tater tots to perform in Rapid City
RAPID CITY - For one day, Rushmore Plaza Civic Center will be home to the most Olympic medalists and world champions to ever converge in one place, and at one time, in South Dakota history.
Olympic gold medalists Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson will headline the Progressive Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular on Dec. 23 at the civic center.
The show, which will also feature live performances by actress, singer-songwriter and dancer Raven Symone, will be broadcast nationally on Jan. 18 by NBC.
“It is a really cool combination doing gymnastics and figure skating,” Liukin, who was in Rapid City on Monday to announce the event, said. “It’s very different and unique and nobody’s done this before. It’s a cool opportunity to come here in a new arena and have one of the first shows.”
Liukin also won three silvers and a bronze at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and is the third American to win the Olympic gold medal in the all-around competition. Johnson, the 2007 world champion, was second behind Liukin in the Olympic all-around competition. Johnson and Liukin were part of the U.S. team that won the silver medal in the Olympic team competition.
“It is a pretty special event, one of the biggest events we’ve ever put on here,” civic center general manager Brian Maliske said.
The show will also feature Olympic gold medalist Paul Hamm, along with Jonathan Horton and Raj Bhavsar, who helped guide the U.S. men’s team to a bronze medal in Beijing.
The cast of figure skaters who will be coming to Rapid City is equally as impressive. Among those scheduled to perform are reigning American champ Mirai Nagasu, world junior champion and U.S. silver medalist Rachael Flatt, world junior silver medalist Caroline Zhang, two-time U.S. men's champion Evan Lysacek, Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, six-time U.S. champion and world champion Todd Eldredge and husband-wife duo Violetta Afanasieva and Peter Dack.
The performers are slated to arrive in Rapid City on Dec. 20 to begin rehearsing at the civic center.
Bart Conner, Nadia Comaneci and Peggy Fleming will provide TV commentary on NBC.
“It’s going to be a huge show and I’m hoping it’s going to draw a lot of people because it really is a cool show and a lot of fun to be involved with,” Liukin said. “Being able to watch it from the audience is really neat.”
Maliske said the floor of the civic center’s new arena will have the ice rink that will be flanked by the gymnasts’ floor exercise area and other apparatuses.
“There will be a gymnastics event going on one side of the ice,” he said. “There will be skating going on in between, and Raven will be doing numbers and skits in between all of that. So it is a very packed couple of hours.”
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday and range in price from $42 to $100, Maliske said.