Fans hoping for another eyeful of John Kerr in a kilt are in for a disappointment. He and sister Sinead Kerr, the prides of Scotland, wowed crowds with their home country dance two seasons ago when the ISU last prescribed the folk genre. This time around, they're turning to the two-step and Johnny Cash's version of "I've Been Everywhere." And while John is sticking to jeans, Sinead struts her stuff in a pair of Daisy Mae shorts.
"I love 'em. It's my turn to show off," she said.
The six-time British ice dance champions took the ice at Flushing Meadows' World Ice Arena as part of Ice Theatre of New York's popular Summer Youth Concert Series, which continues Aug. 22 with another performance from Sinead and John and other special guests.
"We wanted to make this original dance a laugh, almost like something you could do in an exhibition, so we were glad to come here and show it to people," Sinead said.
Although the ISU selected folk/country dance rhythms in part to help skaters honor their home country traditions at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the Kerrs resolved not to draw water from the Scottish well again.
"It's like the expression 'You cannot win twice,'" their coach, Evgeni Platov, said. "[The Scottish dance] has been done in kilts, and it's been done well, so I don't know how they could do it better.
"The Olympics are in Canada, so we thought cowboys. And then I was going through my iPod and heard this Johnny Cash song. I really loved it, so I played it for them, and they really liked it. And this idea was born to do something not exactly Canadian, but country. We tried it here for the first time, and the audience picked it up immediately so it's going to be a bull's eye, I think."
The skaters are again working with Robert Royston, who perfected their swing OD last season. The four-time U.S. Open swing dance champion is also a four-time world country dance champion (1995-1998) and is helping the siblings polish their turns, loops and duck outs.
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