With her spotlight purring like an old projector, Linda Yao ’10 used a steady hand to follow the cast of famed figure skaters as they shaved graceful ribbons into the ice during “An Evening with Champions.” “La Vie en Rose,” sung by Louis Armstrong, played over the loudspeakers, and a kaleidoscope of light bathed the ice.

Over 40 years, the skating event has raised $2.4 million for the Jimmy Fund of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Brett Michael Giblin ’11, who co-chaired the event, said, “I truly believe that the reason this weekend was such a rousing success, from the incredible skating to the nearly perfect execution, was due to the fact that our volunteers were able to keep the objective that they were working toward — helping children with cancer — in the forefront of their minds.”

The event struck a personal chord with 2006 Olympics skater Emily Hughes ’11, who first visited Harvard to participate in the event in 2006 to pay tribute to her mother, a cancer survivor. Hughes said, “I’m happy and excited that I can do this every year, and that it can go to a worthy cause. Cancer research has a more personal feel for me.”