'Let Life Happen' LAMBERT and PALASCAK FIND HAPPINESS, LONGEVITY AFTER COMPETITIVE SKATING
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Iml1ID WHERf ARE THEY NOW? 'Let life happen' LAMBERT AND PALASCAK FIND HAPPINESS, LONGEVITY AFTER COMPETITIVE SKATING b;' LOIS ELFMAN liIlI or five weeks late last year, Fred "You have to be ready for that next phone call skated as a child, but she and Palascak shared Palascak's rdatives finally understood for the next job." Ohio roOtS (he moved to Boston after high what he did for a living. They knew From the first park show came ocher jobs school). Budig, 37, grew up in Cincinnati and he was a skater, but they didn't really from Kresge, who now oversees summer ice Palascak's parems used to drive him and his sis- know what that meant. They may shows at seven theme parks owned by Cedar Fair ter from Cleveland to Cincinnati for lessons. have heard stories about the shows and tours Entertainment Company. They also performed Of course it's helpful when a celebrity is he has skated in with his parmer/wife Melanic on a couple of the Royal Caribbean cruise ships comfortable on the ice, but in order to achieve Lambert, but they'd never seen it for themselves. with ice rinks. Kresge recommended them to the best effect Palascak had to break some bad Then came "Skating with the Stars" ("S\X!TS"). her longtime friend, Robin Cousins, who was habits Budig had developed from years of recre- "The 'Skating with the Stars' job came up the choreographer and artistic director of Holi- ational skating. very last minute," said Palascak, who partnered day on Ice. After working with them, Cousins "With Rebecca, because she had those bad actress Rebecca Budig of the soap opera "All My then recommended them to his friends, Jayne habits, I had to Stop her from doing jumps and Children" to victory. "It was something that was Torvill and Christopher Dean, who hired Lam- spins in the first couple of weeks of training and not planned. It was one of those magical mo- bert and Palascak for "Dancing on Ice" in the JUStdo stroking, turns and a lot of side-by-side ments that was meant to be." United Kingdom. skating - making her be aware of me," he said. To "S\VfS" viewers, Palascak may have "DOl," now in its sixth season on Brit~ "In the same way that I've done with other ce- been the most unknown of the skaters. He was ish television, has a format similar to "SW'TS," lebrity partners in the past, you have to stop never a U.S. champion, like Keauna McLaugh- them from doing the difficult lifts in the begin- lin or Brooke Castile, or an Olympian,"'iike De- ning because that's how they get injured. I held nis Petukhov. In fact, it had been nearly 14 years ~ her back from doing the lifts to build up her since he and Lambert skated their final competi- ;;~ strengt h". tive performance. They'd hung up their skates I~ Unfortunately, Budig did sustain a wrist after finishing 11th in senior pairs at the 1997 :: injury, but she was a trooper to the end. She was U.S. Championships. ~ lavish in her praise for Palascak's teaching and "It wasn't a happy ending," said Lambert, ~ partnering. 36, who teamed up with Palascak, 35, in 1994. ~ "He breaks things down very dearly," Bu~ "We were in debt and had no money. Fred re- dig said. "He comes in with a plan .... His na~ ally wanted to finish his degree. It got (00 over- ture is also very calm and collected." Mter they whelming." were announced the winners, she told the audi~ Although they still loved the SPOrt, the ence, "lowe it all to Fred. He's an unbelievable pair, who had become a couple off the ice as well teacher." (they married in 2003), tried to figure Out what Palascak described their freestyle routine to (0 do next. For a while, Lambert coached and the Cold play song "Fix You" as his favorite piece skated in shows and Palascak finished college, of the season. He did much of the choreography earning a degree in education and his teaching himself, with the show's choreographers Doug~ certificate in high school mathematics. MELANIE LAMBERT ANO FRED PALASCAK COMPffi AT THE las Webster and Cin£yScuarc putting in the fin- 1997 US. CHAMPIONSHIPS. Then professional skating came into their ishing touches. lives. In 1999, they started performing together \Vhen Palascak looks at his career with in local shows in the Boston area and came (0 where professional skaters are paired with celeb- Lambert, he expresses appreciation for the many the attention of choreographer/director Karen rities. Lambert won in 2007 with rugby player coaches and choreographers they've had the Kresge, who hired them for the summer ice Kyran Bracken and Palascak finished third in opportunity to work with. During their com- show at Knott's Berry Farm in California. 2008 with actress Zaraah Abrahams. They also petitive career they worked with Sheryl Franks "There's a great quote, 'Don't believe in appeared on the live tour that follows each sea- and Tom McGinnis in Boston. They also took luck. Believe in hard work and perseverance,'" son. They were each on the show for four sea~ lessons from Peter Oppegard. k professionals, Palascak said. "We have a love of performing. sons, but in the summer of 20 10 they decided they learned some adagio lifts from Bobby Mar- Melanie and I have made a 1m of good business not to return for 2011, as the show requires tin. There are also many choreographers and friends because when we go out to work, to pet~ them to be away from home for seven months. directors. form, we enjoy it. It shows in our work ethic on "We're at a point in our lives and our ca- "Recently, the biggest influences have been a daily basis. It shows in our performances." reers where we want to be home more," Palascak Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean," Palascak "Being a professional skater takes as much said. "We want to start a family." said. "One of the things we learned from them discipline as it does to be a competitive skater "swrs" was a perfect short-term gig and is how to re~create or reinvent yourself. Invent because you still have (0 train," Lambert said. Budig an incredible panner. Not only had she new elements, invem new styles of skating. 8 FEBRUARY 2011 Y H LD S EBECCA BOOIG AND PROFES- PARTNER FRED PAlASCAK PERFORMED THEIR MELANI FREESTYLE ROUTINE TO THE COLOPLAY SONG "FIX YOU" PAlAS o R NG SKAT WITH THE STARS OFPRGFES PARTNERS AND CHG >~ • z> o "What we takc from Jayne and Chris is trying to do something new every year," he added. Among the nc\y things Lambert is trying is production. \Vhen Palascak got the call ro join "S\VTS," he was actually visiting her in the Netherlands, where she was working as as~ sistant choreographer for Kresge for the new- est Holiday on Ice production, "Festival." She joined Palascak in Los Angeles after "Festival" opened in Hamburg, Germany. Next sum- mer will be lambert's third year working with Kresge on the summer ice shows. Palascak's next off-ice gig will be in the classroom. He was recently put on the list of substitute teachers for the Boston public schools and hopes to be teaching in 2011. He will also continue to coach skating. Eventually, he plans to go ro graduate school and become engaged in the politics of education. During the five-week run of "S\'(I"TS," Palascak's family in Ohio gO[rogether ro watch on television. His sister, a nurse who works the 3 to 11 p.m. shift at a hospital, ran around ask~ ing people for their cell phones so she could vote. His mother, Betry, the principal of a Catholic elementary school in a Cleveland sub- urb put a sign on her door reading, "Yes, that's my son on television." While Lambert and Palascak consider this a time of transition in cheir lives, "S\'\/1'S" pro- vided a greac public cc1ebracion for how they've carved themselves an incredible niche in the pro ,",'arid. "We want to keep performing. You can never say when your last performance is going co be," Palascak said. They began 2011 skating in Elvis Scojko's "Rock the Ice" show - another gig that came unexpectedly. "You can't plan everything," Lambert said. "Let life happen." 1:1.