ESCANABA - After helping light up Detroit in a holiday atmosphere Friday night, Joe Gorecki is getting ready to light up Europe.
The accomplished figure skater from Bark River leaves Tuesday for Amsterdam to prepare his show that will be part of the Holiday On Ice tour. It begins in Germany and runs until April, with stops in Belgium, Austria and Czech Republic.
He performed at the Metro Detroit Christmas Tree lighting ceremony Friday. He skated to a Taylor Swift song, "Christmas Must Be Something More."
Gorecki was tabbed to replace national champion Alissa Czisney, who is competing with Jeremy Abbott in Skate Canada this weekend. That event will be on NBC Sunday at 2 p.m.
After visiting home this weekend, he leaves for Europe after taking another step up the figure skating ladder, earning his Senior Free Skate gold medal. He earned his Senior Moves gold in 2006, and also has a silver in dance.
"That is the highest I can be," Gorecki said in a telephone interview Thursday during a going-away party his fellow skaters held for him in Detroit.
He said the test requires jumps and spins in a specific format. "I did some jumps that were not required, a triple toe and double axel to show the judges I could do it," he said.
Skaters are marked on technical aspects and their presentation, with a 9.0 required. Gorecki scored 9.7.
"It just shows that you are a more accomplished skater and that if you would like to coach in the future that you are a gold medalist and know how to do this stuff," he said.
If Gorecki, 20, returns to competition, he will skate at the senior level. Last year he was sixth in the Midwest Sectional as a junior.
When he reaches Amsterdam, Gorecki will begin work on his show, Energia. "It is very contemporary, a very abstract show," he said, noting skaters have elaborate costumes and sets. "It shows how light is an energy source and connects everyone."
Gorecki turned down a chance to skate with a cruise line because the dates "were not favorable." He is also going to contact Disney officials about joining their Asian tour as a principal skater.
Skating in shows will be dramatically different from competing. "My choreographer said now you have to learn how to perform, because you are changing worlds," he said. "An arm movement or a smile is worth more than a triple flip."
It will also allow him to relax while skating. "When you're competing, you're always nervous and uptight, and tense," he said.
The new venture comes on the heels of executing one of the toughest jumps, a quad toe.
"The triple toe is my best jump," he said, noting he had to convince his coach (Julie Bell) to try the quad. "Even if I wiped out landing it would be cool to say I learned a quad.
"The takeoff is different. It is different going around that extra turn," he said, noting he landed it on the second try.
"It is not consistent, but I can do it. I wouldn't say I'm at the level of the top skaters, but just to say I'm doing the top tricks is pretty cool."
If he returns to competitive skating, he would rejoin Bell, who he said is one of the best coaches in the world.
He said after his final competition in July, Bell told him it was a shame he was changing his focus because he was peaking. "She said 'I feel this is the best you've ever been,'" he related.
Gorecki told The Daily Press earlier he was going on tour because the cost of competition and lessons was becoming too expensive.