PERSONALITY PROFILE

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Pho to by Mic he lle Horva t h/U. S. Fig u

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Alissa Czisny

is going to be a

superstar, says

coach Berlin.

Decades of spins and jumps grow into an even
more rewarding career for a local figure-skating coach.

BY SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFI\IAN

NEXT GENERATION

wenty-five years after Julianne
Berlin first dreamed of going
to the Olympics, she may very
well be on her way. But the former
competitive figure skater is now
dreaming of achieving her goal from
off the ice – as the coach of a young
skating dynamo.
"I coach some really awesome, tal-
ented kids," says Berlin, of Hunting-
ton Woods. "But one of my students,
Alissa Czisny, is going to be a super-
star." She'll skate her way to the
World Figure Skating Championships
next month and also is a hopeful for
the 2010 Olympic Games.
But for Berlin, becoming a figure-
skating coach was even more
serendipitous than her meeting up
with Alissa.
When Berlin was 6 years old, her
parents, Dr. Sam and Judy Weiner of
Huntington Woods, began taking
their family to the public rink in Oak
Park on Sunday evenings. "Almost
immediately, Julianne wanted to wear
the pretty little skating dresses and
have the lady in the fur coat wearing
ice skates coach her," remembers her
father.
Berlin remembers that, too. "For
some reason, I just loved the ice," says
the Berkley High School graduate. "I
loved the artistry of skating. But I
wasn't ever planning on teaching."
She was also involved with ballet
and other dance forms, incorporating
them into her programs.
In 1983, while a student at the
University of Wisconsin, Berlin
"would go to the rink to skate – for
fun. When I saw the kids skating and
making so many mistakes, I \vas horri-
fied, so I started helping them. All of
a sudden, they started to get better,
and their parents started to hire me to
teach them. Within six months, I had
a full load of students."
She remained in Madison after
graduating – with a degree in art his-
tory – so she could keep teaching.
Then Berlin spent five years as a
skating coach in Chicago before

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JNPLATINUM

"I knew early on that Alissa was
something special," Berlin says. "She
always had a light, flowing, very
wispy, effortless look on the ice.
There is something really delicate
about her."
Three times a week, Alissa
spends an hour on the ice with
Berlin. No quick trip for the skater
who, along with her sister, lives in
Ohio. "And the twins don't drive,"
Berlin added. "So their mother
brings them here."
Alissa also works at DSC with
coach Elizabeth Swallow and two
days a week meets with coach-cho-
reographer Theresa McKendry at
Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton
where Jewish skating coach Igor
Shpilband also teaches (see related

story).
For 15 years, Berlin choreographed
programs for her students, but say s
now, "I concentrate on coaching,
training and the technical areas. And
also the mental side, especially for the
adolescent kids," she says. "They can
really struggle with focus and confi-
dence and fear."
Having competed against top-
ranked skaters like Michelle KWall,
Sasha Cohen, Emily Hughes and
Elena Sokolova, Alissa's next big
competition is the 2006 International
Skating Union World Figure Skating
Championships in Calgary. Canada.
Berlin — who was an alternate for
both senior and novice national cham-
pionship meets — still skates on occa-
sion, for fun. And while her husband,
Howard, doesn't skate, she says, their
sons Max, 9, and Aaron, 7, both do.
In order to spend more time with
them, she relinquishes quite a bit of
the travel her coaching requires by
sharing it with co-coach NIcIcendry.
But if Alissa goes to the Olympics,
Berlin says, "I will definitely be there.
"Often, good coaching comes from
almost making it," Berlin says. "I had
a great career that I am very pleased
with, but I found a \\"LIV to take skat-
ing even further." El

_

Julianne Berlin with Alissandra Aronow, 14, of Bloomfield Hills

returning to Detroit in 1993 to work
at the St. Clair Shores Figure Skating
Club. "Everywhere I taught, I had
the opportunity to work with and
learn from top-notch coaches," she
says. "And there's nothing better than
on-the-job training."
It was during her 11 years at St.
Clair Shores that Berlin net then-l1-
year-old Alissa – and her twin sister,
Amber, also a skater.
"I actually came there to work with
Diana Ronayne, who had been my
own coach for 10 years," Berlin says.
"Soon after, Diana moved to Colorado
Springs to coach. Some of her stu-
dents went with her; some stayed
back – including the twins. I saw the
talent in them and took them over."
Now an 18-year-old sophomore at
Bowling Green State University in
Ohio, Alissa is ready for world cornpeti-

tion, while Amber, also an extremely
accomplished skater, has moved toward
ice dancing as a result of injuries. "But
I still oversee her career," says Berlin.
"Both girls are now national and inter-
national skaters."
Two years ago, when Berlin moved
to the Detroit Skating Club (DSC),
the Bloomfield Hills venue where
1998 Olympic gold medalist 'Fara
Lipinski had trained, Alissa and
Amber came with her. In addition,
Berlin works one-on-one with 20
other students, including Jewish
skater Alissandra Aronow of
Bloomfield Hills, a granddaughter of
the late Max Fisher, the Franklin phi-
lanthropist and Jewish leader. "This
year, three of my students went to
junior nationals, two to senior nation-
als and three will go to Nlidwestern
sectiona