{"id":21984,"date":"2019-09-26T21:32:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T01:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=21984"},"modified":"2020-02-16T12:23:58","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T17:23:58","slug":"douglas-webster-artist-choreographer-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/douglas-webster-artist-choreographer-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Douglas Webster: Artist. Choreographer. Director."},"content":{"rendered":"

by Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman<\/em><\/p>\n

Douglas Webster created Ice Dance International in 2014 and is the Executive Artistic Director. IDI showcases and promotes ice dancing as an internationally recognized performing art untethered by the technical rules of competitive ice dance.<\/em><\/p>\n

Douglas Webster has choreographed for many major skating companies including Disney on Ice, Holiday on Ice, Stars on Ice, and the Sun Valley Ice Show. His choreography has been in television shows all over the world including Disson Skating, Winter Solstice on Ice, Skating with the Stars for ABC TV, and Sterren Dansen of Het Ijs [Dancing on Ice] in the Netherlands.<\/em><\/p>\n

He recently shared his thoughts about ice dance and skating in general with IDC.<\/em><\/p>\n


\n\"\"Growing up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, what was it like skating outdoors on ponds?
\n<\/strong>My family would go skating together on lakes and ponds around North Conway, New Hampshire. Though not a pond per se, I did skate on an outdoor rink in front of the old train station. It was a makeshift type rink with a hose and scraper for an ice cleaner. My time at that early rink has become a key to building our Get Out and Skate <\/em>programs with the New Hampshire and Maine public schools with the hope to inspire everyone to enjoy skating outdoors in the winter.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a gift to skate outdoors breathing fresh air with the natural world flying by. It\u2019s a feeling that still resonates with me today. There\u2019s a little pond down the street from where I live now in Kittery, ME that I like to skate on in winter. It\u2019s so nice to walk down the street and hop on the ice for a spin.<\/p>\n

Tell us how your early skating experiences eventually led to becoming a professional?
\n<\/strong>I began skating in the 70\u2019s. When I became a more devoted skater at the \u201cold\u201d age of 12-13, every couple of weeks my dad would take me to the Skating Club of Boston for one lesson. [A five-hour round trip drive]. In the summer we went to Lake Placid, New York, and Augusta, Maine, where John Millier & Amy Webster introduced me to ice dancing.<\/p>\n

When my family moved to Fairfax, Virginia I met Audrey Weisiger and a wonderful team who guided me through my tests at a rapid rate. I competed in Novice at the 1985 US Nationals and in Junior Men at Easterns the following year. After that, I quit skating and went to college. At the end of my sophomore year, I got a soloist job at a Willy Bietak ice show at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, which introduced me to the awesome world of professional skating.<\/p>\n

Who were some of your fellow performers in your early days of show skating?
\n<\/strong>My best friends in the ice shows remain my best friends today. Cindy Stuart and Jamie Isley were my closest friends in the early days, and we share a unique bond today. In 1988\/89 we performed together in Willy Bietak\u2019s Festival on Ice <\/em>and the first rendition of Broadway on Ice<\/em> in Miami with John Curry and then at Harrah\u2019s in Lake Tahoe with Scott Hamilton. Judy Blumberg & Michael Seibert, Tai Babilonia & Randy Gardner also performed. [He also did Carmen on Ice<\/em> in Spain before returning to college.]<\/p>\n

Share some of your memories of John Curry.
\n<\/strong>It was a gift to not only know John and work with him in the 80\u2019s, but I saw his John Curry Skating Company in 1985 at the Kennedy Center when I was a senior in high school. I was lucky that my family took me to the theatre and ballet; John\u2019s company added wonderful skating to the combination. Seeing John\u2019s company has inspired every bit of my life and career\u2026and Ice Dance International.<\/p>\n

Tell us about working with the Ice Theatre of New York. (ITNY) Share some memories.
\n<\/strong>I arrived in New York City in January 1991 just after graduating from William and Mary College. Valerie Levine, who had also done Carmen on Ice,<\/em> encouraged me to skate with the Ice Theatre of New York. I stayed on with ITNY until October 2014 as a performer, choreographer, ensemble director, associate artistic director and finally as artistic director.<\/p>\n

I have many fond memories of my time with Ice Theatre of New York.<\/p>\n