Ice Dance

Dean and Shannon skated an exhibition at the Aerodrome in Sugar Land, Texas. It was an informal event put on by the Iceland Skating Club primarily to let their skaters preview their competitive programs. The event had grown to the point that members of other clubs would participate as well. Foster and Steele were not yet ready for prime time, but they felt confident enough to perform a simple pairs routine for the local skating people.
Shannon and Dean were a bit nervous at the start, but they both calmed down during the first minute of their routine. They were skating competently, but not yet with great precision and polish.
At 2:45 into the 4:30 routine Dean swung Shannon up and over his head in a hand-to-hand lift. She came to rest supported by his right hand at her pubis. Initially their left hands remained clasped for stability, but as the move unfolded they released their grip. Shannon gracefully spread out her arms and legs in different directions in the star position as she floated nine feet above the ice. Dean rotated slowly on his right outside edge with his right arm vertical, palm up, and his left arm extended to the side.
The one-handed star lift was one of the most crowd-pleasing moves they knew how to do. They had practiced it enough that the execution was becoming both smooth and graceful. Dean started off skating forward on both feet as he swung the girl into position on the pedestal he made for her. As she got into the star position he began to turn slowly while still moving at good speed across the ice. The gathering of skaters and parents watched in amazement as Shannon’s formidable body swung gracefully into position above Dean’s head and then floated like a balloon across the arena. Supported only by one of Dean’s arms, she gave the impression of flying.
The lift was planned to go for two revolutions with Shannon in the air. At one and a half revolutions, with Dean skating backward on his right outside edge, a gorilla reached up from inside the ice and grabbed his right ankle in a vice-like grip, pinning his skate firmly to the ice. His momentum carried the rest of his body and his partner onward, and he immediately began to fall backward. It took only one tenth of a second for his center of mass to move away from his support line, turning him, and his partner, into helpless projectiles in the arena.
At two-tenths of a second into the fall he felt Shannon’s weight disappear from his arm. By three-tenths she was no longer in contact with his hand, now sailing unsupported through the air nine feet above the frozen surface. He rotated his head so he could keep her in sight as she floated away from him. Millie grabbed Fred’s arm in a grip that would later produce a bruise.
Dean’s body continued to rotate as he fell backward. He strained to reach for his partner, but she continued to drift away from him, like an errant satellite in an abortive space shuttle docking maneuver. His body gradually became more horizontal as Shannon’s momentum carried her forward without much loss of altitude. The firm grip on his right boot pulled hard at his leg as his right shoulder moved toward the ice.
Dean hit the ice on his right side, with his right arm still extended above his head, reaching in vain for his partner who was now several feet in front of him. The impact forced the air from his lungs and snapped his head down against his shoulder. Shannon, meanwhile, had begun to rotate and was now face-up, still about three feet off the ice, but descending rapidly. Her right skate was first to hit the ice, then her left, followed by her right arm, then her right hip and right shoulder. She bounced and began to roll across the cold surface, eventually coming to a stop lying flat on her back. Dean had bounced sharply on impact, and he came to rest face down on the ice.
Pain shot through Dean’s body as he tried unsuccessfully to refill his emptied lungs. Gasping for air, he raised himself up and began crawling across the ice toward the spot where Shannon lay in a motionless heap. Many agonizing seconds passed as Dean struggled with his journey. Shannon was unmoving, and her face was turned away from him. Her arms and legs lay scattered about in an arrangement suggestive of the crumpled frame of the Hindenberg after its disaster.
When Dean finally reached Shannon’s unmoving carcass he gently turned her head toward him. Her eyes were closed and there was no sign of life on her face. He struggled to raise himself into a sitting position beside her. She looked almost peaceful, breathing slowly and deeply.