Black People in the Renaissance Figure Skaters Club

     Candice Tamakloe is the black woman

who is a coach that began

The Renaissance Figure Skaters Club

at the age of 9. She is a senior gold medalist

for the field and freestyle as well as the

pre-silver medalist.

                            Ms. Tamakloe is a

former Eastern Great Lakes Regional Competitor and has been in  numerous competitions, ice shows, as well as exhibitions in Detroit and nationally.  In the Spring 2002, Candice skated in the World Premiere of Ebony On Ice, which included the first African American cast of figure skaters.  Candice is A graduate of Cass Technical High School in Detroit.  Right now, she is a senior at Wayne State University majoring in Special Education.

             Now for the black man who was a

figure skater. Nolan JOhson is the

African American man who

competed in the Men’s Novice Division

as well as many other competitions

throughout the country. Nolsn formed

the Annual Ice Shows in Southfield and

went solo in other ice shows. JOhnson

designed:

ice skating costumes, choreographed ice skating programs and was a makeup artist.

You can find the information on these

people at this link:

http://www.renaissanceskating.com/ourcoaches.html

Mabel Fairbanks-Black figure Skater of the 1930s

               

ON the date November 14, 1916, Mabel Fairbanks born. She was an

African American ice skater from New York City. In the 1930s era,

Fairbanks discovered her lifetime passion when she was watching

a Sonia Henje movie. Once she saw a pair of black skates in a pawnshop

window and talked the guy down to a lower price of $1.50.

          The skates ended up being twice as big. So she made use of

them and stuffed them with cotton, got her balance on blades

by going up and down the stairs in her building. Then she took

to the nearby frozen lake.

             It did not Take Mabel Fairbanks long before she could

sail across the ice. Somebody who was passing by gave her the

suggestion to try out her skating in Central Park. Her skating

began to get a solid 6.0 judging.

             She continued to practice and

perfect her skill. Fairbanks knack and sparkle for skating overpowered the racial

barriers at the pivotal rink. So because of that professional skaters gave her

free skating lessons.

             In the 1940s Mabel performed at Nightblubs like Cyros. Fairbanks

got invited to skat on the road with the Rhapsody On Ice Show. She impressed

international audiences. Mabel’s talent landed her a role on KTLA

television’s Frosty Follies show, yet they did not want her to

join professional skating clubs.

             But she was not going to let that stop her. NO NO NO NO NO!

She got herself as well as other Black people in by sending for individual

memberships from the USPSA also known as United States

Professional Skating Association without revealing they were black.

    Its powerful to be persistent. She was determined and she came

through. She ignored the stupidity and did her thing and that is

Wonderful!

           There is more to the story. You want to know? Check this same

information and additional info at this website:

http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2123/An_artist_on_ice_Mabel_Fairbanks

Debi Thomas- Black figure skater who won bronze medal

              

(this is a picture of Debi Thomas)

Debi Thomas, the black woman who won a bronze

medal in the 1988 Winter Olympics in the figure skating competition.

She was the first and only one to do so. She attended Stanford

University where she majored in Biology with a chemistry minor.

When she graduated from Standford, Debi attended medical

school at Northwestern to fulfull her dream of being an

orthopedic surgeon.

               This wonderful woman won her first International at Tours, France.

As a result people called her La perle noir. She has won a total of 5 competitions.

At the following link, you will find where I got this information:

http://www.wvu.edu/~physed/blacksports/dthomas.htm

Powerful Black Ice Skater in the Spotlight

         Surya Bonaly is 20 years old and is the powerful ice skater I”m talking about.

Bonaly became a U.S. citizen in 1994 who is the ONLY and I mean ONLY

skater who can land a back flip on one foot on the ice. Yet, she

was disqualified for that Impressive move. She is a 3 time World

Silver Medalist. See, IT says so on this site:

http://www.championsonice.com/skaters/bio.php?useid=3

                  She has the most mind boggling moves and she takes skating to a higher

level. Her talent is something to embrace. What a beautiful scenery

with her skating! I’m so happy for Ms. Bonaly, she’s got that IN

YOUR FACE talent. The way she jumps over the air like she’s

light on her feet is truly superb.  Surya beautifies my screen

with her presence. Her skating is what I describe as spiffy and

deluxe.

      See her skate here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaCaOQwAZuY&feature=related

NExt is a site where they have pictures of her moves doing the SPlit-Jump

Triple Toe loop-double Toe loop out of a Walley entrance. Also,

you will see Surya nail a Triple Flip Jump, straightline footwork

sequence, triple-salchow-double toe combination and

a 1-footed backflip.  View them at this spot:

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Lodge/7500/video.html

                 Oh how nice it is to learn these new terms for

skating. They are quite interesting.

                    Plus, here’s a clip of Ms. Bonaly doing multiple back flips on the

mat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lo183D8SGU&feature=related

                  I can see now she started gymnastics early.

View a collection of her fabulous skating moves in this montage here ( I ignore

the music someone on youtube added to the video montage) but the skating moves are wonderful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1tTFpPIq0&feature=related

Powerful Black Ice SKater in the spotlight

              

          Surya Bonaly is 20 years old and is the powerful ice skater I”m talking about.

Bonaly became a U.S. citizen in 1994 who is the ONLY and I mean ONLY

skater who can land a back flip on one foot on the ice. 

  IT says so on this site:

http://www.championsonice.com/skaters/bio.php?useid=3

             She has the most mind boggling moves and she takes skating to a higher

level. Her talent is something to embrace. What a beautiful scenery

with her skating! I’m so happy for Ms. Bonaly, she’s got that IN

YOUR FACE talent. The way she jumps over the air like she’s

light on her feet is truly superb.  Surya beautifies my screen

with her presence. Her skating is what I describe as spiffy and

deluxe. 

           See her skate here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaCaOQwAZuY&feature=related

NExt is a site where they have pictures of her moves doing the SPlit-Jump

Triple Toe loop-double Toe loop out of a Walley entrance. Also,

you will see Surya nail a Triple Flip Jump, straightline footwork

sequence, triple-salchow-double toe combination and

a 1-footed backflip.  View them at this spot:

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Lodge/7500/video.html

                 Oh how nice it is to learn these new terms for

skating. They are quite interesting.

                    Plus, here’s a clip of Ms. Bonaly doing multiple back flips on the

mat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lo183D8SGU&feature=related

                  I can see now she started gymnastics early.

View a collection of her fabulous skating moves in this montage here ( I ignore

the music someone on youtube added to the video montage) but the skating moves are wonderful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz1tTFpPIq0&feature=related