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Lee Ann Miller
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Lee Ann Miller ice skating with partner
LEA ANN MILLER, SKATING CHOREOGRAPHER
By Jim Baer
St. Louisan Lea Ann Miller represented the United States in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, skating with partner Bill Fauver in the pairs competition. She turned professional the next year and dazzled audiences worldwide, performing in Stars on Ice and with the Torvill & Dean world tour. Miller—who was born in Kirkwood and grew up in Lake St. Louis—became a chore-ographer, creating programs for the best skaters in the world. Now a media commentator, she’ll be in St. Louis for the 2006 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships, January 7–15 at the Savvis Center.
WILL WE SEE A NEW GROUP OF SKATERS INVOLVED IN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS HERE? Michelle Kwan has been involved in the sport a very long time; Sasha Cohen has not. It’s definitely a new generation, and it’s an exciting time for the amateur side of skating because there’s a new judging system. I am a fan of school figures [technically challenging patterns that have to be followed precisely]—I miss that discipline, that quality of skating— but I understand why they are gone. As kids, we used to tell ourselves that we spent so much time doing school figures, turning around and around, we could have been doctors or lawyers by the time we were through.
JUST HOW IMPOR TANT ARE SCHOOL FIGURES TO THE FOUNDATION OF SKATING? School figures are the basics, the ABCs of skating. The new generation now has to figure how to focus. That’s their challenge.
HOW GOOD ARE TODAY’S SKATERS? There is a new wealth of talent, all these young girls who can do triple jumps. We have to be careful of the injuries we are causing, though. Amateur skating has become more of an athletic challenge.
WHY DID YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH PAIRS SKATING? Oh, it appeals to me, the athletic side of skating, all the big tricks. You have to be a little crazy; it’s definitely the daredevil side of skating. Your partner is going to grab you by the ankles and throw you around.
YOU FACED YOUR OWN MEDICAL CHALLENGE RECENTLY. Two years ago I had a real scare. They think it was a neck injury that caused a blood clot. I couldn’t even touch my nose with my finger. I recovered, but now I’m focusing on choreography. I did about eight programs for Olympic qualifiers, and then the ISU (International Skating Union) changed all the rules and I had to change all of the routines. The Skating Federation flew me to China [to work with 2002 and 2003 world pairs champions Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao], and all that work was wasted. It was very inconsiderate of the ISU to do that.
WHAT SHOWS ARE YOU CURRENTLY PRO DUCING? A series of entertainment-skating specials on NBC. One is Earth, Wind & Fire; another is a Ray Charles tribute; there’s a Burt Bacharach tribute and a gymnastics special with Shannon Miller. I have only two days with these skaters to put the shows together, tape them and make them perfect.
YOU’VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH STARS ON ICE FOR QUITE SOME TIME. WHAT’S IT LIKE? I’m the only skater who has choreographed a number in all 20 years. It’s like going back to a college sorority or fraternity reunion. These are more than friends; they are family. I invited them all to my wedding— Kristi Yamaguchi, Brian Boitano, Katarina Witt, Scott Hamilton—and they all came.
WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT TO SEE AT THE NATIONALS? Some tough fights and a lot of competition. It’s not a shoo-in for anyone; there will be a lot of surprises. We’ll be choosing the Olympic team—and our top pairs skater is a Canadian, so she cannot represent the U.S.
YOU MARRIED JEFFREY KAY THIS SUMMER. IS HE A SPORTS GUY? No, he’s primarily a news director, but he goes to competitions with me, and I get so excited, I’m always grabbing or punching him. He says he has to wear pads or his arms will be black and blue.
HOW MUCH INFLUENCE DID YOUR PARENTS HAVE ON YOUR CAREER? I don’t know if they had a choice. They looked into my eyes and said, “Oh my God, there’s no stopping this one.”
