AMERICA’S FIRST ICE DANCING WORLD CHAMPIONS MERYL DAVIS AND CHARLIE WHITE HEADLINE JAPAN TSUNAMI RELIEF SKATING SHOW
WORLD’S BEST SKATERS WILL COME TOGETHER TO OFFER FREE LESSONS, PERFORM FOR VICTIMS OF THE MARCH 2011 EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI
AOMORI, Japan (July 19, 2011) – Meryl Davis and Charlie White (below), the first American ice dance team to win a world championship, will lead efforts to provide smiles and relief to some of the areas hardest 
hit in northern Japan after the devastating earthquakes and tsunami ravaged the country in March. Part of Lotte presents “The Ice” skating series, a new benefit show will take place on July 27, 2011, for 1,400 invited guests from the Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures. The show will be available only to the 1,400 guests; no tickets will be sold. For transportation, chartered buses will take the guests (some of whom still live in evacuation centers) to the venue in Aomori.
Leading the cast of skaters will be current world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who made history this spring when they became the first U.S. team to win gold at a world championships in ice dance; the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships were moved from Tokyo to Moscow following the tsunami.
Joining Davis and White will be current U.S. champion Alissa Czisny, 2008 U.S. champion Mirai Nagasu, 2008 U.S. junior champion Adam Rippon, 2010 Olympic silver medalist Mao Asada and her sister Mai Asada, 2010 Olympic silver medalists Qing Pang and Jian Tong, 2010 Olympic bronze medalist Joannie Rochette, 2006 Olympic bronze medalist Jeffrey Buttle, 2011 world silver medalist Takahiko Kozuka, 2011 European champion Florent Amodio, current European bronze medalists Sinead and John Kerr, three-time Japanese champions Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran, current Four Continents champion Yuzuru Hanyu, and current world junior champion Kanako Murakami.
Cast members also will give approximately 130 kids from the area free skating lessons. The earthquake and subsequent tsunami damaged or destroyed many ice rinks in the area, and the July 27 lessons will give young skaters a chance to lace up their skates and get back on the ice.
Among the tsunami victims is cast member Yuzuru Hanyu, who is from Sendai in the Miyagi prefecture, one of the hardest hit cities in Japan. Like many skaters in the country, he lost his practice rink and had to travel around the country to find ice rinks with his mother while his father and elder sister returned to work and school.
The skaters will perform and provide lessons for free, and all donations from the show will be given to the Red Cross in order to help the rebuilding efforts throughout the region. Lotte presents“The Ice” is a series of skating shows throughout Japan, with the first show taking place on July 23, 2011. The show is a production of IMG worldwide.
