The future of Stars on Ice? | Page 2 | Golden Skate

The future of Stars on Ice?

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
I imagine its very difficult to get skaters from other countries to come to the US to do an x amount of week circuit tour ......

Hey, I think that funny looking kid in the center with the bowl haircut is foreign! :laugh2:
 

Casual

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 26, 2018
the crazy ticket prices. My father used to get me tickets to see the tour every year growing up and we thought 50 dollars for the two of us to attend with decent seats was expensive then! :laugh: SOI ice seats are now well over 150 dollars per seat! :hslap:

The cost and monotony of group programs that don't pull people in is helping kill skating tours in the USA. .

It's the same everywhere. Theater, dance, music, too. Crazy prices will kill art. Mass "culture" (profanation) will survive.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
It's the same everywhere. Theater, dance, music, too. Crazy prices will kill art. Mass "culture" (profanation) will survive.

I agree but other skating tours and shows are much cheaper.
 

McBibus

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Many kind of cultural events have great cost.
Think of opera as an example: Theater running expenses, scenography, costumes, a stable orchestra, ballet company (with school) and chorus, singers, promotions, etc.
Minor or seasonal venues may not have all of that (but do not support the art so much as the big venues offering stable income to people working there), but if the government do not support it with investements to cut those expenses and to favour the study of such arts, the ticket will cost a fortune and the base of the artist will be of rich kids only.
It's a vicious circle killing culture.

That sadly also apply to non mainstream sports.
 

McBibus

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Bolzano Passion Gala
Event date is Jan 4th

Look at the arena map: https://ibb.co/0XPzDTv
Painted seats are still available.

Cast includes Kostornaia, Fernandez, Stefanova/Bukin, Tuktamisheva, Cappellini/Lanotte, James/Cipres, and Della Monica/GUarise, Grassl and some others.
It's depressing to see it so empty.
Maybe they should try and move the event to Milano, I don't know onestly.
I can ask around in the office but you may bet nobody will know about it and nobody would care to go even knowing.

I'm very excited I will be there especially to see Alena and Alexandra (I have a big crush for her :love::laugh:) but this champions deserve a much bigger audience.
Cappellni/Lanotte are an institution in Italy, like Carolina.
I hope kids to have a free ticket and there is some special deal for skating schools/clubs to bring their yougling and fill some empty seat with enthusiasts, but i have my doubts
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
SOI should have posters (or some cheaper version) for ice rinks that are in the area or close to the cities which have the show.
 

Casual

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 26, 2018
Many kind of cultural events have great cost.
Think of opera as an example: Theater running expenses, scenography, costumes, a stable orchestra, ballet company (with school) and chorus, singers, promotions, etc.
Minor or seasonal venues may not have all of that (but do not support the art so much as the big venues offering stable income to people working there), but if the government do not support it with investements to cut those expenses and to favour the study of such arts, the ticket will cost a fortune and the base of the artist will be of rich kids only.
It's a vicious circle killing culture.

That sadly also apply to non mainstream sports.

The Met (opera) only survives thanks to rich donors. With seats costing $200-300+, it's still in precarious position. At least it often has last-minute rush and cheaper sections, too, so it's quite democratic despite appearances. :biggrin:

I hear you, and it's easy to lament the lack of public funding. However, the government should not meddle in the arts. When it does, the arts can become politicized, the artists start serving the whims of government bureaucracy, and the art itself becomes a subpar imitation, as a result.

When the survival is dependent on who's kissing the ass of government officials the best, instead of on who's THE best, the result is not hard to predict. True art is daring, innovative and brave (and often starving). A loyal servant of someone else's interests may find it hard be a true artist.
 

Nimyue

On the Ice
Joined
May 15, 2018
I'm not too worried. We are just removed from an Olympic year. The Stars on Ice show post olympics is significantly more popular and they make twice as many stops. This next year will be pretty barren, but it will improve, then go low again, etc etc.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Again I don't mean any disrespect, but I have NEVER seen a mediocre SOI. I have NEVER seen old and tired choreography and I think that's a cop out. Not everybody who goes to these shows is an ex-skater that is that picky! And living in the SF Bay Area we used to see advertisements on television leading up to the show. Also if you went the year before and bought tickets from SAP center you received an email about the upcoming show. I don't think it's about the show so much as it is about the waning interest and lack of exposure of figure skating in the US and, like I said before, the fact that the average, casual fan does not know any of the skaters anymore. And it goes back to television and the poor broadcasting in the US. From what I understand from Canadian friends, they see much more of their Nationals than we do, much more of Worlds than we do, and you don't have to wait up until midnight to see figure skating drawn out over a 5-6 hour period between innumerable ski races, cross-country skiing and biathlon in the Olympics. It's really a shame.
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Many kind of cultural events have great cost.
Think of opera as an example: Theater running expenses, scenography, costumes, a stable orchestra, ballet company (with school) and chorus, singers, promotions, etc.
Minor or seasonal venues may not have all of that (but do not support the art so much as the big venues offering stable income to people working there), but if the government do not support it with investements to cut those expenses and to favour the study of such arts, the ticket will cost a fortune and the base of the artist will be of rich kids only.
It's a vicious circle killing culture.

That sadly also apply to non mainstream sports.

This is true. I saw The Nut Cracker on stage in Fresno and it cost us 80USD per seat. If I knew Plushy was coming to Fresno, I would pay 100 dollars in a heartbeat. As others have said, these shows are not well advertised and people need to save up to add this expense to their list. If we find it difficult, I can't imagine how a casual fan would find a show.
 

MGstyle

Crawling around on the ice after chestnuts
Medalist
Joined
Sep 1, 2015
Bolzano Passion Gala
Event date is Jan 4th

Look at the arena map: https://ibb.co/0XPzDTv
Painted seats are still available.

Cast includes Kostornaia, Fernandez, Stefanova/Bukin, Tuktamisheva, Cappellini/Lanotte, James/Cipres, and Della Monica/GUarise, Grassl and some others.
It's depressing to see it so empty.
Maybe they should try and move the event to Milano, I don't know onestly.
I can ask around in the office but you may bet nobody will know about it and nobody would care to go even knowing.

I'm very excited I will be there especially to see Alena and Alexandra (I have a big crush for her :love::laugh:) but this champions deserve a much bigger audience.
Cappellni/Lanotte are an institution in Italy, like Carolina.
I hope kids to have a free ticket and there is some special deal for skating schools/clubs to bring their yougling and fill some empty seat with enthusiasts, but i have my doubts

Bolzano, although personally I LOVE this city and the whole surrounding region, it is not very convenient a location, quite a distance from any major city. Plus the biggest draw by far in Italy are Kostner & Plushenko, and with these two absent, it will be difficult to attract a large crowd. Most of the public is made up of casual spectators, rather than hardcore fans of the sport.
Having said that, the last edition of Opera On Ice, finally held in Rome, the Italian capital, was far from full either, even with the presence of Plushenko. The ticket price was quite steep, and Rome is not a cultural hub for figure skating. If they invested in more colourful cast (apart from Plushenko and Cappellini & La Notte, the cast was rather subdued), many fans might have been inspired to travel for the show (historically many fans flocked from abroad for Opera on Ice in Verona), but it was surely not the case. It was quite sad.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
I saw Crystal and enjoyed it, but I'd still rather see skaters perform their programs.

Me too. I found Crystal hard to follow because there is so much going on all at the same time. If you concentrated on one part of the ice you missed the other 3/4.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Again I don't mean any disrespect, but I have NEVER seen a mediocre SOI. I have NEVER seen old and tired choreography and I think that's a cop out. Not everybody who goes to these shows is an ex-skater that is that picky! And living in the SF Bay Area we used to see advertisements on television leading up to the show. Also if you went the year before and bought tickets from SAP center you received an email about the upcoming show. I don't think it's about the show so much as it is about the waning interest and lack of exposure of figure skating in the US and, like I said before, the fact that the average, casual fan does not know any of the skaters anymore. And it goes back to television and the poor broadcasting in the US. From what I understand from Canadian friends, they see much more of their Nationals than we do, much more of Worlds than we do, and you don't have to wait up until midnight to see figure skating drawn out over a 5-6 hour period between innumerable ski races, cross-country skiing and biathlon in the Olympics. It's really a shame.

I'm pretty good at guessing that this was about me. So thanks for that lowball shot there.

You said earlier you haven't been for years because god forbid your family take you on Mothers Day, so just admit you don't know what the shows are like anymore. I've heard people complain that it's the same as last year, this is boring or WTH was that group program?!?! And this is a mix of new fans, old fans, etc.

There are ads, they aren't on every commercial break 5 times like a Walmart ad, but they are there for towns they are in or near.

There were casual fans at the shows recently who were excited to see many of the names that were there: Ooh Nathan Chen the jumper, and the I'm so happy to see Alissa Czisny or Hubbell Donohue or Nam, and the list goes on.

Make all the excuses, but people aren't as tone deaf as one may think.
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
It definitely has something to do with the bad promo. There was a show near where I live earlier in the year. I didn’t hear it until I went on GS a few months after. I live in a town where a lot of parents send their young kids to ice skate rink. None of us in the community knew about this show.

Totally agree. There is almost no promotion.
 

apgold

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Country
United-States
I'm not too worried. We are just removed from an Olympic year. The Stars on Ice show post olympics is significantly more popular and they make twice as many stops. This next year will be pretty barren, but it will improve, then go low again, etc etc.

Agreed. I went in 2018 and while the arena was half full (on Long Island), the people who were there were excited to see the skaters and knew who they were from the Olympics.

I would've loved to attend the recent shows in PA and Lake Placid with the North American cast, but being in NYC, neither place is a short drive. If I had gone, I would've have to stay overnight at a hotel or airbnb which would add to the cost.
 
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