A Return to the Stage

Off and on since early October, senior Marlene Rehkamp has crawled out of bed at the ungodly hour of 6:30 a.m. and trudged a lonely path--the lonely path of a figure-skater--to Bright Center.

Wind off the river blows cigarette butts and debris up Boylston Street at that hour of the morning, and cold jets of air blast into every pore in the faces of stragglers making their way down the uneven brick sidewalks. Crossing Anderson Bridge the chill of the wind hits its peak. Billowing gusts whip down the Charles from the Atlantic, chilling to tears, and anyone crossing the construct stiff-leggedly because his joints feel frozen, wishes to hell he'd never dragged himself out of his humid sheets to face this arctic wasteland.

The lights to the arena aren't on by the time Rehkamp struggles up two sets of concrete stairs to the entrance of Bright. Jack Reardon, who runs the arena, has already unchained the doors for her and then disappeared. She's alone in the cavernous arena to practice figure-skating routines, and it's nice to click on the Panasonic and step onto the ice, performing to the undivided attention of 2000 mute chairs while sound waves glide across the ice and reverberate off the wooden rafters high above.

Rehkamp, classmate Lisa Griffin, Charles Hagedorn '83, and Rob Faulkner '83 will carry the torch for Harvard today and tonight, figure skating alongside sundry international skating luminaries such as David Santee and Toller Cranston in "An Evening With Champions"--Eliot House's annual benefit for the Jimmy (children's cancer--against it, of course) Fund.

To one degree or another, Griffin, Hagedorn and Faulkner have followed variations of Rehkamp's routine during the past few weeks, sharpening skates, honing techniques, and resurrecting that performance mentality, which--in some cases--has been in hibernation since just about this time last year.

None of the four--at one time or another stellar junior skaters--competes on "the circuit" anymore, having bartered sit spins and waltz jumps for the pen and quill of academia; needless to say, studies just don't mix with the seven and eight hours daily competitive figure skaters pump into workouts (you decide which one settles to the bottom). "An Evening" affords skaters like Rehkamp et al a prestigious opportunity to showcase the fruits of what was obviously once a large part of their lives, and they take advantage of it. All four have participated before; all but Rehkamp skated last year.

Since the inception of the ice show in 1970, the Jimmy Fund has had a split format: international stars and Harvard skaters. Although it's the big names that draw the crowds--largely non-Harvard--the "local" flair has been preserved.

Says Rehkamp, "They [the organizing committee] think that since the show is an activity sponsored by the College, there should be college skaters in it," adding, "the students that do come really enjoy seeing their friends in the show."

And their friends enjoy being in the show. But, Rehkamp points out, there is more behind the performance than the exposure. "It may benefit you and your image, and your having a wonderful time, but at the same time you're doing something for a cause. So many people at Harvard channel everything toward self-improvement; this is something for others."