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- Mar 5, 2004
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Hi, there. We attended Mike Weiss' foundation show in Reston, VA over the weekend. Here is my report.
We got there in time for most of the practice, starting about 12 PM. we didn't want to disturb the skaters, so we just watched pretty quietly. I did wave and smile to Silvia Fontana, and she smiled right back! Megan, Todd's wife, was there this year, so I went over to say hello to her, and wish her and Todd a happy second anniversary. We had a lovely chat, and she was very personable. I asked her if she had ever seen Todd's "Who Let the Dogs Out?" program from the 12/00 "Improv-Ice." She said she hadn't, so I explained the concept and what happened at the show (We attended it in Philly, PA). i said to her something like, "Oh, you'll have to see that one some day!"
On to the show. Pardon me for being sketchy on the technical details and not recognizing all of the music.
At the beginning of the show, mike announced that Rudy Galindo would unfortunately not be there. He had slipped about three days ago, and chipped a bone in his ankle. Mike called Kimmie Meissner, and asked her if she could skate in the show (Mike had skated in her "Angels on Ice" show in Baltimore two weeks ago), and she did! Also Naomi & Peter were originally set to skate in this show, but weren't there as they are currently in Japan doing a show, I think - I had a chance to ask Mike about them after the show). Rudy's niece was also supposed to skate in the show, but wasn't there.
Kasey Tamayo - future skating champion
Kristine Musademba - US Novice national champion & MWF Scholarship Winner - skated to a jazzy version of "summertime."
Armin Mahbanoozadeh - US novice national Champion & MWF Scholarship Winner. I really like Armin, and this was his third MWF show. He trains at the Skate Quest rink where the show took place, and his program was his news short program - A Rachmaninoff piece.
Ellie Kawamura - MWF Scholarship Winner - I think she skated in Mike's first show two years ago.
Isabella Tobias & Otar Japaridze - a brand new dance team from the country of Georgia. I understand they've only skated together since april 2007. Their program sounded like Russian folk music. They showed a lot of flair and were pretty impressive.
Christine Zukowski - World Junior Bronze medalist and MWF Scholarship Winner. This was Christine's 3rd appearance in Mike's show. She trains in Newark, Delaware. her program music was a jazzy number.
Yuka & Jason - Since I Fell for You - just breathtaking!
I think right after Yuka & Jason's number, the announcer (Mike's brother in law, Brad Thornton) gave a plug for Aflac (supplemental insurance), one of the show's sponsors. it was a funny moment.
Mirai Nagasu - world Junior Silver medalist - MWF Scholarship Winner - I'm really sorry that I can't positively identify all of the music selections, but I do appreciate that the announcer acknowledged the very recent competitive accomplishments of the younger skaters - Armin and Mirai, in particular - who won junior level competitions last weekend in lake Placid!
Steven Cousins - "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" - very entertaining, a real crowd pleaser.
Jen Robinson - she did a very flirty number called "Ain't No Other Man." During her program the music stopped. She just kept on skating. They fixed the techniical glitches, and she picked up the program from there.
Silvia - "Candyman" (not the Sammy Davis Jr. song, but the one Shizuka skated to in last season's Fashion on Ice. She looked great in her short shorts.
Kyoko & John - the Melissa Ethridge song they did in SOI - "Piece of My Heart." - terrific performance with lots of jaw dropping moves (the headbanger and some other daring moves).
Yuka - "The First Day of My Life" - This was the same program she did solo in Kimmie's show - just a joy to watch her.
At this point my husband Mark asked me if I knew what Todd was going to skate to. I told him I didn't know, and that I didn't actually ask him at the end of the practice. I wanted to be surprised, but i said that we might have some idea once we spot him in his costume. Sure enough, i saw Todd standing in the skaters' area during Yuka's performance, and he was wearing the brightly colored shirt from 'Better Days." Of course we know that sometimes wears a different costume for a specific program. However, I figured that he would probably skate to "Better Days" and I was right about that (and delighted to see the program live again because I just adore the song)! Since Mark was busy with the camera, I passed on my second Todd pennant to the very friendly guy sitting next to me on the other side. it was a family affair because one of his young daughters took turns waving it. Anyway, Todd skated very well, with his awesome Russian Split Jumps, spins, and barrel rolls. He may have doubled one of the jumps that was intended to be a triple, but it didn't interrupt the flow of the program. He got a very warm reception from the audience, before and after the performance.
Kimmie - "Angel" - she did this as her 2nd program in her "Angels on ice" show in Baltimore, MD (a show to benefit the Cool Kids Campaign for pediatric cancer). The audience was very happy to welcome her, and she did not disappoint.
Mike - I Can Only Imagine - very strong performance. the audience loved when Mike did his backflips. In fact he came back on the ice, did two more backflips and the move he does with his "freedom" blades.
Mike spoke to the audience to thank everyone for coming, his family and volunteers for the silent auction (which preceded the show), and the skaters for giving their time to participate in the show.
Finale - all the skaters were re-introduced to Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful," followed by "God bless the USA" (these two pieces have become the traditional ending for the show). At the very end, all of the skaters skated around the rink. I got to touch most of their hands as they came by.
It was a terrific afternoon. I am so glad & grateful that we were able to attend the show, and hope to attend next year's show.
Here is a link to pictures from the show.
http://gallery.ice-skate.net/events.php?event=14
Click on the thumbnails, and you'll get to see lots of pictures of each skater.
arty: 
We got there in time for most of the practice, starting about 12 PM. we didn't want to disturb the skaters, so we just watched pretty quietly. I did wave and smile to Silvia Fontana, and she smiled right back! Megan, Todd's wife, was there this year, so I went over to say hello to her, and wish her and Todd a happy second anniversary. We had a lovely chat, and she was very personable. I asked her if she had ever seen Todd's "Who Let the Dogs Out?" program from the 12/00 "Improv-Ice." She said she hadn't, so I explained the concept and what happened at the show (We attended it in Philly, PA). i said to her something like, "Oh, you'll have to see that one some day!"
On to the show. Pardon me for being sketchy on the technical details and not recognizing all of the music.
At the beginning of the show, mike announced that Rudy Galindo would unfortunately not be there. He had slipped about three days ago, and chipped a bone in his ankle. Mike called Kimmie Meissner, and asked her if she could skate in the show (Mike had skated in her "Angels on Ice" show in Baltimore two weeks ago), and she did! Also Naomi & Peter were originally set to skate in this show, but weren't there as they are currently in Japan doing a show, I think - I had a chance to ask Mike about them after the show). Rudy's niece was also supposed to skate in the show, but wasn't there.
Kasey Tamayo - future skating champion
Kristine Musademba - US Novice national champion & MWF Scholarship Winner - skated to a jazzy version of "summertime."
Armin Mahbanoozadeh - US novice national Champion & MWF Scholarship Winner. I really like Armin, and this was his third MWF show. He trains at the Skate Quest rink where the show took place, and his program was his news short program - A Rachmaninoff piece.
Ellie Kawamura - MWF Scholarship Winner - I think she skated in Mike's first show two years ago.
Isabella Tobias & Otar Japaridze - a brand new dance team from the country of Georgia. I understand they've only skated together since april 2007. Their program sounded like Russian folk music. They showed a lot of flair and were pretty impressive.
Christine Zukowski - World Junior Bronze medalist and MWF Scholarship Winner. This was Christine's 3rd appearance in Mike's show. She trains in Newark, Delaware. her program music was a jazzy number.
Yuka & Jason - Since I Fell for You - just breathtaking!
I think right after Yuka & Jason's number, the announcer (Mike's brother in law, Brad Thornton) gave a plug for Aflac (supplemental insurance), one of the show's sponsors. it was a funny moment.
Mirai Nagasu - world Junior Silver medalist - MWF Scholarship Winner - I'm really sorry that I can't positively identify all of the music selections, but I do appreciate that the announcer acknowledged the very recent competitive accomplishments of the younger skaters - Armin and Mirai, in particular - who won junior level competitions last weekend in lake Placid!
Steven Cousins - "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" - very entertaining, a real crowd pleaser.
Jen Robinson - she did a very flirty number called "Ain't No Other Man." During her program the music stopped. She just kept on skating. They fixed the techniical glitches, and she picked up the program from there.
Silvia - "Candyman" (not the Sammy Davis Jr. song, but the one Shizuka skated to in last season's Fashion on Ice. She looked great in her short shorts.
Kyoko & John - the Melissa Ethridge song they did in SOI - "Piece of My Heart." - terrific performance with lots of jaw dropping moves (the headbanger and some other daring moves).
Yuka - "The First Day of My Life" - This was the same program she did solo in Kimmie's show - just a joy to watch her.
At this point my husband Mark asked me if I knew what Todd was going to skate to. I told him I didn't know, and that I didn't actually ask him at the end of the practice. I wanted to be surprised, but i said that we might have some idea once we spot him in his costume. Sure enough, i saw Todd standing in the skaters' area during Yuka's performance, and he was wearing the brightly colored shirt from 'Better Days." Of course we know that sometimes wears a different costume for a specific program. However, I figured that he would probably skate to "Better Days" and I was right about that (and delighted to see the program live again because I just adore the song)! Since Mark was busy with the camera, I passed on my second Todd pennant to the very friendly guy sitting next to me on the other side. it was a family affair because one of his young daughters took turns waving it. Anyway, Todd skated very well, with his awesome Russian Split Jumps, spins, and barrel rolls. He may have doubled one of the jumps that was intended to be a triple, but it didn't interrupt the flow of the program. He got a very warm reception from the audience, before and after the performance.
Kimmie - "Angel" - she did this as her 2nd program in her "Angels on ice" show in Baltimore, MD (a show to benefit the Cool Kids Campaign for pediatric cancer). The audience was very happy to welcome her, and she did not disappoint.
Mike - I Can Only Imagine - very strong performance. the audience loved when Mike did his backflips. In fact he came back on the ice, did two more backflips and the move he does with his "freedom" blades.
Mike spoke to the audience to thank everyone for coming, his family and volunteers for the silent auction (which preceded the show), and the skaters for giving their time to participate in the show.
Finale - all the skaters were re-introduced to Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful," followed by "God bless the USA" (these two pieces have become the traditional ending for the show). At the very end, all of the skaters skated around the rink. I got to touch most of their hands as they came by.
It was a terrific afternoon. I am so glad & grateful that we were able to attend the show, and hope to attend next year's show.
Here is a link to pictures from the show.
http://gallery.ice-skate.net/events.php?event=14
Click on the thumbnails, and you'll get to see lots of pictures of each skater.
arty:
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