The Assiniboia Skating Club organized a Broadway and cinematic-themed program at the Assiniboia Civic Centre Arena on March 29 with tickets by donation.
The show began with Katie Anderson singing the national anthem as Jill Marcenko and Rain Hoff skated around the arena with the maple leaf and provincial flags. Later, Rain Hoff reappeared in the carnival’s second act, sliding on the ice to Santé Fe from the movie and musical, Newsies, in newsboy’s denims in an expressive act balanced with control.
After O’ Canada, Jordan Engstrom stunned the crowd with her spinning, whirling and athletic-driven performance of All That Jazz by Chicago. Further in the first act, Jordan’s sibling Samantha soared on blades to A Million Dreams. Other notables in the solo category included Jill Marcenko, who did a dramatic skate to Hallelujah. Lily Kwasnicki’s sweet roll on the ice to My Favourite Things was memorable. Katie Anderson’s skate to Shallow (from a Star Is Born) displayed the creativity of an up and coming skater. This is Me by Halee Jordison was also beautifully done. Alyssa Kwasnicki performed a very talented glide on the ice to Waving Through A Window, later teaming with Lily to skate as pair to Touch The Sky from Brave. Jessica Beaubien’s skate to Defying Gravity followed the title nicely. Kayley Beaubien’s performance to Let Me Be Your Star was amazing.
Throughout the night, there were several comical and entertaining group-skates, such as the cast who skated to I’m a Believer, a 1966 hit for the Monkees and featured in Shrek. Indeed, the night was filled with group-skates from well-known movies and plays, including School of Rock from the 2003 movie directed by Richard Linklater. Because all the group skaters in the carnival had energetically skated to their choreographed acts with noticeable precision, the coaches in Assiniboia should also be praised for their hard efforts.
Other significant group acts of the evening included the skaters who performed to The Phantom of the Opera and Mister Mistoffelees from Cats – where the young skaters frolicked on the ice in matching purple dresses to a song from a musical based on poetry by T.S. Eliot. The cast skating in Hard Knock Life (Annie) were also well-costumed and quite endearing.
More standouts of the evening included Mina Wirges’ skate to Lay All Your Love On Me from Mamma Mia! An up and coming skater, Mina won this year’s Star Skater of the Year award before the first act concluded. Congratulations to Lennox Pituley for winning the Canskater of the Year award.
The Assiniboia Skate Club is a non-profit governed by a board of directors. This club has membership in Skate Canada. The coaches of the skate club are certified Skate Canada instructors and are in compliance with the National Coaching Certification Program. The Assiniboia Skate Club teaches skating to children from the ages of 3-18.
