Gregory and Petukhov announce Las Vegas Skating Extravaganza

[alilou]

US Olympians Denis Petukhov and Melissa Gregory Announce Las Vegas Ice Skating Extravaganza
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...111059579.html

Click on the picture - it's absolutely fabulous.

And here's the link to their Fever on Ice project
http://www.eduskating.com/

And the link to Proud Nation (the performance that arose from their Fever on Ice project working with a Hartford school)
http://gregoryandpetukhov.com/projects/proud-nation

They sure are keeping busy - following their dream. So impressed. I hope their Las Vegas venture is a huge success!

[kwanette]

Thanks, so happy for Melissa and Denis.

[skamper23]

I hope this is a real success for them! Looking forward to more details, like location, cast and dates. I may have to plan another trip to Vegas!!

[paskatefan]

Great opportunity for Melissa & Denis. Hope it's a huge success!

[Jenny]

Hopefully that's the one good thing that will come out of SWTS - higher profile and increased opportunities for skaters like these.

[skatesindreams]

I hope this is a real success for them! Looking forward to more details, like location, cast and dates. I may have to plan another trip to Vegas!!

Ditto for me!

[Garden Kitty]

I love how they've really had some original and creative ideas about developing skating opportunities for themselves and other skaters. I wish them a lot of luck in this venture.

[Coco]

I love how they've really had some original and creative ideas about developing skating opportunities for themselves and other skaters. I wish them a lot of luck in this venture.

Absolutely! Best of luck to them!

[BittyBug]

I love how they've really had some original and creative ideas about developing skating opportunities for themselves and other skaters. I wish them a lot of luck in this venture.

Indeed. I find the idea of a "Cirque du Soleil" style ice show quite intriguing, and I hope it's a big success. Frankly, this concept is a lot more appealing to me than the usual professional ice tours of solo numbers skated to drecky pop music and corny group numbers.

I wonder who the other skaters will be.

[Rottie]

Sounds very interesting!

[Nan]

This sounds something like the show Weir talked about putting together some time ago. Does anyone know if he is involved?

[Jenny]

I'm sure that if Johnny was confirmed, they would have mentioned him. It's not good to make an announcement without details of timing, venue and certainly cast members or other creative team members - but I suspect they wanted to capitalize on SWTS, which is smart.

[Willowway]

This sounds something like the show Weir talked about putting together some time ago. Does anyone know if he is involved?

I'm sure if he was involved as a producer/creator he would have been mentioned. I think Denis and Melissa beat him to it. They appear to be the kind of people who know how to proceed from idea to implementation as they have demonstrated with smaller scale projects already - they have really learned to be producers, good for them! This is a very ambitious project in financial terms; I hope that they succeed.

Johnny might be in their cast when they get to that point but right now it's clearly not the show he talked about putting together.

[manleywoman]

Indeed. I find the idea of a "Cirque du Soleil" style ice show quite intriguing, and I hope it's a big success. Frankly, this concept is a lot more appealing to me than the usual professional ice tours of solo numbers skated to drecky pop music and corny group numbers.

my feelings exactly.

I wonder who the other skaters will be.

I'm hoping it's not big names, and instead more like Cirque where it's a true ensemble.

[Perky Shae Lynn]

Oh, I hope this works! Melissa and Dennis are WONDERFUL people, so creative and hard-working. Keeping my fingers crossed that this idea turns into something beautiful and profitable.

[BittyBug]

I'm hoping it's not big names, and instead more like Cirque where it's a true ensemble.

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive (see ITNY as an example), but there is some very strong but relatively unknown talent (to the general public anyway) out there. One skater who comes to mind is Joel Dear, who competed in Audrey Weisiger's Young Artist Showcase choreography competition this summer (he was the runner up). As part of his portfolio, he had a video of him doing skating aerial work, and of course, we saw him skate in several of the numbers he conceived for the YAS competition, including the Fosse number which was an ensemble piece. I think he would be fabulous in a production like this.

[aftershocks]

Here's the link to their Lyubov (Love On Ice) promotional video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgC4OGANtpw

Melissa and Denis are so creative and talented, and beautiful together. I always loved watching them dance on ice. With these new ideas, they seem to be further extending and expanding on their unique and very successful Fallen Angels Trio exhibition. It was nice seeing Denis on SWTS. I look forward to witnessing their Lyubov extravaganza, hopefully in person.

This concept of the overlapping of creative and performance arts, and the elements (fire, water, earth, air) to make something new, fresh, and exciting is fascinating, perhaps because life itself is about synergy and about how everything overlaps, or comes together in unique ways that can spark insight, clarity, understanding, and love. The sport and art of figure skating is in itself synergistic as well, but in its present state of stagnation/ transition, something new is necessary, and yes, dangerous to the status quo. Yet, it is the new, the oddball, the different, the risk-takers who in the end are the saving grace in all manner of endeavors.

... I think Denis and Melissa beat him to it ... Johnny might be in their cast when they get to that point but right now it's clearly not the show he talked about putting together.

Seems to me, it's more like Melissa, Denis, and Johnny are on a similar wavelength in terms of their thinking about expanding the possibilities of the art/ sport of figure skating, and in terms of their feelings about love and inclusion ... surely they remain good friends. I agree with your last point. Johnny might be in their cast, but his ideas for a skating show, although somewhat similar in concept, is not really the same as what Melissa and Denis are attempting and hopefully will succeed in achieving.

[Octoberopals]

WOW!!!! That looks absolutely great. I hope it comes to frutation so I'll have a reason to go to Vegas again.