By Matteo Morelli, Team FSO contributing writer
Photos Giada Arioldi and Matteo Morelli
The Japanese Dream Ice Gala took place in Varese, Italy, on August 15th (which is also an Italian traditional public holiday called ‘Ferragosto’). Skating legend Carolina Kostner and Andrea Vaturi from Ghiaccio Spettacolo joined forces to come up with a unique show that included skaters from the Japanese federation, the Italian federation and cast from the Ghiaccio Spettacolo Group.
This show carried an important significance, as it was the first show in Italy to officially open the two years leading to the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games, welcoming the Winter Games back to the country after they were last hosted in Turin in 2006 (this was Kostner’s first of four Olympic attendances).
The Gala took place at the Acinque arena in Varese, a structure that has been modernised and reopened 2 years ago, with Kostner there from the start to support and advice on its development. It is thanks to her that the Japanese and Korean Federations decided to official pick Varese as their training ground, which could also be seen as a strategic move in view of the 2026 Olympic Games: in fact, Varese’s Acinque arena should be one of the training rinks for the next Winter Games, with the main competition rink planned to be in Milan.
The Japanese Dream Ice Gala was the first show of its kind in Italy to welcome the Japanese national team. With such a rich cast, the event was quickly sold out and saw a really packed arena with an incredibly supportive audience, some of which came from far to be at the gala.
The size of the event was such that media presence was quite high too: our photographer Giada Arioldi was there (you can see her photos on our gallery at this link), we saw colleagues from other media such as Skate Info Glace and Art on Ice, and we were joined by Italian national TVs, local TVs and media, and quite a number of Japanese media. We were also pleased to see a really good friend of ours: Jordan from OnIcePerspectives was there to film on the ice! He joined Ghiaccio Spettacolo for all of their 4 summer shows, including this one in Varese, the only one with the Japanese team; for the other 3 shows, the Ghiaccio Spettacolo cast was joined by skaters from the Italian federation and special guests such as the current European champion Loena Hendriks of Belgium.
Upon arriving at Acinque arena in Varese, a long queue was already visible from far. Before the show kicked off, a meet and greet took place for those that purchased this option, providing a unique opportunity which was embraced by many fans.
The show started with Carolina Kostner and Andrea Vaturi on the ice, welcoming everyone to the event. The two explained the reason behind the Japanese Dream title: throughout her career, Kostner pursued her dream to skate at the best of her abilities, including achieving the dream of not only going to the Olympic Games (she went to a remarkable 4 Olympics in total), but also winning an Olympic medal (a bronze at the Sochi 2014 games). With such a legacy, she now wants to help the new generations to achieve that dream, which is why she is enjoying working closely with the Japanese federation and the skaters she coaches.
Kostner also delighted the audience with a performance, a rare event these days to admire her unique interpretation skills and her magnetic presence on the ice: her body was one thing with the music, almost as if the piano chords of the song she skated on were being played by her body movements.
The Japanese cast was absolutely outstanding. It is worth mentioning each skater that was there: Kaori Sakamoto, Mone Chiba, Hana Yoshida, Mai Mihara, Yuma Kagiyama, Sota Yamamoto, Kao Miura, Shun Sato, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, Yoshida Utan and Masaya Morita. Some of them arrived from Paris, where they got their Team Event Olympic medals (a silver for the Japanese team) from the 2022 Winter Games finally awarded after a resolution on the doping case that kept them in the wait.
They all skated on their programmes, showcasing what we are going to see in the new season. For this time of the year, the skating quality was already really good, to the point that you would almost feel as if you were at a competition waiting for their scores to come up at the end of their skates.
Skating right after his coach Carolina Kostner, Yuma Kagiyama presented his new short programme (choreographed by Lori Nichol) on a modern version of “The Sound of Silence” performed by Miloš Karadaglić, which he already embodies really well thanks to his continuous work with Kostner.
Kaori Sakamoto’s new short programme on tango music by Astor Piazzolla (“Concierto del Ángel: IV. Resurrección del Angel”) was also really interesting and filled with details. She didn’t land her jumps, but surely this is nothing to be concerned about, with Sakamoto herself smiling after each jump attempt. On the contrary, Hana Yoshida took the ice skating on her new short programme on “Dark Clouds” (choreographed by Benoit Richaud), which she delivered with a lot of confidence and determination.
Riku Miura and Ryuchi Kihara were incredibly fast as always, skating on their new short programme on “Paint it black” (choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne).
Ice dancers Yoshida Utan and Masaya Morita offered a taster of the new rhythm dance theme for this season, “social dances and styles from the 50s, 60s and 70s”, skating on Gene Vincent and the eternal Elvis Presley, with spot on costumes to take us back to those eras.
Ghiaccio Spettacolo really wanted to come up with a show to remember. Alongside the exceptional Japanese cast, the company was also joined by some of the top skaters from the Italian federation skating on their gala programmes, including: 2 time European Champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri, which are entering their fifteenth competitive season together; Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini, one of Italy’s many strong pair teams; and Matteo Rizzo, back on the ice after surgery early in the year and already landing a double and triple jumps with ease.
The cast of Ghiaccio Spettacolo also delivered fantastic performances full of entertainment, including Violetta Afanasieva’s mastery with the hula hoops, Clement Pinel’s backflips and other spectacular choreography from their rich cast.
At the end of the gala, all athletes got back to the ice together for a last group number to thank the audience for their warm support and loud cheers. When leaving the ice, some skaters kindly stopped to greet their fans and take photos with them.
Congratulations to Ghiaccio Spettacolo, Carolina Kostner and all involved in delivering a gala that will definitely be remembered!
