With the post-Sochi American leg of the Stars on Ice tour in full swing, it’s time enough for a few looks back at what’s come before:
Following their retirement from competition in 1998, Jenni Meno & Todd Sand were cast mainstays, appearing on the tour from the 1998-99 season through 2003-04. The years of show skating granted the couple the chance to work with a few more choreographers and styles than explored in their more lyrical competitive work, like this edgier 1999 number to Chris Isaak’s “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing”:
The next leading U.S. pair, Kyoko Ina & John Zimmerman, joined the tour after the 2002 Olympics, making a particular mark with big tricks integrated sharply into rock selections, as here with 2005‘s “Harder to Breathe” (though catch an even more striking go at the first drop in this 2007 performance):
And the show, of course, ever presents opportunities for group outings, and while couple numbers seem reduced in recent years, this subtle rumba from the 1999-00 tour teaming up
two-time U.S. ice dance champions Renee Roca & Gorsha Sur with Meno & Sand demonstrates the format’s possibilities:
And as American ice dance goes, Olympic and World silver medalists Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto only performed on two tours between their 2010 retirement and hiatus from performance in 2011. But on that second tour, they opted to take a chance on a more traditional program approach with this flamenco, marking a departure from their more pop-oriented show skating norm:
Further historical details from Stars on Ice, including cast lists, music, and photos, are available here, while the Canadian tour will get its own flashback in weeks to come.