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Blades of steel
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It's never too late to take a stab at figure skating's scrubbed glamour
by GENEVIEVE PAIEMENT
Alberta-born figure skating star Kurt Browning once summed up the gee-shucks, peppy flair of his chosen sport quite nicely: "I'm a white boy from Canada," he said. "I probably have gotten jiggy with it, but didn't know it at the time."
Combining the faded allure of ballroom dancing, the tacky panache of tap dancing, the fluid acrobatics of gymnastics or ballet and the ice part of hockey, figure skating, that most flamboyant of sports, is one of this country's favourite national pastimes. Add to that the intensely catty aura that surrounds the sport (witness the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan case) and the uproarious Disney cartoons-on-ice tours, and you've got yourself some grade-A, Can-con CBC TV fare.
But it's not just Canada: a cursory inspection of the Internet will reveal an exhaustive amount of figure skating-related sites from around the world, from fan "shrines" and tape trading sites to role playing and fantasy skating games. What is it about the sport that elicits such devotional fervor?
"It's the most beautiful sport at the Olympics by far," offers Sylvie Carrier, president of local adult figure skating club Les Lames Argentées (aka the Silverblades), started by Joe Geisler in 1948. "It's a real show." Carrier says winter Olympics on TV and the first snowfall always draw more members into the club, as these events tend to awaken the sleeping ice dancer within many people. And it's never too late to lace up and glide toward that dream: Carrier says her Silverbladers range in age from 18 to 70 and in skill from clueless beginners to former champs. Club prez since '94, Carrier says she skated until she was 12, then had to drop out because it got too pricey. It took her 17 years to get back into the habit. For dedicated skaters like Carrier, it's not just about the cute skirts and leg warmers.
Despite what we see on the small screen, those bombastic colours, outlandish patterns, sparkles, feathers, plunging necklines and the ever-present spandex do not rule the rink. "Fashion has very little to do with it," Carrier warns. "We wear sober, simple clothing to practice--no sequins." The club doesn't put on any shows, but they do hold biannual Montréal danse sur glaçe weekends (October 2002), wherein dozens of couples synchronize-skate classic routines together and partake in receptions and other good times. The group meets for lessons and practices at Michel Normandin Arena (850 Émile Journault) two or three times a week, September through April and welcomes new members throughout the season. Contact Carrier at 450-664-0632 or sylviecarrierprou@videotron.ca for prices and other details.
Extreme sport?
One thing audiences tend to forget when entranced by the graceful and smoothly executed spectacle of figure skating, is that it can be rather dangerous. "It's an extreme sport," insists Eileen Meenagh, Montreal Figure Skating president. "You fall without equipment. People do triple jumps without padding, triple throws in pairs--it bruises. It's not like in hockey where you're wearing tons of protective equipment. It looks graceful, but you gotta watch out."
Montreal Figure Skating offers Learn to Skate classes for adults, Mondays 9:30-10:30 p.m. (call 488-9461 for info), until March at the Bille Durnan Arena (4988 Vézina). Meenagh bemoans the relatively late time slot, blaming it for keeping away those who work all day and then find it hard to skate into the night. "The adult figure skaters are the biggest bunch of wimps," she says. "But the he-men manage to play hockey until 1 a.m. and then go and drink beer."
If the late hours don't keep you away, don't let the word "extreme" do it either. "We try not to push them too far since adults break things kids don't when they fall. Adults are the hardest to teach because their biggest fear is falling. Kids know how to fall because they're closer to the ground."
When the basics of skating are covered, the classes move into jumps and spins like, say, bunny hops or flying camels. Sound scary? No need to worry, says Meenagh, they really ease the grown-ups into it. "It's so much more relaxed for the adults," she says. "There are no rousing games of 'What Time Is it Mr. Wolf?'"
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