Ice Theatre of NY offers modern dance with an icy spin

Volume 2, Number 6 | The Weekly Newspaper of Chelsea | November 16 - 22, 2007

Elisa Angeli and Lance Vipond in “Pull,” choreogrpahed by David Liu, during Ice Theatre of New York’s gala performance earlier this month at Chelsea Piers’ Sky Rink.

By Alyssa Galella

Before you go to one of the Ice Theatre of New York’s performances, forget everything you know about figure skating. If you’re expecting the outlandish costumes, gravity-defying leaps or cutthroat competition you’ve seen at the Winter Olympics or in the recent Will Ferrell comedy “Blades of Glory,” you’ve come to the wrong place. The Ice Theatre, which is based out of the Chelsea Piers Sky Rink, is more like a modern dance troupe—with an icy spin.

“This is a form that’s emerging in the figure skating community, and I think we’re spearheading the movement,” said founder and artistic director Moira North after a performance at the Sky Rink during the first weekend in November.

North, a former professional skater, founded the Ice Theatre in 1984 to provide an outlet for creative, non-competitive ice skaters.

“I wanted to create a venue that embraced other artists who were small but important,” North said. The company maintains a core group of skaters that usually changes every three to four years, and the “really international cast” of eight currently includes members from Italy, Canada, Taiwan and the Czech Republic, North said.

All of the skaters in the company also have dance backgrounds, evident in their graceful, fluid performances.

“If you don’t have dance experience, you get it through us,” said North.”I feel like we’re the Dance Theater Workshop of ice,” she added, referring to the 42-year-old modern dance institution on West 19th Street.

In fact, two of the skaters, Elisa Angeli and Tyrrell Gene, are also currently performing with Cirque du Soleil. Co-artistic director David Liu studied at the School of American Ballet and often works with the City Contemporary Dance Company in Hong Kong.

Liu, a slight, energetic skater, is clearly the star of the Ice Theatre show, bringing thunderous applause and foot-stomping in the bleachers after his solo performances. During his most recent show, Liu performed a piece called “After All,” which was choreographed by the famed Twyla Tharp for Olympic champion John Curry, marking the first time the work had ever been performed by someone else.

A former Olympic ice skater who competed for Taiwan three times, Liu retired from competitive skating in 1998 to pursue his more creative passions: dance and choreography.

“Competitive skating is about technique and tricks, and it all boils down to who can land the quads,” said Liu, referring to jumps that feature four 360-degree spins. “It became a little dry, and it’s really hard on the body—it’s more about the technical aspects, while this is a lot more creative,” he added.

Liu, who lives in Hell’s Kitchen and skates daily, was appointed co-artistic director of the Theatre in June.

“I pretty much help set the tone of what the company’s doing,” Liu said, adding that his responsibilities include teaching, choreographing and rehearsing the skaters, which he has been doing a lot lately.

“We’ve been practicing six days a week for the last five weeks straight,” said Lance Vipond, a Canadian skating coach and choreographer who performed with the Ice Theatre at their recent show. Although Vipond took a decade-long hiatus from performing that ended this year, he seemed perfectly at home on the ice.

“I didn’t really think I’d be skating at 35,” he admitted. “But I’ve been into musical theater, acting and singing lately, and it’s taken me back into the plain old skating route,” he added, referencing his recent performance with Olympic champion Oksana Baiul in the musical “Cold As Ice” in Bellport, L.I.

This year also marked a return to skating for Alyssa Stith, whose use of a folding chair as a skating partner in the recent show was one of the most impressive and memorable performances. Stith moved to Denmark two years ago to be with her new husband, and hadn’t skated since last spring.

“It’s different to have to find your comfort zone on the ice again,” admitted Stith, who is originally from West Point, N.Y. So far, the competitive nature of figure skating in Denmark has kept Stith from continuing to skate there, she said.

“There’s not such a modern dance community out there, but I’m hopefully getting back into it,” Stith said.

North also plans to get back into skating, even though she stopped performing after the birth of her son in 1993.

“I hope to do a special comeback performance for our 25th anniversary in two years,” North said.

In its past 23 years, the Ice Theatre has become a respected artistic institution, and still continues to grow and become engaged in the community. In between shows, the Theatre organizes an outreach program for children in Harlem and Washington Heights, called New Works & Young Artists. The free program is held four to five times a year in Riverbank State Park at 145th Street, and features performances by ensemble and up-and-coming skaters, as well as a hands-on skating clinic.

As another part of their community outreach, the Ice Theatre will also be doing free performances in Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center throughout the winter. Although the company usually performs at the Sky Rink, coveted ice time there is occasionally pre-empted by hockey games. (At the recent performance, the red and blue lines under the ice struck an odd contrast to the graceful performances, and hockey players in bulky pads clomped through the bleachers during applause breaks.)

Fortunately, the company can also do shows at regular theaters in addition to skating at other rinks around the city, as they are able to build a skating rink on stage by covering it with Freon pipes and crushed ice.

“We’re looking for a venue where we can put ice on the stage,” North said. “And people won’t have to look through Plexiglas.”