Noralta gets nutcracking
Holiday ice ballet a showcase for figure-skating club members
Posted 1 year ago
By CAROL CHRISTIAN
Today staff
It was with sparkling colour, obvious fun, and tremendous effort that the Noralta Skating Club presented the tale of Clara’s magical Christmas Eve journey full of toy soldiers, mice, candy, and, of course, nutcrackers.
The club’s presentation of The Nutcracker on Ice was showcased for an audience numbering around 500 both Saturday and Sunday at Thickwood Arena.
Some 200 skaters of various skill levels had a role to play in the production, which has been months in the planning. And it offered plenty of the “ahh” factor as some skaters nibbled their bottom lips for added concentration. There were some “oops” grimaces, and quick recoveries when the youngest of skaters fell. There were also some looks of awe from the fledgling skaters watching the lead characters perform seemingly flawless routines.
A highlight of the evening was two performances by guest skater Vaughn Chipeur, fourth in the men’s senior 2008 Canadian championships. His efforts were greeted with squeals of delight from his young fans, some of whom could be heard yelling, “We love you.”
The three skaters who performed the Nutcracker’s lead roles may have been slightly nervous going into the premier performance but, with the first show under their belts, were filled with excitement in anticipation of Sunday’s show.
For Toni Strang — Clara, Kelsey Bulbec — the Prince, and Kaitlyn Ross — the Sugar Plum Fairy, their original nervousness quickly melted away when they aced their performances to the ready applause of an appreciative audience.
“At first I was so nervous, I couldn’t stop shaking and then after, I wasn’t nervous at all. I was just so excited,” said Toni after Saturday’s show. “It’s so thrilling with the applause and stuff.”
She admitted there were times when it was really hard not to smile because they were having so much fun doing the show but, taking her cues from the serious looks on the faces of her friends who were playing the mice circling her bed armed with plastic swords, she tried to look as scared as she could.
“Oh my gosh, I was so excited,” said the 12-year-old, who has been skating for nine years, when recalling her screams of excitement when she learned she would be the story’s main character. Having only three weeks to prepare for her starring role, Toni said she aced one solo for the first week, then had to learn everything else over the remaining two weeks before the show. “It was kind of hard. Sometimes I didn’t know what I was doing, so it was better after,” said Toni. Though her performance appeared flawless, she admitted that at times, she was backstage thinking to herself, “‘What do I have to do next?’ I was, like, asking the coaches everything.”
But with the jitters behind her, Toni said she as “so excited for (Sunday’s) show. I won’t be nervous at all.”
Kaitlyn admitted she was a little unsure going into the first show, but became “pretty calm” once on the ice where she was joined at times by some junior skaters colourfully adorned as fairies. Other Canskate youngsters were gingerbread men, snowflakes, bluebirds, Christmas trees and sweets.
“It was fun. My cheeks kind of hurt from smiling though. It was all smile forceage,” she said, laughing, after the performance. She did say “it was pretty cool” hearing the applause for her performance.
Kaitlyn, who has been skating for six years, was looking forward to Sunday’s performance. And she said having such a plum role in the show was made more special by the fact this would be her final performance in the local club’s Christmas production. The Grade 11 student expects to be concentrating on her post-secondary education by the time the next show rolls around.
Sharing her fellow skaters’ confidence going into the second show, Kelsey, however, did admit a lace issue would not be making a second appearance.
“I know to tie my skates tighter, had a problem with that in my program,” she giggled backstage. Most of her performance went smoothly except for the skate problem she said acknowledging it is difficult to prepare for the unexpected. Other than that, “Everything felt pretty fun. It was a lot of fun out there,” said Kelsey.
Kelsey, who has been skating for roughly 12 years, was “pretty excited because, like I said, I took a year off before, it was four sessions back. I tried out for the fun of it, didn’t think I was getting it, got the role, and I was pretty excited about that.” Like Toni, she said there were times it was hard not to giggle such as during the battle scene between the soldiers and the mice.
“You’re looking at each other and you look so mad, but you know you’re friends,” she said, laughing, adding all the hard work was worth it. “I think the people who watched it and paid attention to it enjoyed it. It went really well. Everybody skated really amazing.”
Tania Murowchuck also shared that enthusiasm. “It (was) awesome — it’s the big build,” enthused the assistant head coach after Saturday night’s show. “All the work has finally come to a great, great show, and the kids had an awesome time, all smiles.”
She noted the lead-up to the show builds for a about a full year while the show itself is put together in rather short time.
“It was definitely worth it,” said Murowchuck, reflecting on all the work that goes into such a large production. “It’s worth all the prep, and all the stress. I’m sure all the committee members and the coaching staff, and the skaters would all agree too.”
The entire ice show committee is volunteer, even the narrator who was club president Kevin Boyer.
“Lots of people … went the extra mile to make this show just great,” she added. While the initial planning for the show gets underway in the January before the December show, the skaters have only about three weeks to prepare, explained Murowchuck. And that’s after the lead roles are awarded following auditions that are judged by people from the community, outside of the figure skating club.
