THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409140034
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROY A. BAHLS, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY BREAK
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
IF MAMA REALLY did know best, Karen Preston would be schussing downhill in a steady bid for skiing glory.
After all, the 23-year-old Toronto native was the daughter of a pair of skiers. She started hitting the slopes at age 2 and was a junior phenomenon.
But tonight, she'll slice across the ice in Hampton Coliseum in the lead role in ``Walt Disney's World on Ice: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.''
There's no place she'd rather be.
``With skiing, it was gravity,'' Preston said during a recent telephone interview from Lakeland, Fla. ``In skating, it was me. I felt free, like I was able to fly. There is nothing like hearing the wind going past your ears and throwing yourself into the air.''
The classic fairy tale, re-invented as a lavish theatrical ice production, opened earlier this month in Lakeland for a 33-city U.S. tour. The show runs through Sunday here, with Preston, the two-time Canadian national figure skating champion, playing Snow White.
Preston started out on a less theatrical side of skating. She won the Canadian Ladies' National Championship in 1989, but later that same year injured herself practicing triple jumps. After that setback, she totally committed herself to capturing the title again in 1991.
She stopped going to school and rarely saw her friends. Skating became her whole life. It took falling three times in her final program and losing the competition for her to realize that there was more to life than cutting across an ice rink on two thin steel blades.
``I realized I had to balance my life,'' she said, ``and have a normal life outside my sport.''
She cut back on skating, enrolled at the University of Toronto and surrounded herself with family and old friends. It worked. In 1992, after capturing the national title again, she went on to the Olympics where she finished eighth.
Skating in the Olympics was the culmination of a long-held dream.
``When I was 5,'' Preston said, ``I told my grandmother that I was going to skate in the Olympics and she said, `Yeah sure, that's nice dear.' Then, right in the middle of the competition, I looked down and saw the Olympic rings painted on the ice. I thought, `Oh my gosh, I'm really here.' Dreams can come true, and mine really did.''
Snow White is a different kind of skating gig.
``This is a lot different from the Olympics,'' she said. ``It is less stressful and a lot more fun. At the Olympics, you have four minutes - one shot. Now I can warm up to the crowd. Snow White has a happy-go-lucky personality so I can smile.''
There have been some comical situations during the production. One of the skating trees fell on the ice and his hands and legs dangled out of the costume. During another production, Preston got her foot stuck in her cape. But there is also the serious side of entertaining.
``Every show is different,'' she said. ``There are different size rinks, so the props are in different places. I'm always working, always thinking.''
Although it is hard to see beyond the first few rows, she likes interacting with the audience.
``I ask the audience if I should eat the poison apple,'' she said, ``and they are screaming, `No, No.' ''
There are even times when she has to stop herself from saying anything.
``I can hear the little children sniffling when I'm lying in the coffin,'' she said. ``I have to fight the urge to sit up and say `It's OK, don't worry.' ''
What does Preston see for her future?
``As long as my body is able and willing,'' Preston said, ``I'm going to always be on the ice entertaining and flying.'' ILLUSTRATION: WALT DISNEY COLOR PHOTOS
Karen Preston, left, will slide across the ice in the lead role in
``Walt Disney's World on Ice: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.''
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY ICE SKATING by CNB