events

Skaters Show Off Creativity at National Showcase

Richard Dwyer presents awards to the top five from the Parade of Champions. Photo by JennBarnett.com

National Showcase Final Results

(8/9/06) - The city of Chicago evokes sensations of burning jazz, sizzling dance and hot entertainment. The 2006 National Showcase, hosted by Northern Ice Skating Club, Aug. 3-6, produced all that and more.

National Showcase continues to grow, with more than 250 skaters participating in 430 starts this year. The competition drew entrants from states as far as Hawaii and Florida, and included folks from Canada as well. Skaters participated in events including singles, duets, extemporaneous improvisation, mini-production numbers, production ensembles and the much-anticipated Parade of Champions, which is the head-to-head battle among the newly crowned singles champions.

Clad head to toe in royal blue unitards, sisters Antonia and Carmen Mitchell (Santa Rosa FSC) captured the duet championship with a distinctive performance to music by Enigma.

Greased Lightning of Wisconsin (Emily Verch, Megan Hoffman and Melissa Pawlowski) inspired the audience to clap along in their winning mini-production as the T-Birds from the musical “Grease.”

Grease seemed to be a top theme, as Northern Lights on Ice staged its own interpretation to win the production ensemble competition. Running a close second were the Space Coast Hurricanes who performed “Indiana Jones and the Golden Skate,” complete with quick and invisible costume changes.

The extemporaneous improvisation music selection was “Espana Cani,” and Jessica Montalvo emerged as the winner, followed by Amber Leigh-Van Wyk and Angel Sarkisova in second and third place, respectively.

Skaters of all levels compete in National Showcase. Notable participants include adult skater Ninotchka Aschow (Santa Rosa FSC), who won the masters dramatic event. Aschow was the 2005 U.S. adult champion in the championship gold ladies division. Other participants included five-time regional competitor Hayley SooHoo (Los Angeles FSC), who won the junior duet competition (and finished second overall in duet) with another regional competitor, Krystal Davis. Tetona Jackson (All Year FSC), winner of the senior light and senior dramatic events, finished 12th in senior ladies at the 2006 Southwest Pacific Regional.

Jennifer Martino (Cleveland SC) finished second in novice duet (with Krista Lange) and also competed in masters extemporaneous (first), the extemporaneous final (sixth), masters light (second) and masters dramatic (fourth). Martino has a long history of competing at the national level in both the adult division and synchronized skating. At the 2004 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships, her masters team, North Coast Line, won the gold medal. She competed in two events at the 2006 U.S. Adult Championships – silver dance and masters interpretive ladies II.

Another adult connection is the second-place finish of Tanya Shaby (All Year FSC) in novice light. Shaby is the daughter of reigning U.S. championships masters ladies gold medalist Natalie Shaby. Tanya also competes in synchronized skating, finishing seventh nationally this year with the senior California Gold team.

The Parade of Champions displayed 22 winning performances from each light and dramatic level. In the showcase tradition, only the top five placements in the parade were announced: Michelle Hanabusa, champion, “One Moment in Time;” Crystalrose Guerra, second place, portraying Roxie Hart from “Chicago;” Tetona Jackson, third, “Lady Marmalade;” Kaelin Larson, fourth, “Waterdance;” and Alyssa Boyles, fifth, “Someday I'll Fly Away” from “Moulin Rouge.” All of the top three winners were from the All Year FSC.

Hanabusa was a three-time winner at the event. Not only did she defend her Parade of Champions title, but she also won gold in both the novice dramatic and novice light competitions. Hanabusa received the inaugural Richard Dwyer Award for the National Showcase champion, and the legendary Dwyer was there to present the award.

Dwyer won U.S. titles at the novice and junior levels, and was a senior bronze medalist, but it was his professional career that made him a star. Joining Ice Follies as a teenager, he was the show's leading man for three decades and was affectionately known as “Mr. Debonair.” He later starred in Ice Capades and perhaps personifies theatrical skating as well as any skater.