Toronto Reference Library Blog

So what if there's an inch of ice outside?  Some people take lemons and make lemonade. Canadians take ice and make ice skaters.

Last week Ottawa hosted the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships (just recently renamed the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships).  The first official Championship took place in 1914 at the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa.  The Minto Club, founded in the winter of 1903-04, is still going strong, and last week, Minto board members attended a special reception at the Governor General's residence Rideau Hall, celebrating this 100th anniversary and the opening of competition.  Fitting, since Governor General Lord Minto helped to found the club, and skating was initially held on a rink at Rideau Hall.                    

Triumph on Ice

Figure Skating: a History

Starting February 7, Canadian skaters will be competing in the the XXII Winter Olympics in Russia. Patrick Chan and Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir are going for gold, but Olympic medals for Canadian skaters have a long history.          Barbara Ann Scott, the first Canadian World Figure Skating Champion and winner of the gold medal at the 1948 Olympics, trained at the Minto club.

Barbara Ann Scott and Hans Gerschwiler practising before the 1948 Olympics. Wikicommons.

In Toronto, the Cricket Club was and is a major centre for the sport. It began in 1827, focusing on cricket, adding curling in 1836 and figure skating sometime in the mid-nineteenth century. Its carnivals were legendary.  From the mid-1930s to the early 1950s, Boris Volkoff choreographed huge ballets on ice that drew crowds from across Canada and the US.  Volkoff was a Russian trained ballet dancer who established the first serious ballet school in Toronto, and laid the groundwork for what became the National Ballet of Canada.

  
Toronto Skating Club Carnival, 1923 & 1964. Toronto Reference Library 

                               
But it’s not just for glory.  Both the Minto and Cricket clubs, and the hundreds of other clubs across Canada, exist mainly for people who want to learn and just love to skate.  And that’s what Canadians have always done, whether in backyards, special rinks, or out on our frozen lakes.  Who cares about the weather?

Skating on Toronto Bay between University and Bathurst, 1835. Toronto Reference Library

So what if there's an inch of ice outside?  Some people take lemons and make lemonade. Canadians take ice and make ice skaters.

Last week Ottawa hosted the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships (just recently renamed the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships).  The first official Championship took place in 1914 at the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa.  The Minto Club, founded in the winter of 1903-04, is still going strong, and last week, Minto board members attended a special reception at the Governor General's residence Rideau Hall, celebrating this 100th anniversary and the opening of competition.  Fitting, since Governor General Lord Minto helped to found the club, and skating was initially held on a rink at Rideau Hall.                    

Triumph on Ice

Figure Skating: a History

Starting February 7, Canadian skaters will be competing in the the XXII Winter Olympics in Russia. Patrick Chan and Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir are going for gold, but Olympic medals for Canadian skaters have a long history.          Barbara Ann Scott, the first Canadian World Figure Skating Champion and winner of the gold medal at the 1948 Olympics, trained at the Minto club.

Barbara Ann Scott and Hans Gerschwiler practising before the 1948 Olympics. Wikicommons.

In Toronto, the Cricket Club was and is a major centre for the sport. It began in 1827, focusing on cricket, adding curling in 1836 and figure skating sometime in the mid-nineteenth century. Its carnivals were legendary.  From the mid-1930s to the early 1950s, Boris Volkoff choreographed huge ballets on ice that drew crowds from across Canada and the US.  Volkoff was a Russian trained ballet dancer who established the first serious ballet school in Toronto, and laid the groundwork for what became the National Ballet of Canada.

  
Toronto Skating Club Carnival, 1923 & 1964. Toronto Reference Library 

                               
But it’s not just for glory.  Both the Minto and Cricket clubs, and the hundreds of other clubs across Canada, exist mainly for people who want to learn and just love to skate.  And that’s what Canadians have always done, whether in backyards, special rinks, or out on our frozen lakes.  Who cares about the weather?

Skating on Toronto Bay between University and Bathurst, 1835. Toronto Reference Library