Ice show has Dean's mark of elegance

The Stars on Ice tour glided through KeyArena on Sunday afternoon, with a new director putting the moves on a glittering cast of Olympic skating heroes.

That director is hardly an unknown to skating fans: He is Christopher Dean, who, with partner Jayne Torvill, invigorated the field of ice dancing with brilliant Olympic performances.

As a skating duo, Torvill and Dean were prized for their innovation and elegance. The latter quality is a hallmark of the new edition of Stars on Ice, a smooth, attractive skating showcase choreographed by Dean and Jamie Isley.

This year, some Stars on Ice stalwarts (for example, Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton) are appearing only in selected cities as "special guests."

At KeyArena the guests were 1994 Olympic gold medalist Oksana Baiul and veteran Canadian fave Kurt Browning.

But the main emphasis is on a younger set, including 2002 Olympic champ Alexei Yagudin, and the Russian and Canadian pairs who (controversially) tied for gold in Salt Lake City: Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, and Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.

Not surprisingly, given Dean's own duo history, the ensembles and duets were especially notable at the KeyArena date.

Spinning off the spacey theme of time's passage, the production opened with a lovely, circling, floating group dance, to the "Grand Canyon Suite," accented by Roy Bennett's consistently excellent lighting.

Then came a thrilling routine by Olympic silver medal pair Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman to a gritty Stevie Ray Vaughan blues, "Look at Little Sister." Though individual choreography credits were not given in the program, this saucy duet (accenting the physical contrast between the rangy Zimmerman and petite Ina), had Christopher Dean written all over its inventive lifts, dazzling split twists and sensuous wit.

Pelletier and Sale also shone, in a tasteful, more muted duet to Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me." The piece highlighted the team's solid showmanship and unison prowess.

A romantic mood persisted as charming married duo Jenni Meno and Todd Sand swirled through a series of platter lift variations and other limpid moves to a languid "Shall We Dance?"

And best of all, the lithe, blond Berezhnaya and dark, brawny Sikharulidze worked Josh Groban's yearning "Let Me Fall" into a tour de force. Fluidly executing a remarkable chain of twists, spirals, flips and lifts, the two were breathtaking in their artistry.

And the soloists? Beloved champ Todd Eldridge was his usual fine, reliable self in a couple of numbers, as was Browning in a suave, hipster skate to "Moondance." And Yuka Sato's intrinsic grace found a good outlet in a solo to Jane Monheit's version of "Misty."

Plagued by hip injuries over the past year, gold medalist Yagudin relied mostly on charisma and footwork to woo the crowd. (He did slip in two expert quadruple jumps, though.)

The one star not seen to best advantage was Baiul. Her sassy turn to Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny?" seemed out of character, with a costume that looked like a pair of tie-dyed scarves. And a reprise of the "Dying Swan" number that clinched her Olympic victory felt stale, despite Baiul's radiance.

The show's comic connecting bits were hit and miss. But how can one pick nits with an ice show that suits up some of the world's best male skaters in snappy blazers and skinny ties, and gets them moving and grooving in a mini-play set to the sardonic jump tunes of Joe Jackson?