SOI, Trenton, NJ--a review

I won't bore everyone to death with a detailed review, but I have to say, if you have a chance to see this show, DO IT. I had no interest in SOI in the Bezic and Tara "cheesy" days, but this is light years different.

The show's choreography, theme, and attitude is pure Chris Dean. The theme is time, and it is used to great effect. All of the performances were excellent, and the whole show just made you feel relaxed and zoned in with the skaters, for lack of a better term. Yuka's performance of "Misty" was gorgeous, and I swear, Todd still thinks he's competing in eligibles--both numbers skated full out with multiple jumps and spins and just packed with interesing moves. You can tell that Yags has lost a little jump-wise, but the spark, the intensity and especially the footwork is still there. Kristi only did two doubles and turned out of one, but it didn't matter. Same with Paul on jumps--the edging, the quality of the skating and the flow were just lovely with both of them. I also truly enjoyed all of the pairs teams. Dean has used them together to maximum effectiveness and their individual numbers were well done. The whole show had great flow and beauty to it. And best of all, no crappy, cheeseball sex kitten numbers and no unadulterated junk like that "Gold" abomination from 2002. The entire program was pure class, all the way. While the numbers varied, you still got caught up in all of them, and the time transitions were fun. My favorite was the use of the "Schoolhouse Rock" classic "4 X 2 = 8" ("Figure Eight"). I have to skate to that someday!!!

All in all, a "first rate" show!

Thanks Yazmeen for the highlights.

I am not a fan of Exhibition skating and rarely go. My only time with SOI was a lot less than exhilerating. Watching Tara trying to act like a grown up was, for me, very painful. No matter what they did with her hairstyle, she still looked like a little muppet right out of Annie, and Bezic never got her to skate like an adult. Tara, imo, was the perrenial stunted child star. I would like to see Oksana, if she was in the show. With all her problems and faulty jumps, I do like her as an adult skater. Todd is a competitor skater and that's that, and, imo, will never be a memorable show skater. I really think Dean has a sense of interesting figure skating 'numbers' without going back into the cutesey style of Ice Follies. I'll give it a try LIVE.

thanks again, yazmeen

Joe

SOI Trenton

We attended the SOI Trenton, Philly, & Atlantic City shows and loved them all. We've been going to SOI every year since 1993 (thanks to Paul Wylie & Brian Orser in particular). Joesitz, I must respectfully take issue over what you said about Todd. Yes, he has competed wonderfully through the years, but I do believe he has become a great asset as a show skater to a tour like SOI. He is a reserved person and does have a serious persona (I would be very surprised to see him "clown around" in his individual programs). He is branching out and skating to new programs that are defintely a departure for him (last season's "Channel One Suite" and this season's "Flamenco") in addition to more "traditional" Todd programs (last season's "Miserere," and this season's "When You Come Back to Me Again"). I welcome the fact that he gets the opportunity to interact with the SOI "family," and from watching him on the ice, it is obvious to me that he is having the time of his life performing for the audiences. I am not surprised at all that he is getting standing ovation after standing ovation in many of the cities that have had the SOI show. If anything, it is heartening to me to see Todd get lots of well-deserved respect from audiences that welcome watching the "serious" skater.