ESTEVAN - The Estevan Figure Skating Club was able to hold its carnival this year for the first time since 2018.
Club members entertained the crowd Sunday at Affinity Place with solos, duets and group performances. The youngest skaters in the CanSkate program performed. The theme was Disney on Ice, so the skaters choreographed their routines to well-known songs from Disney movies.
The show opened with a duet by Danae Schlamp and Janiyah Laforga. Sydney Brooks, Rachel Duncan and Madzia Szlapacka had a trio performance. Izzy Fonstad, Madison Nielsen and Aspen Watson delivered a trio routine, Rachel Duncan had a solo.
There were also three CanSkate performances, and group dances for the juniors and intermediates.
After an intermission, Szlapacka had a solo performance; Harlow Ludwig and Meeka Gedak had a duet; Sydney Brooks performed a solo; Sofia Erana-Schmegelsky, Elaina Sliva and Keomi Mazo skated as a trio, and Amelia McQuoid and Alexis Kolenz delivered a duet.
There were three more CanSkate group performances and a group routine courtesy of the competitive/senior group.
The afternoon wrapped up with a salute to this year's coaches - Ashley Piper, Janice Grocholski and Jolene Millions. Then all of the members skated to Nowhere to go but Up, so the ice surface was a very busy place.
The club had 24 skaters between the senior, intermediate and junior levels this year, said Piper, and more than 100 in CanSkate.
Piper said it was a good season. They had three competitions for the juniors, intermediates and seniors. The first one was in Moose Jaw in January, followed by Melville in February and Weyburn in March. The latter was the Winter Classic, which is provincials.
Piper said Szlapacka won two silvers, Brooks won two bronzes and Duncan brought home a gold and a silver.
Those three skaters also competed at the Saskatchewan Winter Games in Regina in February.
The skaters have come a long way, Piper said, and they all worked very hard this past season.
“Especially for the carnival, because our last competition … didn’t end until March 5, so we only had two weeks to get ready for this carnival,” said Piper.
The Disney on Ice theme was the same that they had selected for the carnival that was to happen in 2020, but had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
“We just had to reuse all of the supplies that were bought for that carnival,” she said.
This was Piper’s first year as head coach, and she was pleased with how everything went.
The figure skating club will wrap up its season with testing, and Piper is confident the skaters will do well during the assessments. They will also get to further develop their routines and start working on programs for next season.
The CanSkate members will continue with their practices until the season is finished.
