
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 10, 1994                   TAG: 9401120049
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

AMERICAN CREATED INMMTERNATIONAL SKATING STYLE

In a small Finnish town in 1879, a tombstone was erected for the passing of the man who influenced skating more than any other person, creating what would come to be known as "the international style." The now classic maneuver, the sit spin, was one of his innovations, as was a wholly new approach to ice skating that incorporated grace and theatricality.

His tombstone was inscribed simply: "Jackson Haines The American Skating King."

According to Country Home magazine, the American-born Haines came to the world of ice skating from a career as a ballet dancer and stage performer. He emphasized physical poise, musicality and entertainment elements that were not then a part of skating. He toured Europe in the years after the Civil War, giving exhibitions on ice and occasionally on roller skates. He leapt and spiraled across the ice to the accompaniment of music and dressed in a multitude of costumes. For one performance he might be garbed as a prince and, for another, a polar bear.

It was on the Continent, particularly in Vienna, that Haines achieved royal status. Ice rinks and children were named in honor of him. Many pupils benefited from his knowledge and skill prior to his early death before the age of 40.

Jackson Haines essentially invented the sport of figure skating. And, in the process, he elevated a mere pastime that had taken root on frozen farm ponds and backwater streams to an enduring art.

by CNB