Alex Shibutani is a two-time Olympic ice dancer who competes with his sister Maia. The Shibutanis are three-time world championships medalists, four-time Four Continents medalists, two-time U.S. champions and 17-time grand prix medalists. Maia and Alex won two bronze medals at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 and have been writing about their 2018 Olympic journey for TeamUSA.org.
Hey everyone!
Along with some of the top skaters in the U.S., Maia and I are currently on tour with Stars on Ice. Rehearsals started at the beginning of April in Fort Myers, Florida, and our first 12 shows have been in Florida, Rhode Island, Maine, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Michigan and Illinois. Since most of the shows are scheduled on Friday evenings and the weekends, the cast splits off for a few days during the week before reuniting in a new city.
After being on the road for over a month, Maia and I returned home last night. Since the beginning of the tour, we have been traveling and attending events like the AAU Sullivan Awards in New York and supporting some of our favorite causes - Right To Play and Figure Skating in Harlem. We also attended the world premiere of “Avengers: Infinity War” in Hollywood, which was really exciting - we loved the movie!
Today we’re re-packed and hitting the road again in preparation for this week’s shows.
The tour is 22 cities across the U.S. and coming right after the Olympics, the energy has been electric. It has been a lot of fun skating for such great audiences and fans. We’re calling this year’s tour a “celebration” and it definitely feels like one.
The cast is comprised of U.S. Olympians from the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. Maia and I perform two solo numbers in addition to several group numbers with the rest of the cast. Some members of the cast, including ourselves, are performing variations of their Olympic programs from the Games in February.
We have created a family environment during this tour with many of us knowing each other since we were kids starting out in the sport. Traveling and getting to share the ice together without the intensity and pressure of competition has been a great experience especially after a grueling Olympic season.
It’s such a privilege to be able to travel around the country and skate for so many fans. At the meet and greets, we’ve met people who’ve been skating fans for 30 years as well as people who have just discovered their love for our sport through watching the events in PyeongChang. It’s an exciting time for skating when we’re able to witness a surge of interest like the one we’re seeing on the tour right now.
We have 10 remaining shows. This coming weekend, we will be performing in Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Saint Paul. The tour rounds out with stops in Phoenix, Anaheim, San Jose, Salt Lake City, Spokane, Seattle and Portland. If we’re coming to a city near you, I hope to see you in the crowd at Stars on Ice!
