Campus & Community

Skating the light fantastic

2 min read

Celebrities take to the ice, and the air, for a good cause

Local skater Katie Thordarson spins like a diamond dreidel. (Staff photos Kris Snibbe/Harvard News Office)

Was it to watch Olympic stars, to cheer local ice-skaters, to support the Jimmy Fund of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, or to take a break from Red Sox mania? Whatever spurred people to attend Eliot House’s 34th “An Evening with Champions,” they were well rewarded, watching phenomenal ice-skaters, such as Olympic gold medalist Oksana Baiul, Olympic pair skaters Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, and eight-time British champion Steven Cousins.

The Harvard Figure Skating Club pulled a routine together in a few weeks to take part in last Friday’s (Oct. 10) show. “It’s such a good cause,” club president Alexandra Levin explained. “And it’s an exciting way to kick off the year.”

When asked what it’s like to appear with champions, young skater Rochelle Dost replied, “I really love it!” Her proud mother, Marina, added, “It’s a great honor to be here. It’s a great thing to do.”

Pointing out the advances in cancer research over the 34 years of the show, host and Olympic silver medalist Paul Wylie ’91, MBA’ 00, who surprised the audience by performing this year, remarked, “We hope some day we’ll have the show and it’ll be for a different cause.”

Paul
Paul Wylie ’91, MBA ’00 (left), Olympic medalist, takes to the air. Says Wylie, ‘We hope some day we’ll have the show and it’ll be for a different cause.’
The ghostly image of local skater Katie Thordarson is reflected in the new glass on the edge of the rink at Bright Hockey Center.
Their shadows flung in front of them by circles of light, the cast bids farewell to the audience.

– By Jessica Baumgart