Holiday Festival on Ice 2001 Review

ACT 1

"Happy Holidays" choreographed by Brian O. The entire cast came out, did the usual skate, kick, skate, spin but the ending was cute. Kurt was chatting and didn't want to leave so out came Lulu who pulled him off.

"No One Gives Up on Love" choreo.. by Elena Tcherkasskaia/Gorsha Sur. Skater was Angela Nikodinov. She wore a really cute red outfit and skated clean.

"The First Time" choreo ... Sandra Bezic. Skaters were Jenni Meno and Todd Sand. She wore a blue/teal outfit, he was in a teal top and black pants. Began with him kneeling and she cuddling with him. Nice and clean program but I felt it a bit draggy. Nothing spectacular but they did finish with the same pose as they began with. Finished it with a kiss.

"Winter Wonderland" Choreo ... Michelle Lee. Skater was Jen Robinson wearing a red outfit and trimmed with white (like Santa). Her first jump was a triple (maybe) and it was clean but she fell on her second jump. She looked like she was having fun.

"The Last of the Mohicans" Choreo .. Guiseppe Arena. Skaters were K&O. She began with a headdress and he carried big stick. She didn't seem to be suffering from any back pain and her expressions didn't appear to be over-the-top. Generally, they were well received but a lot of people didn't get them. I did and gave them a standing O.

"Love is Alive" Choreo .. Lea Ann Miller. Skater was Caryn Kadavy wearing a red/pink outfit. She was OK. Nothing to write home about, just steady on her feet.

"O Come All Ye Faithful" Choreo .. Lucinda Ruh who was also the skater. She wore a pretty blue outfit that was a nice foil for her blond hair. Her spins are amazing and she reminds me of Gumby of how flexible she is.

"The Wise Men's Journey" choreo .. Brian O. Skaters were Kurt, Brian, Caryn, Angela, Jenni and Todd. The guys all wore brown pants with white shirts while the women wore white outfits. They came out and did some nice footwork, all did a jump (not quite in unison but with 6 people ....) and then went off to make room for

"O Little Town of Bethlehem" choreo .. Tiffany Gibb and the skater was Kurt. You know where he does the spread eagle and then jumps and lands. Well he missed the landing. Right after that he did the circle of three jumps.

"A Christmas Love Song" choreo .. Lu Chen and that's who skated. She wore a "sexy" white outfit which may or may not have hindered her skating. She fell on her first jump, and singled the next. Ouch!

"Sir Duke" choreo .. David Wilson and skated by Brian. Oh man, this one blew the roof off. My notes are WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL!!! people were clapping, Brian was enjoying himself and by the time he finished skating, the people were on their feet. Did I tell you I really enjoyed this piece?

The last piece for the first act was "Winter" choreo .. Tatiana Tarasova & Nikolai Morozov. The skater was Alexi Yagudin of course and he was MAGNIFICENT. Landed all of his jumps and that footwork is amazing and blazing. Think he may have taken a few notes from Brian?? Lots of applause and a Big Standing O.

INTERMISSION -- and before it ended (the intermission that is) out came "Santa" who tossed out candy canes. I didn't get one

Act 2

With Santa still out on the ice, out came Lulu, Caryn and Jen to "Santa Baby" choreo by Brian. It was cute and Santa even managed to pull off a bit of a jump. Not sure who played Santa so if any of you can figure it out, let me know.

"To Love You More" choreo .. Cindy Stewart and skated by Angela. Nice pretty pale pink outfit. Her first jump went fine but she had a hand down on her second.

"Simple Gifts/Wind Song" choreo .. Lori Nichol and skated by Jen. She wore that red outfit that has one long sleeve and none on the other arm (her right, I think). She seemed to land 3 of her 4 jumps (#3 was missed and #4 she hung onto but added another loop while on the ice).

"Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" Choreo .. Jenni and Todd and skated by them. She wore an all red outfit while Todd wore black pant with a red shirt. No other notes so I guess they skated OK. Nothing spectacular.

"Think" .. choreo by Kurt and skated by Lucindah who wore black pants, white gloves and a top that was alternating black and white horizontal stripes. She got a standing O for doing one jump and wonderful spins. However, she did the same ones as earlier so I wasn't quite as impressed as other people. Guess I'm more of a jump person with footwork (like Elvis!)

"O Holy Night" choreo .. Caryn and skated by her. She wore a silver looking top with a navy skirt. Looked like she two footed her second jump. Nice and steady, nothing outstanding.

"Somewhere in Time" choreo .. Anne Shelter and yep it was our man Brian. If you saw him skate in the Sears competition, then you know what I saw. It was amazing. When I read this on the sheet they gave out, I had tears so imagine what happened when he came out. BIIIIG round of applause before he even started. Then comes out to center ice, arms out at each side to "acknowledge" the judges, does some "figures" and then goes one to skate and "figure" and jump his way into our hearts! He made the whole thing look effortless and the delayed single axel was a beaut (think it was the axel but I could be wrong since I don't know how to tell one jump from another). Massive standing O and when he skated off I couldn't seem to help myself. I yelled out into the silence way to go Brian!

"Diamonds are A Girl's Best Friend" choreo .. Michael Seibert and skated by LuLu. She wore a silver outfit with pink trim and black fishnet stockings. This was Ok but I wasn't enchanted by it or anything else. It was a cute number and that's about that.

"Ave Maria" choreo .. Guiseppa Arena and skated by K&O. He was in blue, she wore a white wimple and her outfit was white morphing into a light blue at the bottom. This piece was well received and acknowledged with a Standing O. I enjoyed it too, watching some of the by play.

"Skating" choreo .. Kurt and skated by Kurt. This is the Charlie Brown music where they all skate on the pond and have fun and well you get the idea. Kurt seemed to play many parts. He begins by coming out and moving his foot back and forth. What he is pushing around is a hockey puck!!which he finally pushes off. He had lots of fun, including some playing time at snow ball fighting with some "people in the stands". After completing the skating and doing his snow angel, he then "pushed" himself off the ice while still laying on the ice. That brought a round of laughter, needless to say. Oh yes, also a standing O.

"Memorial" choreo .. TT & NM and skated by Alexi. When he took to the ice, he received a number of whistles and some cheering. He wore a black top and pants and skated really well. The foot work was PHENOM!!!! but I still prefer his winter routine. Landed everything. Yep, he got a Standing O.

"Christmas Eve" choreo .. Brian and skated by the Cast. Nice little number with them shaking hands with some in the audience. Do you think I got my hand shaken? NOPE! But the lady sitting next to me did (and she had the nerve to try and tell me that Brian's delayed single was a boo boo but I corrected her but she didn't seem to buy it.

Retakes -- yep, all those boo boos made had to be reskated. Caryn came out and it took her three attempts but when she finally got it, she then whooped it up and jumped up and down for joy. Kurt redid the ENTIRE skating song. His reason for redoing -- he didn't do the puck work correctly. BTW, did you know that they call Jen One Take Jen? When she came out to redo her missed jumps she did them well. Kurt came back out and told her that they had a problem with the video equipment and that she had to redo one of the redos. She did and then skated by and commented "now I'm done" with a big smile on her face.