I was a bit hampered in my note taking because it was rather dark. And, well, okay, when Jayson skated I just sat and watched and wrote later. Hey, that's why I drove up, to see him skate, so I didn't want to spend half the time looking at my notepad.
And getting to the show was a bit of an adventure. I was taking data for the solar eclipse in the Carribean and completely out of contact until Feb 28th and didn't know if it was going to be possible to get tickets. When I got back to Boston, I had a phone message that it was go. I dropped off one set of bags, packed a new one, got a super extra large cup of coffee to go and started driving to Montreal in pouring rain and scattered fog. I did make it, with about 3 hours to spare.
On to the show. It was a rather small show. As advertised, the cast was Jayson, Josee Chouinard, and Menzies and Bombardier. The rest were local skaters but only 4 of them, I believe. If there were programs, I did not see them so I had to guess at the names of the local skaters. Of course, all the introductions were in French and my French isn't (I've learned to say 'Bonjour' and 'Merci' in shops.) so I guessed at the local skater names and don't know what the intros were for the big names.
First, an annoucer came on the ice and appeared to thank Sunkist for sponsoring the tour and someone from Marment Group got a presentation.
Josee was up first. She did an instrumental number, violin, that I was not familiar with. Her spins and footwork were very on but the jumps were less so. She got rather tight in the knees and wasn't able to rotate a triple. Double sal and loop but a couple of really nice double axels. You can tell she had been working on them. Overall, I really like this program. It was very lyrical and well skated.
Next was a local skater, a teenager of about 15 I would guess with a first name of Carlos. I think he is probably a good skater but looked so scared and overwhelmed by the occasion. He missed nearly everything and seemed a bit realived it was all over.
Jayson was up next. I didn't know the music he skated to, some rock ballad in French, but I just loved the program. He had one small glitch, a hand down on a triple lutz that never really got up in the air properly, but so many other great things it didn't matter. There were some elements I hadn't seen before, bits of footwork that reminded me alot of Kurt, various things with ina bauers and lunges. There were also some lovely Russian splits into the split falling leaf that I loved in practice at Canadians but he ditched in the long program. And I was really shocked to see a back flip! I have to say, those make me really nervous. He did it fine but I always recall how Kurt hurt his shoulder on those his first pro year. But, the best thing about the number was that Jayson really sold it. I wish he would look into the audience even more because when he did he got a great response. I hope doing this tour and Skate the Nation give him more confidence to play to the audience and make eye contact.
Next was a very young dance team doing a compulsory dance that they had added some extra bits to. They were not very advanced but they did what they did very well and it looked good. Once again, I think they were young teenagers.
The first half ended with Menzies and Bombardier doing the Janis Joplin number they used on Skate the Nation last year. I have never been too wild about this number and I think it suits them even less with the improvements in carriage and presentation they made over the past year. They did a nice double twist, huge throw double axel, a lift that never quite was right, a really nice forward inside death spiral and then a headbanger. Well skated but just not the right program for them.
And that was the end of the first half! See, I told you it was a small show.
The first skater of the second half was a local skater, whom I believe was named Annie or Nathalie. She also seemed a bit nervous doing what looked like a short program.
Jayson was next. I will say, right off the bat, I was not crazy about the shirt. It was pale blue in some kind of velour/spandex material with pale green on the collar and shoulders. Angela said it looked like a bowling shirt. It did suit the program but I would love to see something else in colours that I like more. But, it would not be skating if I didn't make at least one costume complaint. I have little to complain about in the program. It was the Jive music that a few teams used this year, I think Henderson/Pankratz and also Semenovich/Fedorov. (Angela tells me it is Reet Petite by Jackie Wilson). The back flip was back, as well as a camel-jump-camel, Angela's fave the sideways run, and lots of shameless mugging. I can't wait to see this on Skate the Nation, when it's had a few more run throughs. He also did a triple axel that was slightly overotated. Hey, Jayson, it's only exhibition! You can do the doubles! Not that I complain about seeing a good triple axel.
Next was the final local skater, I belive her name was Fannie. She looked perhaps 10 and the program was alot of what I expect from someone that young, lots of jumps and one or two spins. But, she did what she could do and did it well and got a big cheer from the crowd. She also had alot of energy and looked up and smiled. That helped too.
Menzies and Bombardier did their Chris De Burgh number and it was so much better than the Joplin one. Here the improved speed and power really showed. A great vehicle for them. I noted a big throw double sal and a number of adagio lifts.
Josee closed with her Shania Twain number. Once again the jumps were tight but the spins and charm were all there. I esp. liked the combo spin at the end that was nicely timed to the music.
We didn't have an opening number but we got a closer. It was fairly simple, just a chance for the skaters to take their bows but I guess Jayson wanted to make sure everyone knew he was there because he did another triple axel and a back flip. At the end, everyone got flowers from some young girls who might have been from a local club and Michelle Menzies said a few words in French. (I didn't know she was bilingual.) A quick lap to wave and it was all over. Too short for this live skating deprived fan but very fun. I would guess that it was a mini-preview of Skate the Nation, though I think Menizes and Bombardier will have two new numbers and Josee should have one extra. I can't wait until May to see Jayson's numbers again. Angela went on Saturday and said someone was filming so if anyone heard of TV or video, let me know.