THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 15, 1995 TAG: 9503150419
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Twenty-nine Russian ice skaters stranded in Oklahoma City for the past six months will finally get a shot at the cross-country tour they came to America for last September.
And they have an unlikely backer: Pat Robertson.
The head of Christian Broadcasting Network, International Family Entertainment Inc. and the Christian Coalition took an interest in the Russian skaters recently after watching a story about their plight on the CBS Evening News.
That led to a $50,000 loan Tueasday to the skating troupe by IFE, the Virginia Beach-based parent of The Family Channel and the Ice Capades.
``It's a marvelous story,'' said John Damoose, an IFE senior vice president. ``These kids are literally sleeping on mattresses on the floor of the YMCA in Oklahoma City.''
Damoose said that the loan to the troupe, called Russian Ballet on Ice, will allow the skaters to stagefive performances at the Oklahoma State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City on March 31 and April 1-2.
At a news conference in Oklahoma City, the skaters said they were grateful for the loan and looked forward to performing. ``We're always ready to skate,'' Roman Koodryavtsev said.
If the performances are profitable, Damoose said, the troupe plans to use the money to begin touring. Their planned nine-month tour of the United States fell through last fall when a would-be California backer claimed financial problems. Oklahoma City was a stopover on their way to Denver, where the tour was to have begun. They've been stuck in the Oklahoma capital ever since.
After being thrown out of their hotel on Thanksgiving Day because of an unpaid bill, they've relied on handouts. Church groups and firefighters have helped support them. With borrowed costumes from Ballet Oklahoma, they skated on Christmas Day to a small crowd and earned about $3,000 - enough to get their own costumes out of U.S. Customs in New York.
IFE didn't disclose the terms of the loan to the skaters. Damoose said that if the skaters don't pull off their tour plans, he's hoping some of them will consider trying out for the Ice Capades. IFE recently bought the ice show, the oldest of its type, from a group led by former Olympic gold-medal winner Dorothy Hamill.
Now IFE is searching for a producer who will reformat the ice show for its next season starting in October. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Pat Robertson
by CNB