Disney on Ice: Kwan and Evora and Ladwig skate to music from Pocahontas

Michelle Kwan as Pocahontas:

In 1996/1997 Michelle Kwan skated to music from the Disney motion picture Pocahontas for her exhibition routine. She skates to the songs, "Just Around the River Bend," sung by Pocahontas, "Listen to Your Heart" sung by Grandmother Willow, and an instrumental of "Colors of the Wind." It isn't what I'd call a signature program for Michelle, since she is best known for such masterful pieces as "East of Eden" and "Fields of Gold," but her portrayal of the Indian princess is delightful and charming. As is typical of Michelle, she exudes expression and heart, whether she is skating to Rachmaninoff or Disney soundtracks. This was also not the last time that Michelle skated to Disney music. In 1998 she had a Moulin on Ice TV special, she skated to "Reflections" from Moulin as one of her exhibition routines that year, and also had a Disney Princesses on Ice TV special in the late 1990s.

Michelle skated her Pocahontas program in a pro-am competition in the fall of 1996 in which she was skating head-to-head with 1992 Olympic Champion, Kristi Yamaguchi. There is a fluff-segment before Michelle's performance on the You-Tube video below that builds the drama of the first-ever confrontation of the two skating champions. (In case you're wondering, Kristi won the technical program over Michelle, but in the freeskate, Kristi had an uncharacteristic fall on a double axel during her tango routine, and Michelle Kwan was the winner of the competition.)

Here is Michelle skating as Pocahontas:

Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig as Pocahontas and John Smith:

I recall that when Michelle was interviewed afterward about how she felt about the performance, she said that she felt so in the Pocahontas character that she felt like asking, "Where's my John Smith?? Well, during the Smucker's Skating Spectacular from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, N.C., aired on NBC last weekend, we found out that John Smith is alive and well, in the form of Mark Ladwig, silver medalist in the pairs event with Amanda--or should I say Pocahontas?--Evora.

I've read some posts on various skating message boards online where people think it is ridiculous for Mark and Amanda, ages 30 and 26, to be skating to Disney music (I guess you could say that it was more excusable for Michelle since she was only 16 when she used the music), but I don't think it matters what music you use when you skate as beautifully as Mark and Amanda do in this performance. They play the characters well, have spectacular, soaring lifts, and that huge throw triple loop landed on the beat of the music is just divine.

Amanda looks a lot like Pocahontas, even though Amanda is Filipino, and not Native American.

Here are Evora and Ladwig as Pocahontas and John Smith:

What do you think of these Pocahontas programs??