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
In the April 1971 issue of "Skating" magazine, Virginia Gilley recalled, "John Misha Petkevich was in a class by himself... His style is smooth and lyrical with masculine ballet grace. The piano concerto music was perfect for him, and he used the music to every lyrical advantage. His jumps were a work of art, very stylish, with an incredible height, and he lands with enviable finesse and unbroken stretch. His program started out with a very high tuck Axel that elicited one of several audible 'ah's' from the crowd. His triple jump was a Salchow; a later planned triple loop was eliminated because of a skip in the music recording. Misha's marks for interpretation were one perfect 6.0, two 5.8's and the rest 5.9's. He probably would have had similar technical marks had he not come to grief on his final double Axel."
Charlie Tickner (left) and Johnny Johns (right)
In his December 2013 interview on "The Manleywoman SkateCast", Petkevich recalled, "It was a fun year. Nationals were in Buffalo and there was a ton of snow. Harvard had this thing where you had to take your exams at the same time as everyone else, so I had to go to Rochester or somewhere and find a proctor to take my exam before the competition." THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION
Twelve women contended to win the 1971 senior women's title. The heavy favourite was, of course, seventeen year old Janet Lynn, the two time and reigning U.S. Champion, but the media was trying to fabricate a fierce rivalry between her and Julie Lynn Holmes. In reality, the two were good friends.
The results were so close behind Lynn and Holmes in the school figures that the accountants spent nearly two hours hard at work before declaring that Holmes won by a narrow margin. Holmes planned an inside double Axel in her free skate, but it wasn't enough to fend off the beautiful free skating performance of Janet Lynn, who missed a triple toe-loop attempt but still managed to absolutely mesmerize the Buffalo crowd. Fifteen year old Suna Murray earned a standing ovation and a trip to the World Championships after delivering an outstanding free skate to win the bronze medal ahead of Dawn Glab and Dorothy Hamill.
In the April 1971 issue of "Skating" magazine, Virginia Gilley recalled, "Julie Lynn Holmes... shows improvement each time she appears. Dick Button commented that her program was better composed and organized. In previous presentations her jump landings seemed awkward and had a camel appearance. Her one major error was a very unsteady slip on a double Lutz, and this generated the omission of a double inside Axel, a move for which she is well-known. Janet Lynn... seemed very tense, but her program still flowed along. Although it was a bad fall [on the triple toe-loop], Janet showed no effect from it except for a bump on a double Lutz landing later in the program. Two of Janet's marks were 5.6 and 5.7, which were lower than Julie's. The remainder were 5.8's and 5.9's, higher than Julie's. The contest was hard fought, although Janet surpassed the other contenders in poise and style." THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION
Judy Schwomeyer and James Sladky
Making history as the first team in history to win four consecutive U.S. senior ice dance titles, eighteen year old Judy Schwomeyer of Indianapolis and twenty three year old James Sladky of Solvay, New York were arguably the biggest stars of the Buffalo Nationals in 1971. Adding more difficult footwork to their peppy Peanut Polka - which was adopted in an altered form by the ISU as the Yankee Polka - the talented Ron Ludington students dominated the ice dance event from start to finish. Quoted in "Skating" magazine in December 1970, Schwomeyer noted, "Jim and I have always tried to have such good unison that even if we should let go of one another we would still maintain the same distance apart and the same edges. Sometimes European couples seem to be fighting between themselves. We have tried to keep the tension between us to a minimum." For the second year, Ann and Harvey (Skip) Millier settled for silver. Lansing's Mary Karen Campbell and Johnny Johns, a nineteen year old college sophomore from Detroit, took the bronze. Johns competed in senior men's, pairs and ice dance in Buffalo without skipping a beat.
Following the event, The Buffalo Skating Club hosted an awards banquet for competitors, officials and their families. Frederick C. LeFevre, the USFSA President at the time, presented the winners with their medals and announced that The Harned Trophy, awarded to the club earning the most points overall, would be won by the Arctic Blades Figure Skating Club from California.
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.
