It’s not often that you find yourself comparing scars with an Olympic champion but that’s just what I found myself doing at the launch of Robin Cousins’ ICE, a brand new ice dance show which will be filling the Brighton Centre in that awkward period just after Christmas.
“I had another knee reconstruction last winter. That makes, oooh, nine I think,” he says with startling nonchalance in response to my question about whether he still keeps fit.
It turns out that Robin had already gone through two lots of knee surgery before he’d even got to the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics where he won the coveted gold medal. “My physio said to me ‘You were a second class athlete before you even got to be an Olympic champion.’ I was always being told that I was too skinny, that I wasn’t strong enough, that I was too tall.”
But Robin didn’t let this put him off (“There’s nothing like someone telling you that, to make you want to push even harder”), and the Bristol-born lad who was bitten by the ice skating bug aged nine when he happened upon a rink on a family holiday, won numerous British, European and World Championship titles both before and after his Olympic triumph.
Famous for his beautifully airy but marvellously controlled triple jumps and his daring backflip move which was banned from all competitions as soon as it was perfected, Robin was a perfect young man on the ice, and if you watch his performances on YouTube, you’ll be captivated by his grace, boldness, athleticism, and sheer bloody gorgeousness.
After problems with both his back and knees, Robin retired from competitive skating to branch out in a new direction – ice dancing and choreography – and from that he’s since expanded into acting, having appeared as Billy Flynn in the London production of Chicago and Frank’n’furter in the Rocky Horror Show among other roles.
The first shows he choreographed – and appeared in himself – were instant hits, due in no small part to how big ice skating had become in the 1980’s thanks to both his own success and Torvill and Dean’s, who won gold at the Olympics after his.
Electric Ice and Ice Majesty are now a distant memory from over 30 years ago, but it was photographs from his first sold-out show at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre that producer Jamie Wilson used to entice Robin into this new venture.
Mind you, you couldn’t exactly accuse Robin of ice-idleness between then and now. Along with his successful forays into acting, he’s kept the choreography going with ten productions of Holiday on Ice, that perennial Brighton Centre favourite.
And of course, younger TV viewers will know him as the popular head judge on ITV’s Dancing on Ice which has introduced a whole new generation to the joys of expressive ice skating.
Robin won’t be performing himself in this new venture having retired from the ice back in 2000. “I can still get out on the ice perfectly to choreograph and I can still cut a figure, but I certainly wouldn’t put it out there again in public,” he laughs. “Been there, done that. But I’ve got these creative ideas for all the things I would be doing if I could still skate in public – but I just get to do them on other people now.”
I ask him how Ice is going to be different to Holiday on Ice.
“Well, it’s got a much more adult feel to it, in that it’s got more ‘chamber’ moments, more intimate moments on the ice. We use an international cast of 14 hand-picked skaters but sometimes there will only be, say, three on the ice. I’m approaching it like a contemporary dance piece, rather like a Matthew Bourne or someone like that. Our lighting designer actually works with Matthew Bourne. There’ll still be terrific patterns made out on the ice and I still love my ‘birding’ as I call it, where I plan it from above, but it’ll be more lyrical than Holiday on Ice, more intimate.”
Is there a theme?
” No, well, the theme is just movement itself. There’s no narrative. The skating will speak for itself really. I don’t want people coming expecting a Holiday on Ice production, although it’s certainly not going to be highbrow and only geared towards an elite. It’s still going to be fast and fun and there’s going to be humour in there, but it will have more of a dance feel. I still want people to sit and have a great time with it, a fun time, of course.”
As we sit sipping our special Robin Cousins Smoothies, obviously dreamt up by the PR people on a boiling hot day, as the rain batters the windows of the Brighton Centre Hospitality Suite, I try to get to grips with the diagram Robin’s drawn me of the stage set-up and I fail miserably. Mind you, let’s just say he’s an awfully lot better at skating than he is at drawing. It just looks like a wonky rectangle to me.
He laughs at my bewilderment. “David (Shields) has designed this set, and most of it’s in the back as people need to see the skating in the main rink part, but the look-through to the set……” but I’m lost, not having seen an ice show for years. All I can say is that the photos looked fabulous but as to what will go where, your guess is as good as mine.
We get on to a seemingly easier subject and one which Robin’s just as passionate about – the music.
“Electro swing. I love it!” Oh bum. I’m back in the dunce’s corner again. What’s electro swing when it’s at its gran’s?
“It’s that sort of, well, there’s this great band called Club Des Belugas who have these new songs that sound like they’ve come out of the 50’s, but they’ve got this great modern feel.”
More examples please, Mr Cousins?
“Brian Setzer, who did the Dirty Boogie? A sort of rockabilly feel with a bit of tech thrown in?”
Nope.
“What about burlesque type shows? They’ve had a bit of a renaissance lately. They have an old feel to them but sound really modern. It’s just fun, really fun.”
Now I’m sort of getting it.
“The music is really eclectic,” he enthuses. “There’s Elton, Lady Gaga, some electro swing, and some from this really great Icelandic composer I found about five years ago on Spotify. Ólafur Arnalds. He’s now done the theme to Broadchurch but I found him first! There’re eight numbers in all with a terrific finale. Oh, and there’s a bit of flying too!”
“It’s a show where the choreography is driven by the music, where the movement has room to breathe, and the skaters can let their blades do the talking. This is me taking the history of what I’ve done since winning the gold and putting it out there in this wonderful space.”
Talking of wonderful spaces, I grab the opportunity to ask one of our best known skaters and one of the city’s favourite residents about the possibility of having a permanent ice rink in Brighton & Hove.
He doesn’t just roll his eyes: his whole body slumps back and a massive groan deflates his chest.
“It’s ongoing, it’s ongoing,” he sighs. “Black Rock is still the preferred site, I know that much. It’s the budgets, it’s the funding, it’s everything.”
I suggest it’s also something in the Brighton air that stops large projects ever getting off the ground. He nods, but I feel he’s not going to be drawn on the politics of the subject. “I would love, love, love for a rink to show it’s face again in Brighton somewhen very soon, as Brighton has such a huge skating history. We have the Pavilion in the winter months which does really well, but there just aren’t enough people who would go to an ice rink to sustain it all year round,” he sighs again.
Lastly, I ask Robin why gay peeps should come to see Ice.
“Well, Brighton has a fantastic gay community and they’ve always been supportive and have loved their Holiday on Ice. Anyone who loves dance, movement, and having a fun evening out will adore this show. So all I can really say is, come on down!”
WHAT: Robin Cousin’s ICE: The Skating Stage Experience
WHERE: The Brighton Centre (and on tour)
WHEN: January 22 – February 2
TICKETS: £22.50 – £42.50
MORE INFO: CLICK HERE:
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