Ice Theatre of New York celebrates Paul Wylie on October 26

Ice Theatre of New York Honors Olympic Silver Medalist Paul Wylie and Choreographer Lar Lubovitch at its Annual Benefit Gala and Performance

New York City, NY --- Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY), the nation’s premier ice dancing ensemble, inaugurates its 2009-2010 anniversary season by hosting the company’s annual Benefit Gala and Performance on Monday, October 26th, at Chelsea Pier’s Sky Rink.  Festivities include a star-studded benefit honoring both Olympic Silver Medalist and renowned Ice Artist Paul Wylie and one of America’s brightest choreographers Lar Lubovitch, followed by cocktails, dinner and celebrations at The Lighthouse in Chelsea Piers. Olympic Silver Medalist Rosalynn Sumners will be Master of Ceremonies.

“Paul Wylie has been a friend of ITNY for many years,” says Moira North, ITNY’s Artistic Director. “He performed with us at the Opening of the new Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers, and he has been an enthusiastic supporter and friend of ITNY and of the artistic skating movement.” Wylie joins an esteemed list of ITNY honorees including Nancy Kerrigan, Vera Wang, Scott Hamilton, two-time World champion Aja Zanova Steindler, and two-time Olympic gold medalist Dick Button.

ITNY will also present a Choreography Award to Lar Lubovitch in recognition of his many works for skaters, from pieces for Paul Wylie, John Curry and Peggy Fleming, to the televised ice ballet, The Planets. The International Emmy, Tony and Grammy Award nominee, choreographer/artistic director Lar Lubovitch is currently touring the country in celebration of his 40th year in the business. “In addition to his work for stage, screen and television, Lubovitch has also made a notable contribution to the advancement of choreography in the field of dance on ice,” explains North. “We applaud the priceless contributions he has made to the ice dance community by presenting him with the  ITNY Choreography Award.”

The Gala Performance is scheduled to feature Lubovitch’s work, Tilt-a-Whirl. In addition, ITNY will premiere a new work by choreographer Douglas Webster, as well as present selections from ITNY’s existing repertory, including La Revolte des Enfants by Alberto del Saz, 2:1 by David Liu, The Dreame by Jacqulyn Buglisi, and Draughtsman’s Contract by Elisa Monte. All of the evening’s proceeds will support ITNY’s New Works and Young Artists Series, an outreach program for public school children in Manhattan and Queens, as well as all of our 2009-2010 season's artistic programming. Winding up the night will be the presentation of the Ice Angel Award to Chelsea Pier’s Sky Rink in honor of the venue’s long-time support of both ITNY and the art of dance on ice. (See complete invitation here)

• Date: Monday, October 26, 2009, at 7:00 p.m.

• Venue: Pier 61 at Chelsea Piers (23rd Street & Hudson River, New York, NY); Performance at Sky Rink (approximately 45 minutes) followed by Gala at The Lighthouse (both at Pier 61)

• Tickets: Benefit $350 and up | Performance only $25/$15 seniors & students

• To purchase: Contact Ice Theatre at 212.929.5811 or visit http://www.icetheatre.org

About Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY)

Founded in 1984 by Moira North, Ice Theatre of New York seeks to change the face of figure skating by creating works that integrate the sensibilities of contemporary dance, music and art. Through its  performances in both traditional and alternative venues, ITNY presents on-ice dances that challenge the perceptions and conventional definitions of figure skating. ITNY was the first ice dance company to receive dance program funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In addition to building and performing works of artistic merit, ITNY also reaches out to the next generation of skaters and audiences through its exemplary education, community outreach and training programs. "Since its establishment in 1984, the Ice Theatre of New York has combined the best of ice skating, dance and theater to create cutting edge performances that represent the very best New York's creative community has to offer." - Mayor Michael Bloomberg

As the company begins its new season, ITNY will continue its tradition of collaborating with choreographers from both the dance and skating worlds, as well as exploring relationships with artists from theatre, music and new media disciplines. 2009-2010 season highlights include:  free performances as part of the City Center Ice Concert Series at Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park and Queen’s World Ice Arena; New Works & Young Artists Series at both Riverbank State Park and Queen’s World Ice Arena to serve city school children; special holiday performances at Wollman Rink, Rockefeller Center, Riverbank State Park, Bryant Park, Chelsea Piers, Winter Festival in Milford, PA, to name a few; and ITNY’s 2010 Home Season at Chelsea Piers (May ’10).  http://www.icetheatre.org.

Paul Wylie: Catching up with 1992 Olympic silver medalist

Paul Wylie (see right), 1992 Olympic silver medalist, attended the 2008 Ice Theatre of New York gala and also acted as the emcee for the event. The main reason? His good friend and once training mate Nancy Kerrigan was the honoree and he couldn't pass up the chance to be by her side as Ice Theatre celebrated her accomplishments on and off the ice.

Since the Olympics, Paul has toured with Stars on Ice for many years, worked as a commentator for ESPN, went to Harvard Business School, did a stint at the corporate offices at Disney and in between found the time to get married and have three(!) children. Paul currently works as a coach and choreographer at Extreme Ice in Charlotte, North Carolina and also travels to work with skaters on choreography (U.S. novice champion Danny O'Shea worked with him for a few weeks in Danny's hometown of Buffalo Grove, Illinois). He's still very much involved with the competitive skating world and is mentoring Jeremy Abbott and watching over his career.

Paul also told me that he's still learning to be a great husband and father. During the dinner, I also had a chance to find out which skater currently competing sort of reminds Paul of himself during his heyday. The answer might surprise you. Or maybe not. It's Mao Asada -- no, I'm just kidding. I actually told Paul I thought Japan's Takahiko Kozuka skated like him -- very stylish and musical. But Paul wasn't thinking of Takahiko. Hm...

Novice champion Danny O'Shea collaborates with skating legend Paul Wylie

2008 Novice men's champion Danny O'Shea has been receiving invaluable choreography advice from 1992 Olympic silver medalist Paul Wylie (see above, Danny is on right). This collaboration began when Danny's choreographer, former ice dancer Susie Wynne Barth, approached Paul during Worlds and asked if he would be interested in working with some of her students. In May 2008, Paul came to Danny's training center, the Twin Rinks Ice Pavilion in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, to work with Danny for about a week.

Paul helped Danny with his short program for this year, which is Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. (As an aside, I have to mention this: I have learned so much about composers and music from being a skater and skating fan. I had heard this piece thousands of times and now can finally put the composer's name on it! Trust me, you have heard this in movies, commercials, sporting events, you name it. YouTube link to Carmina Burana.) Danny told me that this is a program close to Paul's heart, as Paul skated to it himself some time ago. Another interesting tidbit is that Anne Militano cut the music for the program. Anne also worked with Paul during his competitive years and is also the sister of Mary Scotvold, Paul's former coach. So it looks like Paul is recreating his winning team together for Danny. I asked Danny what he took away most from being around and collaborating with Paul. He said,

Amazing energy and talent! WOW -- what balance on the ice. He is absolutely great to work with! He worked on some difficult footwork with me and demonstrated what he thought would work. All I can say is WOW.

Paul will be back for another week to continue working with Danny and I cannot wait to see the short program!

Who inspired you to learn a move?

I have two moves that skaters and nonskaters often ask the "How do you do that?" question. One is the upright spin, and the other is the spread eagle. My Rockefeller Center skating friend Joanie says that when she used to work nearby and would walk by the rink, she could always tell if I was there because she recognized my spread eagles.

And I remember clearly the first time I was inspired by a spread eagle - Paul Wylie performing his long program in the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France. Paul does an inside spread eagle and outside spread eagle in his program (skating to the gorgeous soundtrack from Henry V) and they immediately caught my eye because they looked so different from the other skaters' spread eagles, mens and womens. After his skate, I was truly inspired to learn, first, what they were, and second, to begin learning the mechanics of how to do them.

Below is another of my favorite Paul Wylie programs with amazing spread eagles, skating to the soundtrack from Apollo 13:

Who inspired or inspires you?

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH MY INTERVIEW WITH PAUL AT THE 2008 ICE THEATRE OF NEW YORK GALA IN NYC**