Lots to celebrate at annual ice show in Prescott
Posted Mar 4, 2010 By Conan De Vries
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EMC Events - Anyone still looking for a figure skating fix now that Joannie Rochette and Virtue and Moir have got their medals and gone home need look no further than the Prescott Figure Skating Club. 
Conan de Vries, St. Lawrence EMC
Coaches were working with their CanSkate pupils at Prescott's Leo Boivin Community Centre earlier this week in preparation for the Prescott Figure Skating Club's annual ice show coming up on the weekend of March 13.
More than 100 figure skaters, from little tykes just learning to skate backwards to older athletes who can lay down toe loops and salchows, will be taking to the ice for the club's annual ice show on Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 at the Leo Boivin Community Centre in Prescott.
Skaters will be performing to the theme "Let's Celebrate," and performances will feature music, costumes and programs highlighting various holidays, including Halloween and Christmas, some festivals, such as Mardi Gras, and even the seasons.
"It's a time for all the skaters to show what they've done over the year," says show committee co-chair Mary Anne Dixon.
The show will give an opportunity to kids in the beginner programs to show off how far they've come, from sliding along the ice on their backsides when they started to skating confidently around the rink, while it will give the senior skaters a chance to demonstrate their increasing mastery of the finer points of figure skating.
"All the skaters really make the show," says Dixon, "but the little ones are so cute and funny."
There will also be a special performance in recognition of Prescott's bicentennial this year, with youngsters acting out an old-fashioned outdoor skating party, like kids their age might have had along the St. Lawrence river in years gone by.
"We thought it would be nice to pay tribute to the town's anniversary."
There'd be no opportunity to celebrate anything, though, were it not for the tireless efforts of not only the five members of the organizing committee but also the phalanx of parents and volunteers who make the show go on every year.
"People think the whole thing just falls into place, but it really doesn't," says co-chair Mary Spero. "We have a really good core group of volunteers that we rely on."
Work begins in October, at the beginning of the skating season, starting with the theme and concept for the show.
Then costumes must be developed and sewn, oftentimes incorporating outfits from previous years but sometimes requiring that whole new costumes be made - all put together by volunteers. The music is another undertaking.
Once pieces are selected that best suit the given theme, they have to be cut and timed so that they fit comfortably into a sprightly two-hour show.
Sets and lighting are erected the night before the first public performance, and the overnight transformation from rink to stage never fails to impress the kids when they file into the arena on Saturday morning for dress rehearsal.
"You should see the looks on their faces," says Dixon. "They're always amazed."
Of course, all that work would be for naught without the skaters, and their coaches, who put together their ice show routines in less than a week.
"We give them their costumes and music and tell them to make it look good," jokes Dixon. "And by Friday night, they look pretty darn good, and we all wonder how they do it."
GUEST SKATER
Once again this year, the show will also feature a guest skater, always a popular attraction for show participants and spectators alike.
"It's always a big highlight for the kids," says Dixon.
This year's guest is Myriane Samson, a member of Canada's national team who came third in last year's Canadian championships, behind the country's Olympic representatives, Joannie Rochette and Cynthia Phaneuf.
As always, the guest skater will take part in a 45-minute practice session with the local kids on Sunday morning, an event that often turns into more of an autograph session than a skating practice.
"It's neat to see the kids so excited," says Dixon.
The ice show is exciting for spectators, too, and the rink is usually packed with parents and grandparents, and even people who may no longer have any connection to the figure skating club but who still come out to, maybe, just maybe, catch a glimpse of the next Chan or Rochette.
The Saturday night show starts at 7 p.m. and the Sunday afternoon show starts at 2 p.m. Admission for adults is $7, for seniors and high school students $5, for elementary students $2, and kids younger than school-age are admitted free.
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