A Blade Man Boldly Tries to Go Where No Skater Has Gone Before

An ice skater?

Yeah, but name one other 1980 Olympic champion blade man who was selected by the prestigious Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization to skate, act and sing as the prince in a production of the musical “Cinderella.” And name another skater who has exhibited his oil paintings at Beverly Boulevard’s trendy Nowhere Cafe.

“I bore very easily,” says figure skater Robin Cousins, from Bristol, England. “I’m a firm believer that you should never allow yourself to stabilize to a point where you become routine or stale.”

Judging by his activities, Cousins has nothing to worry about. Tonight, for instance, he not only stars in the fifth annual “Star Spangled Ice” show at the Blue Jay Ice Castle near Lake Arrowhead, he is the director and choreographer. He just returned from Toronto, serving as technical adviser and choreographer of the feature “The Cutting Edge”--during which he took time off to be a commentator for NBC’s coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships in Munich.

Often called the “Gene Kelly of Ice” for his attempts to expand the sport’s horizons, Cousins, 33, splits his time between homes in Lake Arrowhead and Hollywood. He is artistic director of the Ice Castle International Training Center in the mountain resort community; he also choreographs for top professional skaters.

“I usually don’t like to do anything unless I can do it well, though,” Cousins says of his eclectic tastes. “For ‘Cinderella,’ people said, ‘I didn’t know you could do that.’ And I’d say, ‘Well, now you do, so let’s do more!’ ”

In October, he plans to tape the “Symphony of Sports” show for airing next year on NBC and then begin a U.S. tour with the show “World Cup Champions on Ice.”

“I don’t just go from one to the other in trying to do these different things,” Cousins notes. “I try to give myself enough time so that each one will work. The idea is, you have to have enough balls in the air, because there’s only going to be one or two you’re going to catch.”