Recent content by Yuri

It was nice of Hana and Daniil to give Oksana some credit for their choreography for their new RD and FD. She spent about a week in Newington CT this spring after attending the Saturday events of Boston Worlds. Of course, it's classic that one of their programs is to Madonna's Vogue! It's cool...

I finished reading The Favorites book a couple days ago and it was a perfect beach read, particularly for an ice dancing fan! OMG I was hearing Johnny Weir in my head as Ellis Dean seemed like a cross between him and Dave Lease (if he had been a forgotten Olympic skater)! I agree the author...

RIP, Mr. Button! What an irreplaceable legend as a competitor and broadcaster. Such a sad day!

Here's very sad news from the Daily Mail. TASS in Russia is also confirming the Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on the flight. This was just reported on Fox News as well without naming the married skaters who were on the plane...

I checked out how the individual event tickets work and was surprised to see that there are TWO sessions one must purchase to see the entire Championship Men SP and Championship Dance FD: Session 1: Men SP Group 1+2, Dance FD Group 1+2 Session 2: Men SP Group 3, Dance FD Group 3...

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend their training session with Oksana in Newington yesterday, and Hana & Daniil performed run-throughs of both their RD and FD in costume as they prepared to leave for the JGP in Bangkok. I was blown away by their speed, technique, and artistry, as I...

I remember my one encounter with Valentin Piseev in Fall 1994 when he and his much younger wife Alla Shekhovtsova (then 30 years old) visited the University of Delaware to check in on Linichuk & Karponosov's Russian ice dance couples Grishuk & Platov and Krylova & Ovsyannikov (Lobacheva &...

Given all the B.S. over the last 2 1/2 years, I was shocked at how emotional that I got watching the athletes go out there in front of a big crowd on a sunny day with the glorious Eiffel Tower in the background. Even getting teary-eyed typing this thinking of the huge smiles of the USA and Japan...

Tonya's notorious dress didn't reach the projected $50,000, but it did sell for $17,485.20 ($14,571 plus a 20% buyer's premium) in the Leland's auction that closed yesterday. Typically for auctions, the serious bidding didn't commence until the final 24 hours as the bid was below $4,000 until...

Just over four years ago we lost Ron Ludington, the great Olympics pairs and ice dancing coach, and I met John Nicks (now 95) at his pandemic-delayed Celebration of Life two years ago in Wilmington DE. One of my favorite memories while volunteering at 1989 US Nationals in Baltimore was driving...

While I traveled in his circles when my skating sibling was competing at US Nationals, unfortunately I never had the pleasure of meeting Frank. I always admired him, and his death is an enormous loss to the skating community. RIP!

Sorry, my "Evil Stefano" line is a nod to Elle Woods' video application to Harvard Law School in Legally Blonde. Unfortunately, Stefano (played by the awesome Joe Mascolo) died in 2016, but Days of Our Lives has hinted that the character may still be alive somewhere in the world. At one point...

My Mom was pregnant with my younger sibling when Days of Our Lives debuted in 1965, so its iconic theme music and "sands through the hourglass" have been burned into my brain since early childhood. I saw it many times over the years on afternoons home from school, holidays, and summer vacations...

I switched over from Peacock to USA Network just to see how Terry Gannon & Crew would handle the situation, given that USA didn't cover the Rhythm Dance so it was their first opportunity. Terry narrated perhaps a 90-120 second piece during the 3rd group dance warmups discussing the basics: the...

I must admit that I thought the USA would have only a single pairs entry in Boston next year when no couple placed in the top 10, as I didn't realize the rule was that any country with 2 or 3 entries needed the top two to score 28 placements or better to keep two. As frustrating as it was to...