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Windsor audience treated to gold-medal performance by Joannie Rochette and Tessa Virtue
| Source: |
The Windsor Star |
| Date: |
April 30, 2010 |
| Author: |
Ted Shaw |
It felt like Christmas Thursday at the WFCU Centre.
The audience at the Sears Stars on Ice show got an extra helping of
Goose, prepared with all the fixings by Tessa Virtue and Scott
Moir.
The darlings of Canada's figure-skating Olympians performed their
signature lift, the Goose, twice -- once during an opening ensemble
program, then later as the climax to the two-hour show.
Virtue, 20, a University of Windsor student, and her longtime
ice-dance partner, Moir, 22, saved the best until last. They did a
shortened version of the famous free-skate program to the music of
Gustav Mahler, which helped them capture gold at both the 2010
Vancouver Olympics and the World Championships.
The routine near the end of the second half was just one of the
highlights in an evening filled with dazzling athleticism and artistic
expression.
The 11 skaters included several Olympic and World medallists, both
current and former. Veteran ice showman and former Olympian Kurt
Browning brought his stylish routines inspired by Broadway
choreography.
Browning's TV specials over the years have always produced huge
audiences for their elegance, and Thursday wasn't any different, even
with a mishap in his opening-half performance.
He seemed to trip on a rut and slid into the audience lining the
ice-surface. He got to his feet and apologized to audience members,
much to the delight of the nearly packed house.
Virtue and Moir were the first to hit the ice Thursday, followed by a
who's-who of champion Canadian ice skaters -- Jeffrey Buttle, Sean
Sawyer, Cynthia Phaneuf, ice-dancers Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice
Lauzon, Joannie Rochette, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.
Audience favourites Sale and Pelletier wowed them with two exciting
routines -- Blue Rodeo's Try in the opening half, and a second-half
routine to the music of Michael Jackson.
Other highlights included Phaneuf's skate to Heart's Barracuda,
Rochette's Summertime and Buttle's touching routine to Jann Arden's
Good Mother.
Browning redeemed his earlier tumble with a terrific interpretation of
a soft-shoe to Frank Sinatra's Luck Be a Lady.
A word about the parking. Thursday's turnout of about 5,000 created
confusion in the parking lot for many latecomers.
They were prohibited from using about 300 spaces that were reserved
for suite users and community rink patrons.
A quick check after the show revealed most of the reserved spaces were
still unoccupied.
Parking is a mess at WFCU, and must be resolved or many first-time
patrons will think twice about returning.
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