Skates Alive

Copyright 1999, Quad-City Times, Davenport, IA

It's called the Stars on Ice tour, but it could also be known as Scars on Ice.

Headliners Tara Lipinski and Ilia Kulik have each had surgery in the past year, and tour founder Scott Hamilton - whose farewell performances are the focus of this year's tour - fought a public battle a few years ago against testicular cancer.

But all three are healthy and well, and set to perform Tuesday night at The Mark of the Quad-Cities, Moline.

The 18-year-old Lipinski, after an initial misdiagnosis, was found to have torn cartilage and arthritis in her hip. Kulik, a 23-year-old native of Moscow, had surgery for a pinched nerve in his back.

"My back problems are not really allowing me to jump as hard as I used to," Kulik said. "I try to keep it nice and easy on my back, yet trying to create something interesting."

Lipinski was afraid her future career would be nixed if something weren't done to her hip.

"I wouldn't have been able to skate much longer," she said. "Actually I have more love for my sport and gratitude when I'm out there skating, because I can remember when I couldn't walk (after the surgery). Being out there for an audience is the best thing in the world."

Three years ago, both Lipinski and Kulik - interviewed separately during a Stars on Ice tour stop in Chicago - basked in Olympic glory, each winning gold medals in the 1998 games. Since then, both have turned pro.

Neither regret missing the opportunity to compete in Salt Lake City next year.

"I'm so happy, because I've accomplished everything I wanted to," Lipinski said. "It was time for me to move on and grow as a professional, and you can grow as a professional. As an amateur, you do two programs year and it's the same thing. As a professional, you get five different programs a year and come out with something new and different, and learn not only to skate for yourself and 12 judges for but your audience and your fans."

"I don't think I would want to do it again. I'm really enjoying what I'm doing now," Kulik said.

The two are part of an 11-member cast of skaters that also includes Kristi Yamaguchi, Kurt Browning, Steven Cousins and two pairs skaters.

The Stars on Ice show includes several group numbers, and individual performances. Each skater gets to choose the music and work on the choreography for their solo numbers - Kulik with a breakdancing-type version of Herbie Hancock music, and Lipinski skating to Debelah Morgan's "Dance With Me" and Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."

The tour, visiting 65 cities in three months, is the 15th led by Hamilton. Kulik, who was on the tour last year, said it's difficult to try and top his previous routines.

"Once you've done one year and it's a great show, you have do something the next year more outstanding and extraordinary," he said. "It's really hard to keep it up, because people are expecting real high quality every year."

Both Lipinski and Kulik talk about the family aspect of being on the road and touring with fellow skaters. Although Lipinski hasn't competed against others on the current bill, she said no skaters feel rivalries in going from competition to a showcase on ice.

"My focus was always on me, and if you start concentrating on other people and rivals and beating this person and beating that person you really get off track and lose your focus," she said. "So my main goal is to just go out there and do the best I can do. That's what we all feel out there."

Ironically, it was the rivalry between Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan that brought new attention to skating during 1994.

"That really triggered a big interest in skating," Lipinski said. "People realize how cool it is, and how entertaining it is to watch."

Both skaters said they're much more relaxed and out to have fun during their Stars on Ice gigs, versus the professional competitions they now engage in.

"You have so many opportunities to be in front of the audience. In this show, I'm in front of the audience for 25 minutes. In competition, there's just three minutes on the ice with complicated and difficult jumps, and concentrating on the jumps. For the audience, it's really different. If you can make yourself get in connection with the audience, it makes all the difference," Kulik said. "There's almost no nervousness. We're doing the same show 65 times, so it's an everyday routing. It gets comfortable. You can experiment inside a show, but you can relax and enjoy it."

"You get nervous because you want to do well for yourself," Lipinski said. "It gets to be a routine, and you go out and try to have a good time. You may not be perfect every night, but the audience enjoys it and you keep on going."

Both also have something else in common. Lipinski has a number of acting credits, including a season on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless." Kulik made his movie debut last summer in the dance film "Center Stage."

"It was great fun," Kulik said. "It gives you new information on what you're doing. It gives you so much more energy, even for skating. When you do the same thing for 20 years, you want to do something else to get some energy and keep it interesting."

"They both kind of intertwine," Lipinski said. "It's still kind of the same aspect."

Both credit the 42-year-old Hamilton with revolutionizing the art of skating.

"He's a whole generation of figure skating," Kulik said. "He invented this tour and made it all happen. He's a beloved performer, and people are going to remember him for years and years. He is a wonderful person to learn from, because of the experience he gathered. It's great to be around him."