|
|
|
A Merry Celtic Christmas
MacMaster, Cottars, world-class skaters capture season's grace and beauty
| Source: |
Halifax Chronicle-Herald |
| Date: |
December 6, 2008 |
| Author: |
Andrea Nemetz |
Before rocking Halifax Metro Centre to the sounds of Foreigner's
highly appropriate hit Cold As Ice, Shawn Sawyer urged the crowd not
to be cold as ice this Christmas.
The Edmunston, N.B., skater needn't have worried.
The 7,000 fans assembled Friday for Holiday Festival on Ice couldn't
have given the 10 world-class skaters - plus musical guests The
Cottars and Natalie MacMaster - a warmer reception, rising to their
feet for standing ovations eight times during the two-hour
show.
Opening with Season of Holly and Ivy, ECMA-winning group The Cottars
set the tone for the evening with a theme of A Celtic Christmas, as
Marie-France Dubreuil, Jennifer Robinson and Jamie Sale skated out in
shimmering silver dresses, elegantly twisting glittery tartan
scarves.
Four-time world champion Kurt Browning took to the ice for Christmas
Jig as MacMaster - seven months pregnant and backed by a five-member
band - sizzled on fiddle. The popular skater dazzled with intricate
Celtic-inspired footwork sequences, ending with a backwards leap onto
the stage to give a grinning MacMaster a big hug.
Jeffrey Buttle's program to MacMaster's rendition of Pretty Mary -
complete with bagpipes - brought the crowd to its feet.
Clearly a crowd favourite - wolf whistles and shouts of "we love
you" greeted the 2008 world champion's every appearance on the
beautifully lit ice - Buttle raised his arms above the head in a
traditional Irish dancing pose, while urging the enthusiastic crowd to
clap along to a program full of jumps, split leaps and cossack jumps
as well as his trademark unique spins.
Sasha Cohen's elegant program to Josephine's Waltz (accompanied by
MacMaster) showcased the 2006 Olympic silver medallist's mesmerizing
spirals, astonishing flexibility and gorgeous spins.
And in Peace Carol, as the Cottars' music sent shivers down the
spine, the flexible Sawyer, who is attempting to qualify for his
second Olympic berth, elicited gasps with a back flip. He repeated the
move in Cold As Ice, which also featured a gravity defying version of
a spread eagle.
The two programs by Sale and David Pelletier drew the night's loudest
standing ovations as the 2002 Olympic gold medallist pairs skaters
showcased jaw-dropping lifts - including several rotating lifts with
Sale in a unique split position, twists, a death spiral, throw jumps
and perfectly-timed pairs spins.
The married couple's effervescent charisma was evident in Boogie
Woogie Christmas, as was their continuing romance in Grown-up
Christmas List.
And a cowboy-hat wearing Browning, long revered for his showmanship,
brought tears to many eyes as he skated to John Denver's Christmas
for Cowboys. The Caroline, Alta., skater introduced the program saying
how sad he was that he wouldn't have the gift of his father's
company this Christmas, a man who sat tall in the saddle. As the music
drew to a close after an emotional skate, he left the hat silhouetted
on ice.
The evening was taped by CBC TV for broadcast on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at
9 p.m., and six-time Canadian champion Robinson was treated to chants
of encouragement and prolonged applause when she redid for the cameras
a triple Salchow she missed during a lovely, lyrical program to The
Last Rose of Summer. Her impromptu happy dance charmed the already
adoring fans.
|
|
|
|
|
