Ice Theatre of New York: Free ice concerts at Rockefeller Center Skating Rink

FREE! Is there a more lovely word than free? Is anything free anymore? Especially in New York City -- I once walked out of a deli because the guy charged me $.50 to have my bagel toasted! Just when you become jaded, here comes an unexpected surprise -- Ice Theatre of New York, an ice dance company that showcases ice skating as performance art, is holding free concerts at Rockefeller Center Skating Rink throughout March. The last free concert at Rockefeller Rink is on Wednesday, March 17 at 1 p.m. so if you work or live around the area, please come by to watch an entertaining 30-minute show.

Moira North, founder of the company, really packs the half hour in with numbers that will appeal to everyone. I had a chance to see their first Rockefeller Rink ice concert this year and it was a mix of modern and traditional, but with one common theme -- all the ensemble members are accomplished skaters so they made all the pieces look very interesting. This is also an exciting time for Ice Theatre because they will be celebrating the 25th year of the company and Moira is planning something spectacular towards the end of the year or beginning of 2011.

Here's a rundown of the ice concert that I saw in early March:

• La Revolte Des Enfants: Choreographed by Alberto Del Saz, music by Renee Aubry, performed by Eve Chalom, Ali Blank and Marni Halasa (see photo at right) (They are attached to each other with pink spandex, no kidding.)

• The Dreame: Choreographed by Jacqulynn Buglisi, music by Franz Liszt, performed by Elisa Angeli and Tyrrell Gene (Watching them made me wish I liked to work out.)

• Dare Greatly: Choreographed by Douglas Webster, music by Coldplay, performed by Alizah Allen, Eve Chalom and Susanne McDonald (Watching them made me wish I had great edges.)

• Hot Chocolate: Choreographed by Douglas Webster, performed by Ali Blank, Tyrrell Gene, Marni Halasa, Marie Ogawa, Radmila Olshandky, Kevin Sidewell, Wendy Wilke and Greg Wittrock (What an awesome number --- made everyone smile at the end.)

Special guests included:

• Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre, two-time U.S. bronze medalists in ice dance as well as two-time World competitors, skating to Give Me One Reason by Tracy Chapman

• Danielle Gamelin and Alexander Gamelin, 2010 Eastern Sectional silver medalists in ice dance, skating to James Bond theme from movie Casino Royale

• Felicia Zhang and Taylor Toth, 2010 U.S. junior national champions, skating to Rondo Veneziano by Mozart

So mark your calendars everyone: Wednesday, March 17, at 1 p.m. at Rockefeller Center Skating Rink. Raindate is the following day. Special guest skater for the March 17 show will be Emmanuel Savary, 2010 U.S. silver medalist in novice men's -- cute as a button and you can't believe he's only 11. See you there!

2010 World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Murakami from Japan wins gold, Zawadzki from US wins silver

The 2010 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships concluded today in The Hague, The Netherlands with the ladies free skate. Much like the junior men's event, the results aren't always predictable after the short program. The U.S.'s Agnes Zawadzki, the 2010 U.S. junior national champion, came from way behind after the short program to capture the silver! What a thrill that must have been for her. Kanako Murakami from Japan won the gold, and Polina Agafonova from Russia won the silver. The U.S.'s Kiri Baga and Christina Gao finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

Results for the top 24 ladies are as follows: Note: SP=Short Program, FS=Free Skate

FPL	Name	Country	SP	FS	Points
1	Kanako MURAKAMI	JPN	2	1	165.47
2	Agnes ZAWADZKI	USA	8	2	156.79
3	Polina AGAFONOVA	RUS	3	4	154.27
4	Polina SHELEPEN	RUS	7	3	151.65
5	Anna OVCHAROVA	RUS	1	8	147.52
6	Kate CHARBONNEAU	CAN	4	7	147.46
7	Kiri BAGA	USA	5	5	146.98
8	Christina GAO	USA	9	6	143.86
9	Joshi HELGESSON	SWE	6	9	138.13
10	Julia PFRENGLE	GER	11	10	133.05
11	Lena MARROCCO	FRA	10	12	127.62
12	Svetlana ISSAKOVA	EST	17	11	124.10
13	Romy BUEHLER	SUI	15	13	121.94
14	Sila SAYGI	TUR	13	15	118.28
15	Beata PAPP	FIN	20	14	117.32
16	Karina JOHNSON	DEN	18	16	115.17
17	Angelica OLSSON	SWE	12	19	114.44
18	Isabel DRESCHER	GER	21	17	111.95
19	Qiuying ZHU	CHN	24	18	110.55
20	Francesca RIO	ITA	16	20	107.12
21	Alina MILEVSKAIA	UKR	14	22	105.02
22	Ira VANNUT	BEL	23	21	103.68
23	Manouk GIJSMAN	NED	19	23	103.14
24	Alina FJODOROVA	LAT	22	24	102.18

2010 World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Ilynikh and Katsalapov win ice dance

The 2010 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships continue in The Hague, The Netherlands with ice dancing. Elena Ilynikh and Nikita Katsalapov from Russia won the gold with 188.28 points. Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam from Canada took the silver, and Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khaliavin from Russia won the bronze. The U.S.'s Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani came in fourth place.

Rachel Tibbetts and Collin Brubaker from the U.S. placed seventh and teammates Piper Gilles and Zachary Donohue placed ninth.

Results for the top 20 in ice dancing are below. (Note: CD=Compulsory Dance; OD=Original Dance; FD=Free Dance)

FPl	Name	Country	Score	CD	OD	FD
1	Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV	RUS	188.28	1	1	1
2	Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM	CAN	172.37	5	2	2
3	Ksenia MONKO / Kirill KHALIAVIN	RUS	168.81	4	3	5
4	Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI	USA	168.35	2	4	4
5	Lorenza ALESSANDRINI / Simone VATURI	ITA	167.84	6	5	3
6	Ekaterina PUSHKASH / Jonathan GUERREIRO	RUS	162.16	3	6	6
7	Rachel TIBBETTS / Collin BRUBAKER	USA	153.50	7	7	7
8	Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI	UKR	146.96	8	8	8
9	Piper GILLES / Zachary DONOHUE	USA	141.30	11	9	12
10	Geraldine BOTT / Neil BROWN	FRA	140.65	12	10	10
11	Stefanie FROHBERG / Tim GIESEN	GER	139.51	9	15	11
12	Dora TUROCZI / Balazs MAJOR	HUN	139.29	16	12	9
13	Olivia Nicole MARTINS / Alvin CHAU	CAN	135.63	13	14	13
14	Gabriela KUBOVA / Dmitri KISELEV	CZE	133.48	15	13	14
15	Charlotte AIKEN / Josh WHIDBORNE	GBR	132.24	10	11	17
16	Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ	ESP	128.44	17	21	15
17	Katelyn GOOD / Nikolaj SORENSEN	DEN	128.41	20	16	16
18	Oksana KLIMOVA / Sasha PALOMAKI	FIN	127.82	14	22	18
19	Nikola VISNOVA / Lukas CSOLLEY	SVK	126.23	21	17	19
20	Justyna PLUTOWSKA / Dawid PIETRZYNSKI	POL	109.40	18	18	20

2010 World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan wins gold

Wow, look at the final men's results at the 2010 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in The Hague, The Netherlands. It's true what they say -- anything can happen at Junior Worlds. Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu took the gold after placing third in the short program and first in the free skate. Nan Song from China roared back from fifth after the short to win the silver. And Artur Gachinski from Russia was SIXTH after the short and placed third in the free skate to win the bronze.

The U.S.'s Grant Hochstein and Keegan Messing, who were first and second after the short, couldn't hang on to their lead and finished seventh and fourth, respectively. The U.S.'s Armin Mahbanoozadeh finished twelfth overall.

Results for the top 24 men are as follows: Note: SP=Short Program, FS=Free Skate

FPL	Name	Country	SP	FS	Points
1	Yuzuru HANYU	JPN	3	1	216.10
2	Nan SONG	CHN	5	2	205.25
3	Artur GACHINSKI	RUS	6	3	199.19
4	Keegan MESSING	USA	2	4	197.03
5	Grant HOCHSTEIN	USA	1	7	194.30
6	Andrei ROGOZINE	CAN	13	6	179.81
7	Artur DMITRIEV	RUS	15	5	177.78
8	Alexander MAJOROV	SWE	7	8	177.01
9	Denis TEN	KAZ	4	15	171.86
10	Armin MAHBANOOZADEH	USA	8	12	168.69
11	Abzal RAKIMGALIEV	KAZ	10	11	167.88
12	Javier RAYA	ESP	9	14	164.41
13	Morgan CIPRES	FRA	16	10	162.01
14	Jiaxing LIU	CHN	17	9	161.50
15	Jorik HENDRICKX	BEL	14	13	159.67
16	Daniel DOTZAUER	GER	11	17	154.83
17	Wenbo ZANG	CHN	20	16	148.99
18	Sebastian IWASAKI	POL	21	18	142.39
19	Kevin ALVES	BRA	18	19	141.44
20	Ronald LAM	CAN	12	22	141.31
21	Petr COUFAL	CZE	23	20	138.11
22	Stephen Li-Chung KUO	TPE	19	21	136.27
23	Petr BIDAR	CZE	24	23	131.30
24	Bela PAPP	FIN	22	24	128.78