Ice Theatre on NY at Chelsea Piers this weekend

[Marge_Simpson]

Ice Theatre of NY will be performing at Chelsea Piers this weekend.....guest artists iclude Nicole Bobek, Navarro & Bommentre, and the Kerrs. Is anyone planning to attend? I was thinking of going on Friday, so if anyone wants to meet up, just say the word. Info here:

http://www.icetheatre.org/


Errr, the thread title should have said Ice Theatre OF NY. Sorry!

[JeffClair1979]

Im very tempted to go, but it's hard for me to get there by 7:00 on Friday, coming from work in Queens. I might go Saturday!

[LilJen]

Sounds like a really great show (listen to manleywoman's podcast interview of two ITNY leaders). There'll be a whole tribute to Richard Dwyer aka "Mr Debonair" and the Debonair Ladies will include Dorothy Hamill, Linda Fratianne, Tai Babilonia, and Peggy Fleming!

[manleywoman]

I SO wish I could see this show. And yes, I did get to interview Moira North and Douglas Webster in September. Please lsiten if you can.

For those who can't attend, they are doing a live stream from their website at http://www.icetheatre.org/index.php?id=480

[ioana]

I have tixx for Friday's show with two of my friends. Marge, I promise not to skip intermission meet-ups this time around .

[Marge_Simpson]

Ioana, I will see you later.

[Marge_Simpson]

Im very tempted to go, but it's hard for me to get there by 7:00 on Friday, coming from work in Queens. I might go Saturday!

Definitely check it out, the show was fab! And very voidy. I will review in detail tomorrow.

[ioana]

Show was absolutely brilliant. Seeing the Kerrs do a revival of their Muse FD was a highlight; Nicole Bobek is in the best shape I've seen her in a while, and looked great in her solo and group numbers.

The finale set to The Artist soundtrack was a lot of fun and had everyone clapping along. Ryan Bradley is perfect for this kind of number (and his 3 lutz and backflip looked great). Kim Navarro has lovely posture and looked like she's been in the company for ages - not weeks.

Molecular number with the 3 hoops was interesting, and the one with 3 teams doing expanding space were also great. Anyone in NY should go check this out!

[Macassar88]

Argh... The one time I'm not in the city is when they have a show there!

[Marge_Simpson]

Ok, my belated review, plus a little snark.
The show was fabulous; creative and voidy.
Unfortunately I neglected to read the program before the show began; this was a colossal mistake, seeing that I was about to watch Ice Theatre of NY. I really should have known better, since I've seen them before. You see, nothing is as it seems with this group. There is no such thing as "a cigar is just a cigar" here, almost everything has some symbolic, deeply layered meaning to it.
The theme was "Time and Space"
1- 3 couples skating to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". Very lively and fun, one of the ladies was Line Haddad, who I have on an old tape somewhere. She looks adorable. Now, this was not just pure entertainment, of course. When I consulted the program I discovered that it was supposed to be an ironic reflection on our current political climate. Whatever! I thought it was upbeat and perky.
2- Next up was Nicole Bobek's solo number, "Showgirl", to a medley of Four Seasons songs. This had no hidden meaninings that i could detect. Just pure entertainment. Nicole still has the "it" factor and is in fabulous shape. Slimmer, but very muscular, and she looked like she was having a blast. She did several double jumps and her signature spiral.
3- The Kerrs did "Redemption" next and it was simply gorgeous. John is as porny as ever.
4- The next piece was one of my favorites, even though I couldn't figure what the hell it was supposed to mean. Titled "Angel, Part 1", it was 7 skaters dressed in what looked like long black coats, carrying large red flags, set to Tibetan chanting. I was very proud of myself for working out the chanting bit, but I just couldn't figure out the point. I thought it was some kind of political protest, but what, exactly? Human rights in Tibet? Or maybe it was the red and black that was important? I was wracking my brains trying to remember which countries have a red and black flag, but all I could think of was Albania. The black coats looked like chadors, maybe this was about terrorism in the Middle East? But wait, the coats looked more like robes....maybe it was a Harry Potter takeoff and it was a Death Eater initiation? When the show was over and I read the program, I discovered that it was a "meditation about mediation" Well, okay! I liked it.....very atmospheric and eerie.
5- Next was the "Molecular" piece that Ioanna liked (I did, too). Very clever, and looked like something you'd see at Cirque du Soleil. Elisi Angeli, Nicole Bobek and Joel Dear did a sort of contortionist/trapeze act while suspended from hoops. (Ioanna told me these were actually the harnesses used for practing jumps). Voidy!
6- The NavBoms were next, with a "Coldplay" program. No secret symbolism here, just good entertainment. They had a headbanger-type move which made me shut my eyes as soon as I realized what they were doing; headbangers scare the crap out of me. The crowd applauded wildy, though, so I knew it was safe to open my eyes.
7-Elisa Siegmund did a bit with a chair as a prop, mainly she sat on it looked sulky. I didn't see the meaning, but I knew there had to be one. According to the program, "one becomes aware of the abstraction of the relation to one's own internal mood." Well, if you say so. I found it tedious; luckily it was short.
8- Next were 3 couples in a piece called "Horizon", which I liked very much. It reminded me of a synchro routine and was stark but interesting. The secret symbolic meaning? "The theme of arcing space" (Honestly, can't the meaning just be "crowd-pleasing fun?)
9- 5 of the group's junior ladies skated next, in a piece called "Spring". It was v.perky and pleasing. The ladies were wearing longish aqua colored dresses, very pretty, which led me to believe they were supposed to be mermaids. No, they were flowers, and symbolized the fullness of life. But I liked it anyway.
10- Next was the number I totally bungled the interpretation of. 4 guys and I woman, dressed in sweats, and one guy, dressed in red. This was rather long and had several scenes and was obviously a play on ice. But the whole thing went right over my head. The skaters in sweats seemed to be alternately mocking or encouraging the guy in red. The guy in red seemed to be trying to get in with the rest of the group, and alternated between anger that they didn't want him, and confidence that he could win them over. From time to time the skaters in sweats would push up one of their sleeves and flex their biceps. Or so I thought.
My take on this was that they were personal trainers, or fitness gurus, and the guy in red wanted to become as fit as they were, or become a trainer himself.
Alas! It was about the stages the guy in red went through after receiving an HIV-positive diagnosis.
11- Elisa Angeli and Jessica Huot did a beautiful number to music from "The Piano" They did a lot of mirror skating, so I imagined this had some Yin and Yang meaning. But no, it was called "Falling Leaves" and was about 2 leaves moving through space.
12- Ryan Bradley did a fabulous, fun routine to "The Best is Yet to Come". He looks to be in really good shape, and landed a triple lutz, trilpe toe, and a sky-high double axel, as well as a backflip. He is SO adorable. But he couldn't just do a crowd-pleasing number, oh no. The program emphasized that he was exhibiting "classic qualities of a bygone era" If you say so. I just thought it was entertaining.
13- The final number, "unforgettable" was fab and reminded me of a Busby Berkeley extravaganza. Ryan Bradley and Erin Reed were wonderful as the leading man and lady; Ryan tossed off another backflip.

Overall, I loved the show, with the exception of the chair routine. The routines were creative and clever, the costumes were lovely. I just wish you didn't have to read the program to figure out what the hidden meanings were. But I guess it wouldn't be Ice Theatre of NY if you didn't.

Thus concludes my snarky review.

[Sylvia]

Thanks for sharing, Marge!

Photo gallery from Monday night: http://web.icenetwork.com/photos/gal...nt_id=40000432