Every skater tells a story.
The Foothills Skating Club puts a bow on its season on March 11 at the Oilfields Regional Arena with its annual Year End Ice Show with the 2018 version of the event taking on the Storybook theme.
“We’re going to be featuring well-known stories throughout the ages, Dr. Seuss classics and Little Red Riding Hood, to name a couple,” said Foothills Skating Club president Karla Powell. “Our coaches set up the theme and the choreography for us every year and they do a great job keeping it fresh.
“Storybook is one we’ve never done in the past, it gives them a chance to use different music, use different ideas for their numbers. This theme can go in a lot of different places.”
All 40 members of the Foothills Skating Club will be strutting their stuff for the crowd.
“The Ice Show features not only our older skaters, but all of the kids in our Learn-to-Skate program as well, from 3 and up,” Powell added. “Some of the littler ones are going to be doing the Dr. Seuss classics.
“Our coaches put together numbers so that every kid can get to be out there on the ice.”
That includes the older skaters, who while veterans of big competitions don’t often get a chance to perform in front of hometown family and friends.
Test level skaters get a chance to show their performance numbers as well as customized routines made specifically for the show. Group performances also give the skaters a rare glimpse into team performance in a sport that can at times be overwhelmingly personal and individualized.
“For the test level skaters it’s a great chance for them to go out and perform locally,” Powell said. “Normally these kids go away to competitions and when they do that their friends and family don’t often get a chance to see them skate.
“At the Ice Show friends and family who are local get a chance to see what they’ve been working hard on all year. That’s really important for those older skaters.”
Work is the operative word.
Putting together a routine takes months of mastery from choreography to finding the right music for the performance to fashion on the ice.
“First we choose the music then we look at the level each skater is at,” said Foothills skater and first-year coach Anna Sweeney. “We pinpoint each movement to what they’re capable of and we bring their skill and what the music is together so that it flows.
“We have different costumes. This year we have a Little Red Riding Hood (routine) and we dress up as each character to bring out the performance of it more.”
A veteran of the ice show as a performer, Sweeney has a dual role for the first time this season.
“It does give a different perspective on how I see the show because I choreograph some numbers so I get to watch the skaters go out and do what I’ve taught them to do,” Sweeney said. “And I get to go out and show off my own skills. To me the audience sees what I can do and how I can teach it to others.
“Having this show for all of our skaters helps with being able to bring out our performance side and we just get to highlight what we like to do and get to show everyone else.”
Powell added local businesses and individuals have been massive supporters of club fundraisers including a raffle at the ice show.
The Ice Show goes from 1-3 p.m. at the Oilfields Regional Arena in Black Diamond.
For more information go to foothillskatingclub.com
