John Curry won the gold medal at the Olympics in men's figure skating in 1976.
John Curry was known for using much ballet and dance in his skating. His style of skating was called "Ice Dancing" and was a combination of skating and ballet.
John Curry was born on September 9, 1949 in Birmingham, England.
John Curry began figure skating at the age of seven. He took up figure skating since his father wouldn't let him take ballet lessons.
In Great Britaian, John Curry was coached by Arnold Gerschwiler. He then went to the United States and trained under Gus Lussi, and then, Carlo Fassi. Carlo Fassi coached him when he won the European Figure Skating Championships, the World Figure Skating Championships, and the Olympics in 1976.
After the Olympics, John Curry created his own "ice dance" company. His first company "Theatre of Skating" performed in Great Britain and was made of six skaters. The choreography was done by well known ballet choreographers and his work was accepted by the ballet world. In 1978, John Curry's "Ice Dancing" became a Broadway hit.
John Curry developed a daily "Ice Class" for his company. The class included deep edges and turns and figure skating moves. The class was done in a ballet class format. The skaters in the class had to be in precision with eachother while doing the edge moves. All had to look effortless.
In 1991, Dorothy Hamill, the 1976 Olympic Ladies Figure Skating Champion, purchased Ice Capades. She decided to have the skaters in Ice Capades do the "Ice Class" to warm up before every show. Many of the skaters who skated with the Ice Capades have taught John Curry's "Ice Class" techniques to figure skaters all over the world.
John Curry was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1987. In 1994, weakened by AIDS, he died of a heart attack. He was forty-four years old when he died.
