For the last forty-five years Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have graced the world’s rinks together. The Nottingham rink (now The International Ice Centre) of the 1970s was decorated with an alpine mural showing skaters on a frozen lake, inspiring Chris to one day go al fresco. Dancing on Thin Ice saw the 1984 gold medallists head to Alaska in search of such a scene, on which to perform the iconic Bolero.
Stephen Fry’s commentary detailed the drastic effect of climate change on the world’s glaciers. Despite travelling last November when meteorologists would forecast ample opportunity, it soon became clear that the warming world (the temperature in Alaska, like the arctic as a whole increasing four times more than the rest of the globe) is not only depriving us of wild ice but forever changing the lifestyles of remote communities reliant on the wild life found there.
After arriving at Spencer Glacier (in the Chugach National Forest) Jayne and Chris were finally able to get on with skating outdoors. However with rocks and methane bubbles aplenty it was not to be home to the new edition Bolero. Local guide, Matt Szundy explained that with temperatures rising faster than the thousands of years old glazier was melting, it was more than possible that were they to return, it would be unrecognizable.
Despite then embarking on a ten hour journey north on the Alaskan Railroad to Fairbanks (the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska), only one of the lakes suitable for skating was actually frozen. In Fairbanks, the problem was it was too cold! Snow is not the place for skating. After scraping away the snow it was ascertained that the ice beneath was thick enough to stand up and so after an impressive clearance surrounded by piles of snow as well as mountains, Jayne and Chris stepped out to dance Bolero (albeit a revised version more suitable to a pair of sexagenarians).
I’m not really one for natural history shows (while most of my compatriots seem to lap up Attenborough documentaries, and I can appreciate those for their photographic brilliance and understand the necessity to document the world as it is in the moment), this show was really able to draw me in. Not only were us skate lovers treated to 90 minutes of Torvill and Dean (always a pleasing sight), and Fry’s commentary never shied away from detailing our climate emergency, there was clear and easy to understand scientific evidence displayed. The lighting of methane bubbles was not only visibly pleasing but the kind of experiment even the youngest viewer would have been able to understand.
With rinks in the UK currently closed to almost every skater bar a sparse number of elites and some under 18s, Dancing on Thin Ice was a love letter to the cold stuff. At one point Jayne and Chris joined a family on their natural backyard rink, something (unfortunately?) not really an option here. While I’ve now ordered my first pair of Ice Skates of my own (Graf Bolero) as I really can’t handle those awful clunky, plastic hire skates any longer, heaven knows how long it will be until I’m actually able to put them to use. Thankfully, ITV’s Dancing On Ice is due to air it’s 2021 series from January 17th so regular readers should have more posts to read soon!
White Skates 