November 23, 2024
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Skater Cohen has Stars power 1st year as ice show headliner busy, fun

Sasha Cohen is enjoying what could be considered her post-grad years.

For much of a decade, the California native picked up the figure-skating skills that helped her gain prominence, first on the national, then the international, competitive scene. Her competitive career culminated in 2006, when she won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and earned silver in the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Since then, the diminutive skater has graduated to the working world, in her case touring shows, most notably the Smuckers Stars on Ice tour. As usual, Stars on Ice will wrap up its annual tour in Portland, with a Saturday show at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Calling from a tour stop in Hartford, Conn., the 23-year-old Cohen compared the two stages of her skating life.

“Touring requires a different kind of stamina,” she explained in a phone interview. “You spend most of the show on the ice, then ride 10 hours on a bus, then do it all over again the next day. But the pressure, the difficulty isn’t the same as in competition.”

This season, Cohen is the tour’s headliner, after a year as a guest skater. Others appearing in Portland will be Ilia Kulik; Todd Eldredge; Yuka Sato; Michael Weiss; pairs skaters Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, and Xue She and Hongbo Zhao; and dance pair Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon. Guest skaters in Portland are new men’s champion Evan Lysacek and U.S. ice dancing champions Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto.

Cohen doesn’t feel any added pressure being the show’s star; rather, she likes being part of the company.

“I like it a lot better,” she said. “I’m part of the cast, and I’m in all the group numbers now. I like the challenge. It becomes like a family. We do a lot of things together. It’s been a lot of fun.”

In her solo numbers, Cohen skates to “Imagine” by Avril Lavigne and “Anytime, Anywhere” by Sarah Brightman. She designed her outfits for both numbers.

What has Cohen learned from her first full year of touring?

“I’m learning to pack well,” she said. “But the season has been so long. We started rehearsals for Stars on Ice in November, and I’ve been on the road with other shows since September. I miss being away from home, miss my friends from home.”

Cohen remains busy in her time off the ice as well. She has done quite a bit of modeling work in the past. She’s also taking part in the CBS series “Secret Talents of the Stars,” in which she will train as an acrobat with the New Shanghai Circus.

“I’ve definitely gotten a lot stronger through my work with Stars on Ice, and that inspired me to try acrobatics,” she said.

Cohen has also dabbled in acting, playing herself in episodes of “Las Vegas” and “CSI: NY” and the Will Ferrell skating comedy “Blades of Glory” and a character in the film “Moondance Alexander.”

She’d like to do more, “if I’m home, and I have time, I’d love to pursue that,” Cohen said.


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