EUROPE - Continental Ice
 

Theatrical skating was spectacularly born in Berlin at the dawn of the 20th century but World War I halted further development. The German pairs champions of the 1936 Olympics Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier formed their own artistic “Baier Eis Ballett” in 1941. They toured Europe for many years with a tent and portable ice stage, expanding into South America in the 1960’s. Hans Thelan’s “Scala” and “Pinder” shows also toured Europe in tents at that time, often combining skating with circus.

 

Austrian two-time Olympic champion Karl Schafer turned pro in 1936 to perform briefly in the U.S. Back home he starred in the “Karl Schafer Eis Revue” which became the “Wiener Eis Revue” (Vienna Ice Revue) in 1945. With international stars and the eternally enchanting Viennese Waltz on ice it annually toured two troupes in eastern and western Europe, and ultimately to North America, until 1970. The show’s cast and elaborate production numbers were featured in seven German-language musical feature films.

The U.S. Military became one of Europe’s most famous ice show producers in 1946 by constructing the Casa Carioca nightclub complete with ice rink in Garmisch, Germany, a leave & recreation center for servicemen in the Bavarian Alps. For over twenty years countless vacationing American military personnel and their guests enjoyed inexpensive evenings of dining plus dancing on a large floor that would retract to reveal the ice stage for excellent skating revues. The famed club was destroyed by fire in 1970.

 

East Germany’s “Aeros Ice Revue” performed for several years beginning in the mid 50s. “Berolina Eis Revue” with a cast of East German and Czech skaters is from the same era.  Programs and imaginatively designed posters in The IceStage Archive indicate that occasional ice revues were produced in Hungary and Poland during the Cold War years.

 

Germany's Marika Kilius and Hans-Jurgen Baumler, who were 1960 Olympic Silver and two-time World Pairs Champions, won their second Olympic Silver in 1964. Accused of having previously signed a pro ice show contract they were stripped of the '64 Silver medal. Wildly embraced by the German public they became superstars and media darlings. The glamorous ‘Dream Pair’ appeared with enormous success into the 1980’s with “Holiday On Ice,” “Wiener Eisrevue,” and in such ice operettas as “Die Lustige Witwe” (The Merry Widow). Their '64 Olympic Silver medal was reinstated in 1987.

Two-time European champion and popular German showman Norbert Schramm produced and starred in “Stars On Ice” in the 1980s. His company joined a worldwide trend for short tours of one-night exhibitions by casts of international champions, as did “Gala On Ice,” and Switzerland’s “Art On Ice.”

 

In 2002 Schramm began creating ice shows for Europa-Park, Europe’s largest theme Park. Katarina Witt’s impressive two Olympic gold medals guaranteed success in Germany for her numerous film and live show projects from the 1990s into the new millennium, including several annual visits to Oberhausen surrounded by a bevy of other “Worldstars On Ice.”

 

 

France is justly famous for the legendary stage shows at “Moulin Rouge,” “Folies Bergere”,  and “Casino de Paris” that spawned imitations around the globe. But sadly no great French ice skating production worthy of that fame has ever emerged on the international scene. The “Scala” and “Pinder” shows toured in Europe during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s usually combining circus and skating. Because of dynamic French skater Jacqueline du Bief ‘s great success as “Aladdin On Ice” at London’s Wembley Arena the show was brought to the Palais des Sport in Paris in 1955.

 

Surprisingly, an American is responsible for the best known theatrical skating in France - at the famed Lido de Paris nightclub.  Choreographer Donn Arden added ice skaters Dick Price and Margie Lee to his 1952 show “Gala” and for over half a century an exciting ice act has been a highlight of every subsequent lavish Lido production. In the late 20th century the Duchesnays, brother and sister ice dancers, and also Philippe Candeloro, created companies for themselves for exhibition tours of France performing with other renowned international champion skaters.

 

 

The spectacle-loving French have been a very enthusiastic and appreciative audience for imported ice theatre. In 1938 an English company headed by young skater Maria Belita and great dancer Anton Dolin performed “Feerie Blanche” at the Mogador Theatre in Paris. Sonja Henie and company enjoyed several highly successful engagements in the City of Light. “Holiday On Ice,” enthusiastically received by audiences throughout France each year since 1950, boasts that famously talented Parisian craftspeople have created superb costumes for the company for many years.

 

Russians have always excelled at sport, dance, drama, and music so it’s no surprise that they eventually combined them all on ice. Moscow, Kiev, and Leningrad/St. Petersburg have each had their own Ballet on Ice companies. Even the legendary Russian circus arts have been combined with skating to create “Moscow Circus On Ice” which has toured the world since 1965. Igor Bobrin has produced and starred along with Bestemiaonova & Bukin in such Bobrin Ice Theatre creations as “Moscow On Ice,” which has performed internationally since the 1980s. Many Russian ice champions such as Viktor Petrenko, Oksana Baiul, and Evgeny Pluchenko have made fortunes outside their homeland and have occasionally returned to create and skate in special events for their countrymen.

 

 

 

Holland, now the home base for “Holiday On Ice,” and Belgium are vastly underrepresented in The IceStage Archive. A copy of a “Boumeester Revue On Ice” in Den Haag (The Hague) is about it. My research of reports that numerous ice show performances were staged at a theatre in Amsterdam in the 40s or 50s has not produced any evidence. I’d appreciate having any info about theatrical skating in Holland – and definitely any material.

 

Some of the most arresting posters in The IceStage Archive collection were created in Italy – but for films and shows from other countries. I’ve found very little other material to indicate that actual ice theatre has originated there except for an occasional Italian circus that included some skating in their shows. I’m always looking for more Italian ice theatre history to emerge. Again, I’d appreciate any information.

 

[Note: My personal criteria for a successful poster is whether or not it instantly conveys its message even from a block away. Each of these from Italy gets a big BRAVO! from me.]