or
Disneyland. Universal Studios. Sea World. The San Diego Zoo. Foolish tourists flock to southern California every summer to view these tourists traps. But the truly memorable site lies nestled in the San Bernadino mountains, beside the crystal blue waters of Lake Arrowhead, the Ice Castle International Skating Training Center. Sure at the Chinese Theater one can find some old movie stars hand prints, but that is nothing compared to the amazing sights that await you at Lake Arrowhead.
There was the astonishing moment that first Sunday I was there. A beautiful summer day, with the sky as deeply blue as the lake and just enough breeze to cool the air. I watched a pixieish blond about five years old practice her new routine, working fervently on a spiral and a shoot-the-duck. She was adorable, her face screwed up with concentration as she purposely hit every pose in the choreography. On the ice with her was a teenage girl of extraordinary talent working on her new long program. After skating the little girl noticed the teenager take out a pack of gum and the pixie walked up to the teenager and asked if she might have a piece. The teenager smiled and passed a stick of gum to the child, then the teenage skater announced to her mother that she intended to drive down the mountain to which her big sister replied "oh no you are not."
What's so unusual about this sight that one might see at any rink anywhere in America? Well nothing much except that the teenage girl just happened to be Michelle Kwan, the Ladie's World Figure Skating Champion.
The Ice Castle training center is world renowned, skaters from Beijing to Tipparary have come here to train. While top skaters from around the globe come and train for a while, favorite daughter Kwan has trained here since she was nine years old. Her triumph at World's last March was the culmination of Ice Castle's many years of working toward skating excellence.
Every summer Ice Castle puts on bi-weekly shows to raise money to support the training center and the skaters that are nurtured here. The shows feature such big names as, Todd Eldredge, Nicole Bobek and Liz Manley, also of course Kwan and her nationally ranked sister Karen perform in the shows.
The shows feature top level competitors and international skaters who are training at Ice Castle. Italian National Champion Silvia Fontana was featured in the shows this summer and what a treat she is. Fontana alas like so many great artists does not have the jumps to pull into the top ten at world's. She is a great spinner, charming, and exuberant; she skates with such joy that it is positively infectious.
Romanian champion Cornel Gheorge skates with greater exuberance and charm than in his competitive performances. Japanese skater Tena Inoue is a beautiful, elegant artist with a gorgeous spiral. She has yet to qualify for the Japanese World team and it was wonderful to have this opportunity to see her skate.
It is also at the Ice Castle shows that I got to see how well recovered from injury Michael Chak is. The very competitive national men's field is going to get even tougher when this 1993 bronze medalist returns. Chak skated to "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" with great flair and spine tingling charm. He has a tremendously charismatic persona that leaps off the ice, along with great flow and extension and the all important triple jumps done very well.
Junior pairs skaters, brother and sister, Tiffany and Johnnie Stiegler have taken their sensational artistry to an even higher plane. Their new exhibition routine to "Ave Maria" is graceful and elegant, with an artistic maturity that is well beyond their years. National Junior Pairs Champions Natalie Vlandis and Jered Guzman performed their "Grease" exhibition routine. They are exciting and powerful and have grown tremendously as entertainers, reaching out more to the audience and each other.
The shows also feature very young local skaters honing their talents, learning to play to the crowd and dealing with the pressure of performing. Some of the most enjoyable skating I have seen all year comes from these talented youngsters.
Some pre-teen ladies nearly stole the shows away from the top skaters, performing with great energy and exuberance. Robin Morris skating to "Cause I'm a Blond" was cute and funny; with very fast jumps and spins. Stephanie Bass skated to "Uptown Girl" and displayed excellent spinning, footwork and wonderful stage presence. Christiana Lopreore skated beautifully to _God Help The Outcast_, dressed as the gypsy Esmeralda she was hauntingly delicate in her artistry.
I was very impressed by the meticulous form of all the young ladies at Ice Castle. They have excellent posture, their lines are extended, their toes pointed, their positions superb. The Ice Castle coaching staff pays rigorous attention to the basics in their training and it shows in the excellent artistry of even their youngest skaters. The group production numbers are a wonder to behold. Featuring skaters ranking from tiny tots to international competitors who skate together with absolute precision. They put to shame many a professional company.
And then to top off all this up and coming talent each show ends with a moving performance by the champion headlining that week's show. Liz Manley's soul stirring "Impossible Dream"; Kwan's awe- inspiring "Pochantos"; and Eldredge's emotional "This is the Moment" were spectacular climaxes to nights jam packed with wonderful skating.
But what is truly remarkable about Ice Castle is getting to sit in the training rink and watch skaters of every rank practicing new jumps, spins and routines.
Among the skaters I watched practice was Jere Michael who finished fourteenth in men's singles at National's. He was so unimpressive at National's that I completely forgot him, but he turned my head in practice at Arrowhead. He has great speed, footwork, and powerful jumps. He worked on a new routine to music from "Exodus" and the routine is very exciting artistically as well as technically. He is only nineteen, but when the current big guns go pro after the '98 Olympics look for Michael to make a splash.
Natalie Vlandis and Jered Guzman skate with such tremendous speed I think they might become the first skaters to win medals in both figure and speed skating. Guzman has grown quite a bit since Nationals' which has given them more power in their lifts and throws. This is only their first year at the senior level, but very soon they are going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Tiffany Stiegler is working on a singles routine. I watched her practice her short program and it was not a good practice session. This pint-size Sandra Bernhard is artistically superb, but she was having problems with her jumps. With each missed move she pouts like Tinkerbell when Wendy arrived at Neverland. It is impossible to imagine judges giving her anything less than a 6.0; ("Oh dear Tiffany fell, but if I don't give her a 6 she will pout. Oh No! Anything but that.") In between failed jumps she sits in her mom's lap for consolation. She is the living, breathing personification of the word adorable.
I have thought for years that some pair should skate to "Sorcerer's Apprentice" and it seems that Stephanie Stiegler and John Zimmerman have read my mind. Their new long program to this piece is dramatic, exciting and loaded with innovative moves. Originality is the hallmark of their coach and choreographer Peter Oppegard, and it serves this talented pair very well.
The undercurrents and political machinations in skating could rival the Dole/Clinton campaign. Nicole Bobek has arrived at Ice Castle to train with legendary coach Carlo Fassi, he who coached Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill. The country's top two ladie's skaters skating at the same rink is a situation fraught with tension.
On Labor Day Bobek showed up to practice during Michelle Kwan's practice time, much to Danny Kwan's dismay. Bobek's choreographer Renee Roca was clearly embarrassed and apologized to Kwan father and daughter while Bobek skated with studied nonchalance. Kwan laughed it off and then proceeded to land triple jump after triple jump leaving no question as to who was the queen of this ice.
Bobek set up her new long program with Roca and Gorsha Sur, Roca's Ice Dance partner. The new routine is to music from "Giselle" and is artistically superb. The program is very theatrical with dance moves taken straight from the ballet. Bobek was not doing well when I saw her but it is hard to tell how she is doing from practice sessions, she only really comes alive in front of an audience.
If this were the Dole/Clinton campaign Kwan would be Dole. Steady and sure, she has followed a straight and narrow course, working diligently rung by run up the ladder. Bobek may not be slick, but she is slippery. She has dodged and weaved, cut corners and broken rules. She depends on her charm and great on ice charisma to carry her to success.
But there is an aura of destiny that surrounds Kwan. Her every move is polished, precise, perfect. She is not merely a good but a great skater. She is clearly fated to be a skater for the ages. I was privileged to see Michelle Kwan's new competitive long program, and it is a masterpiece. She has taken the dramatic style from her Salome routine to an even higher plateau. She has smoothed out the rough edges and added even more depth to her skating. The spiral sequence is much longer and the footwork more difficult. She has greater speed and much higher jumps. It is amazing how much Kwan improves every year, and though she is now World Champion she is still constantly striving and achieving more. It is impossible to imagine anyone defeating her this year or any year in the near future.
Amazingly though none of this has gone to her head. Despite great success at such a young age Kwan is as "normal as blueberry pie", laughing and joking and playing with the other skaters. She discussed good luck charms with Japanese skater Tena Inoue and then cheered Inoue on as Inoue ran through her long program. Kwan is sweet as can be to her fans, happily signing autographs and asking after the well being of the autograph hounds. The cynic in me tells me that no one and nothing is supposed to be as perfect as Kwan, but there she is destiny's darling.
Above the smog and congestion of Los Angeles, at the top of a majestic mountain, amongst the pines stretching regally to the sun a young girl works diligently on destiny. Next summer call your travel agent and book a tour to see California's most inspiring sight.
