The Stars on Ice tour, featuring American figure skating stars, came to Boston University’s, Agganis Arena on Saturday to perform many of their signature performances.
The tour, which was founded in 1986, takes place yearly around the country to showcase the best skaters in the world.
This year’s slate of skaters features Olympic gold medalists, Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, Madison Chock, Evan Bates, Ilia Malinin, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea. The show also includes World silver medalist Isabeau Levito, Olympic bronze medalist Jason Brown, and US National silver medalists Andrew Torgashev, and Christina Carriera and Anthony Ponomarenko.
For the Boston show, Stars on Ice brought out World Championship bronze medalists, Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik as special guests.
There will be no spoilers in this article so if you haven’t gone to a show, which you should, you will still be surprised by what is performed.
To start out, there was an ensemble piece introducing the skaters performing at the show. Liu, Malinin and Glenn got the loudest cheers at the Boston show with Liu getting the place rocking with screams as she was announced.
For the singles and doubles performances, Torgashev performed a program that got the crowd going. His performance got the crowd to clap in unison as he put on a great first performance.
After that, Levito put on an iconic performance to one of her gala programs this season. During the performance Levito showcased her double axel, which she plans on improving after the season.
“I would like to add a triple axel and eventually possibly more difficult jumps after this season,” Levito said.
After Levito’s electric performance, Carreira and Ponomarenko performed an ice dance program that again got the crowd going. The music taste for the performances all night was amazing and all of them had the choreography to match.
Liu performed one of the programs that put her back on the map during the Olympics and the crowd was cheering the entire time.
Liu retired at 16 after the 2022 season due to the stress and strain it put on her during her entire childhood. She came back to skating for the 2024-25 season with a new mindset.
Liu wanted to put less strain and pressure on herself, so when she came back, she got full creative control over music and choreography.
Liu also came into competing with a different mindset than in the past. Liu isn’t worried about placement anymore. If she medals, or doesn’t medal, she doesn’t let it affect her and instead focuses on having fun while competing.
Liu also doesn’t want skaters to try to be exactly like her.
“Don’t try to be ‘the next Alysa,’ find your own unique path,” Liu advised to young skaters.
Up next, the skaters that won the Olympic gold medal in the team event performed some of their performances from that moment which ended up electrifying the crowd once again.
Kam talked about how while on the tour, skaters can use elements that are illegal in competition to make the experience more meaningful to the fans.
“We use more daring, show-specific elements, including things that would be illegal in competition, which is clearly part of how Danny and I make the live show feel more exciting and immediate,” Kam said.
Chock and Bates performed their full program from the Olympic teams’ event, which was amazing. The elements they used in the performance seem daring and difficult when you first see them, but they look effortless doing it.
Brown came out next with a fun and exciting performance which effortlessly blended with Glenn’s performance right after. Both were very fun for the audience and the skaters. Brown looked like he was having a blast while performing.
Glenn was enamored by the crowds in the earlier shows of Stars on Ice 2026.
“In South Florida, the crowd was louder than the audience in Milan,” Glenn said.
O’Shea and Kam followed shortly after Glenn, with a fun performance by an artist that O’Shea imitated well. Both skaters performed with such excitement, and it worked perfectly with the crowd.
Malinin performed after O’Shea and Kam with a more elegant and personal performance than you’d expect from the three-time World Champion. He performed his signature quad-axel and back-flip during the performance which got the crowd on their feet.
Malinin said that performing on Stars on Ice is a lot easier than in competition.
“Stars on Ice feels like a celebration and a relief,” Malinin said. “It is a chance to show appreciation and love for skating without the pressure and expectations that come with competition.”
There were then a couple of ensemble performances before Zingas and Kolesnik performed a very intimate program. Although they only got one performance through the course of the show, it was spectacular and had the crowd holding their breath through the whole thing.
After that, Glenn, O’Shea and Kam and Brown performed their second programs of the show while the “Blade Angels” performed a K-Pop Demon Hunters song together. They were synched through the whole performance, and it really got the crowd popping once again.
To close out the show, Liu, Malinin, Carreira and Ponomarenko, Levito and Torgashev all performed their second acts of the show before the final group number which got a standing ovation after it ended.
From cheering after every performance, to the on-beat clapping to some of the songs, it was a very well thought out and planned show for everyone of all ages.
The touring skaters perform next in Springfield, Mass., Providence, R.I, Newark, N.J. and Hershey, Pa., so check it out if you can.