40th Anniversary Home Season Programming by Lynn Rutherford
40th Anniversary Home Season Programming
On May 5th, Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) will celebrate the remarkable bodies of work created by two legends: 1984 Olympic champion Scott Hamilton, the consummate showman and philanthropist, who receives ITNY’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and renowned dance critic and cultural reporter Anna Kisselgoff, to whom they will present the Ice Angel Award.
Several years after Moira founded Ice Theatre of New York in 1984, Ms. Kisselgoff, then Chief Dance Critic for The New York Times, reviewed a performance held at ITNY’s first home, Sky Rink on West 33rd Street. Moira has long treasured her words: “This is not commercial skating, and yet it has a ready audience, willing on this occasion to sit tightly packed atop bleachers and to jump to its feet for a lusty ovation at the end.”
ITNY’s 40 years have brought many changes and much growth. With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts and the Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from private foundations and patrons, ITNY has created an ever-growing repertory of ensemble theatre dance, displayed in venues throughout the U.S. They offer free City Skate Concerts in rinks throughout the city and their educational outreach programs introduce thousands of youngsters to figure skating.
Best of all, ITNY still inspires and entertain audiences in tightly packed bleachers, and those audiences still reward them with lusty standing ovations.
In selecting works to perform this 40th season, Moira wanted a mix of old and new, and to pay tribute to ITNY’s roots. She took a cue from George Balanchine, who famously remarked, “But first, a school,” and chose a piece created in the 1980s by Rob McBrien, their former ensemble director and an important early collaborator. Set to Vaughn Williams’ “The Lark Ascending,” it is the story of skaters developing their skills on ice – both a forerunner to ITNY’s essential Edge Classes, and a homage to the beginnings of the company, including all of those rehearsals between midnight and 5 am on ice donated by Sky Rink.
In another of her many New York Times’ reviews, Ms. Kisselgoff credited ITNY with “attempting to break out of a world that is often too closed to new ideas.” That includes quirky pieces you wouldn’t expect to see in an ice show, like "Alberta Biography," also from the 1980s. Set to bird calls recorded by famed ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson and choreographed by the late Frank Nowosad, it is unconventional in every way.
One of the most popular pieces in their repertory, the playful “La Revolte Des Enfants,” was choreographed by Alberto del Saz, who is both a former professional skater and artistic director of the Nikolais/Louis Foundation for Dance. This charming, unexpected creation was commissioned by the New York State Council on the Arts.
From the start, ITNY has worked with choreographers from the dance and performance art world, and so it was with “Arctic Memory,” a timely and provocative work by Jody Sperling, created on a scientific mission north of the Arctic Circle and based on an aerial photograph of glaciers melting. It grows more haunting by the year.
An early friend of ITNY, Lorna Brown is a British professional skating champion and original member of John Curry’s Skating Company. She created the ice ballet "When Atoms Embrace," a narrative piece about transformation, healing, and hope, that is more relevant now than ever.
Then there are more recent works: the ethereal yet daring “In Fragments, We Meet,” from company member and aerial performer Angela Kim; the premier of “Hip, Hip Hooray,” created by ITNY performing apprentice and emerging choreographer Milly Wasserman and “Ensemble for Peace” from our former ensemble director, Elisa Angeli, dedicated to victims of the war in Ukraine and everywhere in our world throughout time.
ITNY is thrilled that Ilia Malinin, hot off his second world title, joins the program for the second straight year. Some might think the “Quadg0d™,” best known for his technical fireworks, is an unusual ITNY guest star. I disagree. Just 20 years old, he is discovering and finetuning his own style and brings excitement and charisma (or “rizz”) to the ice.
My hope is that ITNY will continue to dare greatly and glide gracefully and boldly into the future!
Lynn Rutherford
