From the Chicago Sun Times:<P><center><B>STAR QUALITY</B></center><P>As dancers and dance lovers I bet there are a number of us who have watched this skater with admiration and understanding.......<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Center ice, Scott Hamilton once said, is the best view in the world. He should know; he's spent much of his life there. Fittingly, then, it is where he will end a large part of his skating career. On Saturday at the Allstate Arena, Hamilton will make his final Chicago appearance with "Target Stars on Ice," a star-studded revue that he co-created in 1986. On April 7, when the 65-city tour officially ends, he will step down permanently--as permanently as an icon can.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR><A HREF="http://www.suntimes.com/output/show/ice02.html" TARGET=_blank><B>MORE....</B></A><BR>

Thank you, Basheva! I saw Hamilton live in concert last year and was so glad that I had done so. He has helped so many other skaters find their way and is a pleasure to watch on and off the ice. I had hoped we could put a bit more on this site about ice skating, since so many of the pros have had extensive ballet training (currently, for example, Jennifer Kirk, who trained and danced with Boston Ballet for many years and had many of her classmates in the audience at the U.S. championships recently). I did not want to be too presumptuous, however, and so I am glad someone else has started this thread. <P>Incidentally, when his cancer was first announced, there was nothing on local sports about it here, but instead the entire program focused on the Final Four in college basketball. I called the sports editor that night, who thought I surely must be kidding, but I told him, 10 years from now, no one will remember who won the Final Four, but they'll remember Scott Hamilton. Oh well.

I've been watching Kurt Browning skate over the past couple of years. IMHO, his choreography improved immensely when he became involved with his wife, Sonia Rodriguez-Browning, a National Ballet of Canada principal. I've been secretly wondering if she was an active particpant in his work, or if the exposure to dance changed his work because there is a much greater depth to what he does now. It's nice to see artistic progress in a sport that often indulges in tricks and tried and true themes--not that there's anything wrong with that kind of work--I'm just very intrigued by anyone who pushes their art into new territory.

Toller Cranston has always intrigued me - and I think he was the original innovator who broke new ground in ice skating. <P>I have seen several specials on TV that he has done and it's like looking into the mind of another person - like being part of their dreamscape. What a wonderful imagination he has. I think he has a lot to offer dance.

An interesting thing I have noticed - when I have gone to an ice skating event is that it appears the talent gap between the stars and the next level seems to be much larger than between the principal dancers and the corps de ballet.<P>Many, many times a corps de ballet member will do soloist or even principal roles. However, in the ice skating I have seen the gap in the talent level between the top tier and the next tier seems to be much wider.<P>I really hate to use the word "tiers" but I couldn't think of any other way to phrase it.

Ooooh, Basheva....Toller Cranston! He was my introduction to opera. He was also my introduction to what a clean "line" meant. All I knew was that when he lifted his leg, it looked different from everyone else. I remember when he first skated to "Pagliacci". People tittered at first because it seemed so dramatic, so different for ice skating. It made me cry. I went out and bought that album, my first opera choice.<P>I remember that John Curry used to always beat out TC for the gold medal. Although Curry was fabulous, I preferred Toller because I thought he was the most innovative and he had, for a man back then, a unique style.<P>What's he doing now? I remember that a number of years ago he was judging, and he also coached that fellow whose name, I think, was Christopher Bowman (great talent, no self-discipline - he's a commentator now) but I haven't heard his name in years.

Toller Cranston as far as I am concerned was the first of the real dramatic innovators in ice skating - who really brought artistry and drama to it. <P>Here is the result of a search on Google - he has a website:<P><A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Toller+Cranston%22&btnG=Google+Search" TARGET=_blank><B>TOLLER CRANSTON</B></A><BR>