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Stars On Ice Holiday Tour Review - Cedar Park, TX - Dec. 15, 2021
written by Clay
Disclaimer: I didn’t pick the seats and I was on the end instead of
the side. In addition, I tend to gravitate to numbers that focus on
skating skills with long edges, rather than numbers that get the crowd
involved. Stars on Ice seemed to know there was a place for all of
kinds of fans. I took some quick video clips so I could identify each
skater and their music, but mostly sat back and enjoyed not having a
phone in my face. As usual, this was show sized ice, even though there
was ice underneath the mats for a hockey game. Ilia Kulik and
perhaps a few others would have loved the full ice for jumps.
Opening thoughts: We didn’t expect a large sell-out crowd, since its a
pandemic. Quite frankly, my friends and I think there’s only a few
east and west coast cities that could pull a significantly larger
crowd. Instead of an arena full of families and seasonal fans, it
seemed to be year round fans or local skaters, which isn’t such a bad
thing for communities that need to inject a little inspiration to
their skaters. We were starving for live skating! The opening was to
"The Christmas Song" and "Let it Snow." The spotlights were not used
properly. It didn’t ruin the show, but anyone who has attended shows
probably knew something was off. Kurt was the last to take the ice and
was in the spotlight. Everyone else had a light-hearted dancing
segment. Kurt was particularly thrown off by the spot light with a
spread eagle, then it appeared to be unintended salchow entrance, but
he finally took off into a axel with no spotlight on the entry, but
only on the exit.
Ilia Kulik was the first to take the ice to a Josh Groban ballad. It
reminded me of his wonderful "Song for the King" program circa
2009-2010. He completed a nice triple toe. The multi-directional
skating was really lacking in the program, as even a judge mentioned
it to me during the intermission. It showcased some of his great
edges. His second number to a more crowd pleasing country rock song
was a complete surprise. This one had more steps. Ilia had been
attempting triple lutzes in practice, but it was a double here. There
was no room, darn it. This number was more of a toe-push kind of
number, but the crowd enjoyed it. If skaters are bringing back old
programs, I wish he brought back Liebestraum, with the toe steps into
a triple loop. Then again, he was 18 :)
Weaver/Poje performed some kind of Christmas Tango, which was more
humorous and fun than what is expected of a Tango. I had also thought
the pattern looked like a Tango Romantica and come to find out a judge
and official mentioned this later on! Their second number was a
country themed number.
Mirai Nagasu skated a Warrior themed program I was later able to
identify as League of Legends. She was channeling her inner Ice Dancer
with the packaging. Her classy costume looked like it came from
Montreal and her angular dance bits reminded me of Sam Chouinard's
choreography for Nathan Chen. It truly looked like a competitive
program, complete with steps, multi-directional skating, full
spins. She skated even better than her practices. I remember a double
axel, triple toe and triple loop. While the spotlight can't be blamed
for the loop set up, she intended to perform a triple loop out of 3
turns, took several forward crossovers and landed it on the other end.
Biellmann spin was included in one of the numbers. She skated a
Mister Grinch second number in a red dress. This number was a playful
and flirtatious contrast. If there's ever a pro competition in Russia
or Japan, she's ready to go.
Ryan Bradley skated to a song I later identified as "7 Years." It's a
real earworm. The song told a story, which made it really difficult to
choose following the song or the skating. I heard "get yourself a
wife...drinking liquor...20 years old and lonely..I've got my boys with
me." I asked my friend what was happening in the song and she replied
he was skating with music. Ha. I googled the lyrics at home. The
story-telling aspect of the song must have meant something to him,
rather than mugging to the crowd numbers we expected of him both now
and when he was 21. I think he needed this type of program as a
second number, with the second number being a more Christmas perky
theme. Triple toe and backflip were all done well. Out of the group,
I'm particularly glad he's still skating, as I truly know it means a
lot to him in 2021.
Ashley Wagner brought back her "Groove is in the heart" in her 2018 SP
dress. She woke the audience up to a level they didn't know they
needed. It was reciprocal because she gained energy from the reaction
as well. One thing I noticed is that while she was getting speed from
her crossovers, the way her back moved on them looked incredibly
painful or labored. Her second number was to "Santa's got a Brand New
Bag" with almost as much energy as the first. Double axels were her
jumping passes, as she's had hip problems in the past. She had to be
the most tired skater after these high energy numbers. I imagine she
felt energized by the crowd and slept well once the buzz wore
off. She's made for this style of skating and it meant a lot to this
type of crowd.
We were all nervous watching Jeremy Abbott, but for no particular
reason. Sure enough, he was playing a traveler in his second number to
"I'll be home for Christmas" and he dropped his mask. He used a
travel suitcase-turned Christmas tree prop. Nice, long edges we have
come to expect and enjoy. He skated his first number to a 70s disco
theme song about Peanut Butter. He pretended to make a Peanut Butter
and Jelly Sandwich.
Davis and White skated to "I Won't Give Up," and an accent but
effective number for them. One of the great joys of watching ice
dancers is the ability to gain speed from few crossovers and
incorporate steps while hardly noticing. I noticed their partnering
was off at several transitional points in one of their programs, which
may have been due to the spotlight or lack of practice. They are
individually very busy. All of the lifts were wonderful to see. They
closed the evening with "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas." It
was incredibly rewarding to watch the technical aspect of this
program.
Alissa Czisny skated to "Man of La Mancha" for her first number, which
was a recycled number, but I couldn't tell you how old. She wore a red
top to fit the theme. It had been years since I saw her skate, but I
what I noticed about her jumps is...well, she doesn't need to
jump. Her triple toe had a hand down, but she managed to squeak out a
double axel that required quite a bit of strength. She is fit. I saw a
good number of her jumps and particularly on the axel, her left arm
(She's a lefty skater) would swing slightly off axis to the left and
out of the circle, while she begins rotating over the right side. She
wraps her landings on this jump. She tried a camel spin that she had
to re-center and then included a Biellmann. I was worried about her
hips like a true skating fan.
The second number to Joni Mitchell's "River" was where she had the
audience spellbound. She wore her 2011 LP dress. Isn't this dress in
glass with lights around it at her parents? I'm joking, but it was
iconic. It takes incredible skating skills to pull of a haunting,
rather quiet number. I wish I recorded the full number, but then
again, its a number you soak in and it stays recorded in your memory.
She included a spiral that covered the full circle on the ice and Not
only was it mesmerizing , but it is so difficult to maintain such good
posture while not resorting to any shortcuts. Finally, she makes fall
in love with good crossovers. Okay, I already was in love with good
crossovers, but it was such a gift to see.
Everyone came for Kurt Browning. While I've seen him before, it had
been a while.
Skating to Jason Mraz "I'm Yours," yet another earworm,
Kurt can engage the audience as if he knows each person. Thanks for
the point and the gesture Kurt! What makes his engagement so unique
is his feet are still creating wonderful edges. It's a lot to take
in. If you've followed Kurt, we got practice Kurt for the first
number. He would always struggle in practices (as he did recently)
and then nail the event. I could almost hear him think to himself "I
Didn't really trust myself yet" as anyone that grew up as a kid
watching CBS, you'd hear plenty of Kurt interviews and honest
analysis. He singled his axel, missed his triple toe and then missed
the double axel that had a wonderful entrance and air position. Of
course, I told my friend "He's going to throw these jumps in" and sure
enough he gets the job done. Anyone who has spent time on the ice
knows skating gets a little harder. In this case, its also tough for
someone like Kurt to come back during a pandemic where there are masks
in the audience and a whole different world while touring.
His second program was to "Hallelujah," but not the Jeff Beck or KD
Lang version, rather, Male vocals. There was never any doubt he would
relax into this performance. I wasn't sure about the hat and
suspenders, but actually that's a good look for him. I never
understand the flowy fabrics that others use, so might as well do what
you want. Beautiful sequence of a spread eagle into a perfect double
axel. Triple toe as well. The image of Kurt Browning footwork and
Sandra Bezic programs are etched in our minds, but witnessing his long
edges in this program makes me wish we can see more of this kind of
skating from him in the future. Good edging takes years and we don't
see the attention to it anymore. I felt he knew this when he created
it. As you get older as a skater, you skate with a little more
urgency, you take all of your life experiences with you and if you're
really special, you can use them to give more to an audience than the
previous time you stepped on the ice. How special it was to be a part
of that life experience with Kurt, as we got a gift in this
performance. Thank you, Kurt.
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