It’s the time of year for shopping, wrapping, tree trimming and cookie baking. For many skating clubs across the country, it’s also time for something else: the holiday show.
At the Point Mallard Figure Skating Club in Decatur Alabama, skaters treated their audiences to a trip through The Grinch’s merry village, Whoville.
“We rotate shows each year between Whoville on Ice, The Polar Express on Ice and A Christmas Carol on Ice,” said Skating Director Heidi Parker. “Our skaters like having a variety of shows but also like that they know which show will be next. Whoville is usually the favorite because of the costumes and creativity that we can have as Whos.”
The club’s Dec. 14 show took place at the Huntsville Municipal Ice Complex while their home rink is undergoing repairs.
“The Huntsville Skating Club and Huntsville Skating School and Training Academy were very accommodating and helped all our skaters keep skating and allow time for ice practices,” Parker said.
The club preformed two shows featuring 38 skaters and featured music from the original animated movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Jim Carey version, the Broadway version and dialogue from the movie.
“The show was about an hour long and took you from start to finish through the story of the Grinch that stole Christmas,” Parker said.
The club begins holiday show preparation in September, with both shows welcoming sellout crowds.
“We were beyond excited for the response,” Parker said. “Our show is a compilation of high-level freestyle skaters, group class skaters, Special Olympic Alabama Ice Skating Unified Synchro Team and adult skaters — a diverse but exciting blend of skaters.”
At the Columbus Figure Skating Academy in Columbus, Georgia, Skating Director Robert Przepioski prepares a smaller holiday show since their rink accommodates both figure skating and hockey.
“We know as a club to be prepared around the first or second week of December so we start planning in September for getting a date on the schedule with the rink,” Przepioski said. “As we get to October, we start planning our announcers, music and signups, as we don’t want to take a chance of skaters skating to the same song. We also use our group classes with a group number from their level and all coaches get one group in the show.”
By November, the date is set and flyers prepared, but since Columbus serves a lot of military families, many travel during Thanksgiving time, making show preparations a bit challenging.
“This is why by Halloween instead of hearing Halloween music we are listening to Christmas music, making solo programs. As a director I make sure our group classes are notified of the Christmas show so no one misses the chance,” Przepioski said.
They also cut off skater sign ups the week before Thanksgiving.
“Most skaters here only skate one to three hours a week for 1-2 hours if lucky,” Przepioski said. “The south is not like Colorado, California or Florida training life. We only have ice in the evenings, not in the mornings.”
The club show is also part of the rink’s annual Skate with Santa event, and Przepioski noted audiences seem to be growing.
“We had 300 people come this year. We have been growing by 25 percent on average,” he said. “This year we also had city officials attend as well as a lot more local military officers.”
