'Grace' ice dance show coming to Acrisure Arena's Berger Ice Complex

Figure skating and ice dancing are two of the only professional sports structured around performance. But few people get to enjoy this artistic experience in a non-competition setting.

That's where Ice Dance International comes in. Douglas Webster, IDI executive and artistic director, is passionate about offering the joy of skating up close and personal, outside of a TV or phone screen.

"One of the goals of Ice Dance International is to elevate skating from the idea of it being sport, to the idea of it being an art," he said on a recent call with The Desert Sun. "So you're not going to come see anything that resembles exhibition-style skating, or the 'Stars on Ice' kind of model."

Instead, IDI's new touring show, which is making a stop in Palm Desert on Saturday, focuses on ensemble skating, meaning audiences will watch a group of high-level skaters move together in "ways that reflect the flow of nature," Webster said. He compared the structure of IDI to that of a dance company, with not only the performance element, but with its own engagement and education programs that get young people involved in skating.

He added that each production is choreographed by himself and a group of fellow professionals. This show features original ice dance pieces created by leading “Disney on Ice” choreographer Cindy Stuart and 2022 Olympic choreographers Benoît Richaud and Rohene Ward.

The company's new show, "Grace: A Theatrical Ice Show Experience," will be the first ice dance event on the Acrisure Arena campus, and will be hosted next door to the arena at the Berger Foundation Iceplex.

Olympic champion figure skater — and Coachella Valley resident — Dorothy Hamill will host the show with two-time Olympic figure skater JoJo Starbuck, who are both members of the IDI Board of Directors. On a recent call with The Desert Sun, Hamill described the show as an intimate, experiential skating experience.

"It's powerful, athletic, beautiful skating ... so there's a lovely blend of the artistry of dance and fluidity," she said. "And the skaters are just so nice and kind and hardworking, and they love what they do. I think that really shows — it's not about notoriety and all of that. It's about trying to bring skating to a different level."

Hamill said her involvement with IDI can be traced back to long before the organization was founded in 2014. IDI's current board includes several retired figure skaters (such as herself and Starbuck) who, in the '70s, were a part of professional figure skater John Curry's trailblazing skating company. Instead of focusing on the thrilling lifts and leaps that Olympic audiences crave, the John Curry Skating Company focused on the beauty of skating as a performance art, and was known for infusing ballet and modern dance elements into on-ice performances.

"When he (Curry) passed away, all the finest skaters wanted to try to carry on his legacy," Hamill said. "So (IDI), it's an alternative to competitive skating."

"Grace" features an ensemble company of 10 world-class figure skaters including two-time U.S. Champion Alissa Czisny. The Ice Dance International Company also includes 2022 U.S. Open Champion Collin Brubaker; 2022 U.S. Open Champion Kseniya Ponomaryova; Radio City Christmas Spectacular performers Lara and Neil Shelton and several other Grand Prix and U.S. open competitors.

So, why the name “Grace”? Webster said the show’s title is a theme woven throughout the performance, which is both a meditation on the physical grace of skating and on what it means to treat each other with grace.

“‘Grace’ itself is truly born out of the pandemic. We were developing the material beginning in 2015. And … then the pandemic shut everything down,” he said. “During that time, we created a couple of pieces, one of which was about community and gathering and healing and … that brought people together at a difficult time. And that sort of sparked the idea of some of the pieces.”

Hamill is thrilled to be hosting the Palm Desert stop on the “Grace” tour, and hopes the show will help desert dwellers who aren’t as familiar with ice dance to fall in love with the art form.

“It hasn't been around a long time, and the companies that did this originally, they're in the big ice rink in the sky,” Hamill said. “There's just something calming and beautiful about skating. Visually, it's beautiful, and I think especially in the desert in the summertime, I think it'll provide something that’s cool, as in temperature, as well as cool as in artistic and free and creative.”

If you go

What: "Grace: A Theatrical Ice Show Experience"

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, March 18

Where: Berger Foundation Iceplex, 75-702 Varner Road, Palm Desert

How much: $15 for youth (16 and under) and $30 for general admission

More info: icedanceinternational.org

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 'Grace' ice dance show coming to Acrisure Arena's Berger Iceplex