Shortly after Holiday on Ice finished in Taipei, Taiwan, my friend, Ellen, emailed me saying that it was a fantastic show and how much fun I would have if I could make it. I was so jealous because I have to tour with Disney on Ice and not be able to make it. It was the first ice show played in Taipei Dome, the place our skating people dream about for almost 20 years since we never had a regular size ice arena before. By now, you probably can tell that I am a Taiwanese skater, and the first Taiwanese professional skater ever. Skating in Taiwan is not a popular sport since we lack of good coaching and we only have one SMALL skating rink in the entire nation back when I was skating. I still remember the moment when I step onto the ice. The feeling was so cool, and I feel like that I can forget everything and be me when I'm on the ice. That is when I was 13 years old. Yes, a 13 years old boy whose height was about 5"00' and weight about 180 IB. I never thought that I could become a professional skater since I was not very fit! However, I love ice skating, it is something I would never give up. One day while I was practicing, one of my friends came to me and ask me, "Max, why do you skate? You are so fat; please don't waste your time and go to do something else!" It hurts, deeply into my heart. I almost gave up on my dream to be a skater but I didn't, I told myself that I have faith in myself and I will show him what I can do. Shortly after that, Disney on Ice - Toy Story 1 came to my town. I was so exciting about it since it was my first ice show. In my memories, I remembered there was a little boy who can spin really fast and jump really high in the show. He was my skating hero because I never see someone do that in front of my eyes before. If you guess who he was, he is our president of PSFC, Mr. Craig Heath. I said to myself, I want to be like him, skate in front of the audients and entertain people. Because of that, I made up my mind to be a professional skater. I never compete but always love skating. Maybe I am not that good of a skater; however, I have the heart to skate. Now, I am 21; 8 years after making my dream. I have the job I love, traveling all over the world that most people don't get chance to see. I did it. And I want to thank all of you who love skating because without you, I wouldn't become who I am now. Finally, it hits me when my friend told me the names of the principles for Holliday-Hollywood. It is Craig again... A little boy who help me make my dream come true. Thank you!

Posted by: Hao Liu,
Last modified on: 1/25/2006
 

Exactly. I have had the pleasure of working with so many wonderful people in all the shows I've done. What makes a wonderful tour is that you have to constantly re-invest your enthusiasm for living large and on tour. If you don't? You stop. I guess I'm still in the frame of mind I was my first show 11 years ago. Re-invest your enthusiasm in everything you do. It works. Cheers to the shows and all the people here tooonight!!

Posted by: FORREST RYAN MCKINNON,
Last modified on: 1/25/2006
 

As you travel across the world, from venue to venue, hotel to hotel, or sometimes hauling your trailer still...the smell of each arena you walk into, what make-up spot will you claim as your own for the week, is the ice hard or soft that week... where is the coffestand and board located,where is the local bar afterwards to unwind and chat with with the locals of the town or city...when is travel day and your day off, what time is the bus??, do you have your bus buddy..will the show get a standing "O" this week or not, but when you walk out of that building and say "Goodnight Phoenix", that you claimed to be your own for that particular week...the only thing that truely is yours is your Family of Friends that will last froever...That is what tour is all about....Nancy Pluta-choreographer

Posted by: Nancy Pluta,
Last modified on: 1/22/2006
 

As Craig said in his recent story, we are so fortunate as professional skaters to be able to do what we do and not only get paid and travel all over the world but really put ourselves in a position to meet so many amazing talented performers,people in the business and most of all make so many connections that really can be used as resources for yourself as a professional. I think my fondest memories as a young professional skater fresh out of high school and the amatuer skating world, was when I toured with "Disney On Ice" which at that time was called "Magic Kingdom On Ice" starring my all time favorite skater Linda Fratianne! She was one of my idols growing up as a little girl and to think I was going to be in this big show with the Olympic silver medalist was like the coolest thing that could ever have happen to a litle girl from Paxton Massachusetts. I was like a super star now! Annie Schmidt built such an impression on me and made the show sound like the most glamorus life you could ever have! She was the talent coordinator at that time. When I got "The Call" it was probably the most memorable moment as an 18 year old skater could have. I have to say there were some moments I will never forget and most of all people I will never forget! I remember meeting Jill Shipsted for the first time during rehersals and thinking, "She is like a star from the Ice Follies and I'm actually getting choreography done by her!" I thought she was the most glamorus show girl ever! She was so fun to work with and I remember her teaching me the little hand position that I still can do to this day and remember how hard I had to work to make my hands look like Alice in Wonderand! She did it so perfectly and she had one of the best sit flexes in the world! She worked so hard to show me how to make my legs do that pose and I tried so hard but I think I was missing about 2 feet worth of leg compared to hers! I remember Bob Paul asking me if I was going to change my hair color and make it more blond to look like a real show girl should! I was horrified had no clue what hair dye was all about but I'll tell you I learned pretty quick! Because of Bob Paul I have remained blond to this day and love it ... thank-you. How about those darn eye lashes for the first time! Ok my Mom didn't really let me where makeup back then so I was at a complete loss of what eye lashes were all about not to mention how I was going to get those on my lids. Thank God for my roommates who rescued me from this horrible dilema. That was a great laugh! I think we all can relate to our first experiences at the show and I feel so lucky to have met so many wonderful people that taught me so many aspects of the show world. About the travel,I can't even explain what an amazing effect being in Japan had on me. Granted we were there for quite a long time and adjusting took a little while especially looking at that little fish on my plate fresh out of the water thinking am I really going to be eating this? Needless to say Sushi is now one of my most favorite foods in the world to eat! What I loved the most about the country was how people remained so traditional in a country that was so modernized! I loved the whole culture and it's beautiful traditional ways. I remember going to watch the Geisha dancers and watching traditional Japanese Karate demonstrations as well as the giant Sumo wrestlers. Needless to say I now take traditional Okinawan Karate and love it! Where would I have ever gotten such amazing adventures as these but in the ice show! Now as a coach I look back and have some great laughs with some of my show friends and most of all use some of my teachings in my career now. Not the eye lash story but really learning the business from the best of the best back when show skating was changing from Ice Follies to Magic Kingdom to now Disney On Ice. How lucky I was to share such great times with such incredibly talented people.

Posted by: Beth-Anne Duxbury,
Last modified on: 1/22/2006
 

How lucky are we anyway? I am constantly thinking about how fortunate I am to be able to do what I love to do and then to get paid for it! I just completed a fantastic tour of Asia with Holiday on Ice- Hollywood. We performed in Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong (over Christmas) and Taipei. Since I also write a travel column for a magazine, I had plenty of research to do in these exotic places. I love that part of the world so it is not a stretch for me to be there for an exended period of time. I will tell you about some of the crazy and interesting moments that I experienced over there.
After closing in Bangkok, I flew home to San Francisco for two weeks and then back to Jakarta where we performed for 4 days. Then, I jumped back on a plane and flew to Hawaii for 2 weeks to skate and vacation until I had to head back to Kuala Lumpur. The air miles were piling up fast! The show dates were spread out so that is why I was able to be such the jet-setter. I did stay with the tour for the remainder of the tour, which was fantastic.
In Singapore I helped teach a seminar to the local skaters. I had done this a few years before while in Singapore with Disney on Ice- Toy Story. It is always interesting teaching kids from other parts of the world. Ice skating is our common language though so we always can communicate.
In Hong Kong not only was I performing in the shows, but I was waking up early in the morning and taking the train to the mall so that I could work with a few of the skaters that I knew from them coming to Sun Valley, Idaho (where I teach and perform in the summers) the summer before. Yes, I was tired, but it was a joy to be able to work with them and feel like I actually lived in Hong Kong for a few weeks!
Then, I flew to Taipei for an advanced publicity tour for our show. I had a fabulous time and became somewhat famous on TV and in the newspapers while I was there. Who is famous in Taipei? It must have been the blonde curly hair! I think that I was on TV there ust about every day! Maybe I'll have to go back soon.
During the final performance, I was handed a beautiful bouquet of 26 roses in the finale. Wow! It was from a fan, apparently. I love Taipei!
As you can see, I had a wonderful time filled with great experiences and interesting moments. This is the kind of life that I feel so fortunate to live.
Now, I am home in San Francisco getting ready to skate at a birthday party in Birmingham. Joan Jett is playing at the party too. They built a rink in the backyard and she wanted a skating show. I love it!
These are just a few of the moments that make my professional skating life a dream come true. I want to skate until I drop.
Sincerely,
Craig Heath

Posted by: Craig Heath,
Last modified on: 1/17/2006
 

Skaters talk about wanting to someday find - or create - a place where they can train on ice, have access to dance classes, and display their improving skills in regular performances. It makes me smile because I had all of that in my first show - back in 1954.

Everything about the experience was totally new but I realized even then that the Casa Carioca in Garmisch, Germany, was something very special. The ice show was in a night club built by the U.S. Army in the Bavarian Alps in the late 1940s for the enertainment of military forces on leave. Diners sat on three tiers around a 30ftX40 ft. rink that would be covered by a moveable floor for dancing. A17-member live orchestra played above the stage set.

Terry Rudolph was a tiny take-charge Hungarian/American dancer who didn’t skate. But for twenty years she handled all aspects of creating the shows with her casts of around 35 skaters - direction, choreography, costuming, lighting, music, etc. All of us were benificieries of her often blunt demands for improvement in stage presence, make-up, correct ballet positions, and proper hand movements on the ice. (Boy did she hate unpointed toes and stiff, unexpressive hands that looked like “shovels”!)

Terry regularly gave dance classes in the Casa’s spacious ballet room and every day she spent hour after hour beside the ice personally polishing principal skaters and creating new choreography. She was a star maker with a talent for developing new soloists and pairs, many of whom were sent on to great success in big U.S. and European ice shows.

The Casa Carioca was a great place to finally fullfill my long-held dream of getting in a show. On the way to work each evening during my year and a half there I’d look up at the snow-capped mountains and say thank you.
Roy Blakey



Posted by: Roy Blakey,
Last modified on: 11/18/2005
 

The PFSC Foundation is seeking to gather "oral histories" or thumbnail sketches of your life as a professional skater. Please add to our collected knowledge some of the memories you have of your career or people you skated with.

Posted by: Janet Wright,
Last modified on: 9/2/2005