When the American movie musical “Footloose” was released in 1984, it was a revolution, not just in the U.S., but all over the world. The storyline involves a teenager named Ren McCormack, and the character is played by Kevin Bacon. Ren and his mother have moved from Chicago to a small western town that is very conservative. The town is so conservative that there’s actually a ban on dancing, and Ren is determined to change that law, which had been passed by the town council. Apparently they thought dancing was immoral. Naturally, there’s a pretty girl involved and she becomes Ren’s love interest, Ariel. As it turns out, Ariel is just as rebellious as Ren, but there’s a twist: she has a strict preacher father and an abusive boyfriend.
Like all high schoolers, the students in this town want to have a high school prom. However, the ban on dancing disallows that. Ren and Ariel are determined to have the law overthrown, and they find a supporter in an unlikely place: Ariel’s mom, who finally convinces her preacher husband to use his influence to try to get the kids a prom. It’s an upbeat 1980s movie, so of course, it has a happy ending and the kids get to have their senior prom. The happiest thing of all, however, is that we all have a wonderful feel-good movie to enjoy for the rest of all time. And when a world-class figure skater creates an ice dance routine to the “Footloose” theme song, it’s even better.
Ryan Bradley is the 2008 Skate Canada International silver medalist, the 2011 U.S. national champion, the 2009 Skate America bronze medalist, and a three-time U.S. Collegiate champion. Figure skating is a family affair with Ryan’s family. His mother is a United States Figure Skating Association judge and his sister is also a former competitive skater and a skating coach. Ryan himself is currently a skating coach at the Colorado Springs World Arena and a Broadmoor Skating Club volunteer. He retired from competitive skating in 2011, but he still skates for fun and for special performances like the one below.
YouTube
In this video, Ryan skates in Kent, Washington to the “Footloose” theme song for the Pandora Unforgettable Moments of Love on Ice, which is part of the pandora NBC Skating Series. Enjoy this fun and nostalgic performance.
