Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) is proud to hit the ice at the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games Exhibition Gala on January 16, 2023 at 2pm at the Olympic Center, 2634 Main Street, Lake Placid, NY. The competition portion will highlight twelve winter sports, including two ice disciplines: singles and ice dance. Tickets for individual competitions begin at $15, and tickets for the gala begin at $25. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit lakeplacid2023.com/events/list. The Exhibition Gala will also feature performances from the competition’s top finishers, Figure Skating in Harlem, Karen Chen, and Oona Brown and Gage Brown, the World Junior ice dance champions. Of Water and Ice In the polar regions, a constant interplay takes place between H2O in its liquid and solid forms. Set to a DJ Spooky score, generated itself by the geometry of ice crystals and the math of climate change data, the dance explores what happens when this fragile balance of water and ice spins out of control. Choreography commissioned by the Ice Theatre of New York with the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts. The competition will also be aired in the U.S. on ESPN and in Europe on Eurosport. About The Winter World University Games About FISU – Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire About Ice Theatre of New YorkEvent Calendar
Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games Exhibition Gala to feature Ice Theatre of New York
January 16, 2023
Choreographed by Jody Sperling, founder of Time Lapse Dance Company
Performed by Sarah France and Valerie Levine
Music by DJ Spooky
The Winter World University Games is the largest multi-sport winter event in the world, after the Winter Olympics. The games combine high-level competitive sport with educational and cultural events, both in Lake Placid and nearby towns. University students between the ages of 17 and 25 are eligible to enter. At the beginning of the 19th century, the games were born, guided by the father of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The first inter-university meets were held in the United States, England, and Switzerland. That gradually led to the emergence of university sports associations, the first of which came into being in the United States in 1905. The International Confederation of Students was established in 1919 and it was this organization’s Sports Committee that launched the first World University Games in 1923. Ever since, the games have continued to attract more and more participants. Starting with a total of 1,407 participants for the summer games in Turin, Italy, in 1959, the Universiade — a combination of ‘university’ and ‘Olympiad’ — saw a total of 6,757 participants from more than 165 countries in Beijing, China, in 2001, and 6,643 participants from 174 countries in Daegu, Korea, in 2003. The highest number of participants was registered at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia, with 11,759 athletes representing 159 countries. The Winter Universiade began with 98 athletes in the games in Zell-Am-See, Austria, in 1958, and went on to a record 2,668 participants from 52 countries at the Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy, in 2013.
Since its founding in 1949, the International University Sports Federation is the key driver to expand the role and reach of university sport around the world. FISU believes that sports values and sports practice work in perfect synchronicity within one’s university studies. FISU offers opportunity and inspiration to students around the world to play sport. The health, wellbeing, and experiences that students gain from sport help them become active members in our global society. In keeping with this adage, FISU organises world-class sports and educational events, all with the mission of providing university students with the opportunities to connect and exchange with students from around the world, in a collaborative and competitive environment. To achieve this, FISU has identified goals and a path to achieve them with the FISU Global Strategy 2027. fisu.net
Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) exists to create and advance ice dance as (an ensemble) performing art form with its professional ice dance company. ITNY is also dedicated to providing education and to presenting public performances to people of all ages. We aim to inspire people to experience the balance, flow and flight of skating and to engage in a lifelong healthy activity. Founded in 1984 by Moira North, Ice Theatre of New York has changed the face of figure skating by creating works that integrate the sensibilities of contemporary dance, music and art challenging the perceptions and conventional definitions of figure skating. Through its performances in both traditional and site-specific venues, ITNY presents ice dance that opens one’s eyes to seeing skating in unexpected ways. ITNY was the first ice dance company to receive dance program funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information, visit www.icetheatre.org. The company has also worked in residence at the LPCA in Lake Placid. ITNY’s programming is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. ITNY is also supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and NYC Council Member Shaun Abreu. Additionally, ITNY receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Lisa McGraw Figure Skating Foundation, the Will Sears Foundation, and its generous private patrons.