Figure skater Elvis Stojko in Halifax to kick off 2024 Stars on Ice tour

Elvis Stojko is one of many talented figure skaters in Halifax this week who are preparing to kick off the 2024 Stars on Ice spring tour.

This year, the opening show is one day earlier than normal – Thursday night – at the Scotiabank Centre.

Stojko says this year’s Stars On Ice will be different than past performances, including a “science of skating” theme.

“It’s not typically breaking down the exact pulling power of a jump, it’s like audience participation and a few other little things in there. I think we have a crash test dummy which is kind of fun, so there’s a few different things,” he told CTV Atlantic’s Katie Kelly during an interview Wednesday night.

Other skaters to hit the ice will include World Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, Canadian Champion Keegan Messing, World Silver Medalists Loena Hendrickx and Satoko Miyahara as well as Olympic Gold Medalist Patrick Chan, who is retiring from the tour this year.

Audiences can expect to see a routine from Stojko featuring a medley of songs by rock band AC/DC.

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s not just typically go out and skate, so there might be a little bit of a microphone involved, a mic stand,” he says. “People have to come and check it out.”

The Olympic Silver Medalist also says the costumes for the shows are impressive.

“Mathieu Caron does the outfits for us this year and with the Science of Skating he came up with some incredible outfits with all the skaters, and he does my personal outfits as well, and he did the outfit for the AC/DC number and it’s really cool, so I’m very excited,” Stojko says.

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Fellow skater Kurt Browning retired from Stars on Ice during last year’s cross-country tour.

While people won’t see Browning lace up hit skates anymore, he is still involved in the show as its new director.

Stojko says it’s been exciting to have Browning in the new role.

“It’s very, very different than what Jeff (Buttle) has done in the past, (it) has been awesome, and this is a completely different, sort of out of the box thinking. He’s all over the place sometimes with his ideas, but it makes for exciting show and it’s going to be very different,” says Stojko.

“It’s all coming together and sometimes it’s crazy to see it on paper and you’re wondering how it’s going to come together,” he added. “The last couple of days, it’s been really exciting, but having him running it, it’s been fantastic.”

Tickets are still available for Thursday night’s show in Halifax and Friday night’s show at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, N.B.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.