Etoiles de la Glace in France, February 9-10

Report by Frederike Hylla

Amiens was the chosen city to attend this season’s version of Etoiles de la Glace but at a last minute decision we included Rouen as well. Both cities are not far apart, so it was kind of evident to attend both shows.

The training of shows produced by Battants is officially closed and while the skaters don’t seem to mind if there are a few people, the “boss” does. Nevertheless we were able to find a way to sneak into the rink. All the skaters were on the ice at the same time doing either run throughs or just laps and jumps to get the feeling of the ice. The second day Valentina Marchei tested her pairs skating skills with Frederic Dambier by doing a single throw with him. They even succeeded a couple.

Since last year the rinks are sized down due to lightening strings on the ice. It makes the surface square and takes about 5 metres away on both of the short sides.

The gala started out with an opening to March with me with the skaters in black pants and the Etoiles de la glace sweaters. The choreography was rather simple but the music did the effect and a flag like cloth with a star added to it.

Taking the ice first Valentina Marchei skated out in a red costume suiting the Flamenco themed program. The long skirt she wore quickly came off and picking up speed, her first jump was landed closely to the lightening in the ice. She followed with a double axel and a double salchow which this time was too close to the lightening. The audience gasped but she simply hopped over it and did some crossovers to get back on the surface. Not being disturbed in any way, she kept the joy until the last movement to finish the nicely done choreography on a high note. (She managed to stay within the limits the following day)

The rather unknown Anthony Morazzani was next up. Skating to Maintenant he opened with a double axel out of a spread eagle, which was turned into a half axel the following day. That as well as a triple toe and a well executed change of edge spread eagle were the highlights of his program. His choreography included mostly two feet skating and arm movements, nevertheless the crowd liked him.

Fiona Zaldua and Dimitry Sukhanov are an adagio pair and vowed the audience with spectacular lifts. The couple which also skates in “Holiday on Ice” showed off great acrobatic skills, underlined by rather dramatic music.

Frederic Dambier was ready to take the ice next but Elena Grushina and Ruslan Gonsharov were announced and skated out in pink costume which they previously had used for their Latin OD in 2005/2006. Their program was an extended version of that very same original dance, inlcuding the same energy, upbeat rhythm and fun lifts.

This time it was really Frederic Dambier’s turn (the following day he was actually skating before Grushina/Gonsharov) and he took the ice completely in black. The program started with a voice over encouraging the different religions to co-exist and his music was a medly of different religious pieces portraying that theme. His costume was “convertible” so it would suit each religion by showing the symbols the religions use before the word co-exist was spelled out across his chest at the end. While a rather heavy background, the music was upbeat and light and the choreography very enjoyable.

Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis skated out in black and white costume and were accopanied by Celine Dion’s Ave Maria. Their program did not include any jumps since Sarah Abitbol has a knee injury (a pulled ligament), nevertheless the audience liked them. They performed with emotion and included some of their trademark lifts.

Having chosen to skate to a blues/jazzy music, Surya Bonaly wore a rather colored costume with a black tight, she fortunately did not have the following night. Her program included a double lutz, a double axel (a double loop and a double lutz-double toe combination on Saturday) and her famous backflip.

Being the last before the ice resurface, Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat took the ice in dark red costumes with a green shawl. Their music Piensa en Mi was well interpreted and the couple performed in their usual emotional style. The smooth choreography contained the trademark reverse lift as well as intrecate movements with the shawl which went well with the fluidity.

The second act also opened with Valentina Marchei who came onto the ice with a mirror and hairspray in hand. She sat down on one of the loudspeakers and started her program “getting ready” for the night. The black and white costume really suited her as well as the 60s style music. She did a triple salchow and her second triple was performed with her arms above her head. The fun she had was obvious and she had the audience going easily.

On Friday Anthony Morazzani skated passionately to Johnny Halliday’s Que je t’aime which had the public sing along, while he chose Vivre pour le meilleur on Saturday.

Que je t’aime was a little different as he started out sitting on a chair and had much more jumps in the program but then it was also longer than Vivre pour le meilleur.

Both choreographies, which seemed to be mostly improvised included a lot of crowd pleasing movements, like spread eagles, fast toe steps and running across the ice. The people showed their appreciation with a standing ovation and he certainly enjoyed himself out there on the ice.

Since the order of skating did not change, Fiona Zaldua and Dimitry Sukhanov were next. She again wore a unitard made of a lot of skin colored fabric while their music was less dramatic: Now we are free, from the Gladiator Soundtrack. Their lifts were not less spectecular but the connection with the music was missing a bit since they did not have a lot of other elements in their program. Still, the audience recognized the difficulty the two showed and gave them a standing ovation.

As originally planned it was Frederic Dambier’s turn after the couple. He was led onto the ice by Valentina Marchei and presented a new version of his Fan program. His music choices included something from Elton John to which he wore a green fur coat with a hat and Madonna, whom he portrayed with a blond wig and a pink outfit. He popped his jump but had the audience going right from the beginning and by the time he reached his last music piece – YMCA – he had stripped down to feathered shorts. His energetic choreography easily had the people give another standing ovation.

Elena Grushina and Rusland Gonsharov wore lilac costumes to Ave Maria again performed by Celine Dion. Their skating was smooth and emotional and contained some great elements as well as lifts but it was a bit of an unfortunate choice to have them skate to that music in the second act. The encore on contrary brought the audience back into a party mood.

Using music from the film Rabbi Jacob, Sarah Abitbol skated out with a fake beard and a hat in black pants and a black jacket. She entertained the audience by herself before Stephane Bernadis joined her wearing the same masquerade. Acting their part the two showed more of their traditional lifts, then, helped by Stephane, Sarah changed her costume. She revealed a beige colored outfit and now was “worshipped” by her partner. The crowed definitely enjoyed this program until the last movement and once again was on its feet.

Surya Bonaly presented a Spanish themed routine in a red and black costume. She looked tired on Friday and while doing a clean double axel, the double loop as well as the double toe were barely landed. She skated better on Saturday night but both days she did not do a backflip. It did not hurt her performance in any way and the applause showed how much she was still liked by the French audience.

Closing the gala were Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat with a new program set to Christina Aguilera. The program is meant to portray an artist’s life and the association can easily be made. While Gwendal, in a tuxedo with a top hat, starts out in the audience, Marina steps onto the ice wearing shoes and a coat. She takes off both revealing a black dress with rhinestones in order to lace up her skates, when her partner joins her and rushes her, since she apparently is late. There are some nice ideas, a scene during which they lay on the ice as well as a small costume change for Gwendal. It is one of the more researched choreographies among the ones presented, but it’s still a little rough. Especially the end needs some more work as they were losing speed, nevertheless it was skated better on Saturday evening as they did have some troubles Friday night. They were the only couple to present an encore program (Suzanna) instead of just elements and not surprisingly got a standing ovation as everyone else did before.

The closing number was to Maxime Rodriguez’ L’envie d’aimer and each skater presented a jump, spin or lift. Both nights the audience was on its feet and cheering loudly which was well deserved for the skaters.