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FRIDAY & SATURDAY
I spent my formative years parked in front of a television set, scrutinizing the performances of champion figure skaters Peggy Fleming, Dick Button, and Robin Cousins. And I didn’t talk about my hidden hobby much. Yes, there were a few fellow non-skating ice-skating enthusiasts at the time, and we were likely all on hand to see Holiday on Ice shows at the Baltimore Civic Center. But in truth, ice skating wasn’t cool in the ’70s—and neither were ice-skating fans. Fast forward a couple of decades: I can ice skate fairly credibly now. And thanks to the skating and marketing savvy of Olympic champs Scott Hamilton, Dorothy Hamill, Brian Boitano, and Katarina Witt—and a nasty 1994 contretemps between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding—the whole damn world loves figure skating. Personally, I prefer the graceful skating of old to today’s version, which sometimes seems all about quadruple jumps and sex and rock ‘n’ roll. But there are still marvelous performer-athletes out there, including Russia’s 1999 World Champion ice-dancing team, Anjelika Krylova and Oleg Orsyannikov (pictured). They’ll be part of the skating squad on the ice at the Hallmark World Pro Figure Skating Championships. Go on, see the spectacle. It’ll be cool. At 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, and Saturday, Dec. 9, at the MCI Center, 601 F St. NW. $60-$85. (202) 628-3200. (Natalie Davis)