Road to Success

Team Forget-Me-Not performs their competition program ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Florence and the Machine (Photo credit to Jasz Garrett/KINY)

Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – Juneau Skating Club held a free holiday-themed ice skating show at Treadwell Arena Sunday.

Alex Sargent, a coach with Juneau Skating, spoke about how the event went.

“Every show takes so many parts and pieces and people. It is all about the music, the programs, and the time to actually build those programs that the skaters skate to. Then also coordinating with those who play the music and those who help run through the show. So it is all about the coaches, and it’s all about the volunteers. Those are rock-solid individuals that make it just go. Costumes always are a tough one. But we work out something and it was really great this year. And the parents were just so open about the costumes, and they actually really wanted to join in. We had one program that was a Hawaii theme. And they were really excited about it.”

Each performer picked their own song to skate to. Sargent talked about picking her song O Holy Night – Jewel.

“A lot of the kids chose their music. But I was very impressed by the fact that they did choose really good Christmas pieces of music. They honed in on the Christmas theme this year. It really put the cherry on top of such a great performance. I did my performance because when you’re doing a show, kids need to change from one performance to the next to the next. And one of the girls actually needed a change time so I stepped in. I chose my piece because I’m a Jewel fan, and I’ve loved her for a really long time. I also noticed this year that a lot of girls brought back older pieces like ‘You Make me Feel so Young’ by Frank Sinatra, and ‘Once Upon a December’ from the movie ‘Anastasia’. These are pieces I remember I wanted to skate to when I was their age.”

Sargent said the age range of skaters was toddlers to 18 years old, and the toddlers were a special addition this year.

“This year we involved our Learn to Skate. Usually, we kind of wait for them to come and be a part of our spring show. So this year, we chose to really try to get them involved. Our Learn to Skate is our bread and butter it’s where our young ones come from, to then actually become the great skaters that we have now. And so we decided to really highlight them. From that, we have another group which can range from four to six. We’ve got a couple of seniors so 17, 18-year-olds graduating this year.”

She invited the community to keep their eye out for tickets for the upcoming spring show.

“Our spring show is March 31. And April 1. We have three shows. One on Friday night and two on Saturday. We do bring in guest artists for that show. That’s the goal and the plan. And we’re ready. We’re ready for it. I know I am. We want people to keep their eyes open for that and be ready. There will be ticket sales for that will come up. This show was free, it’s our welcome to Juneau to come to see what we do.”

Above: The Hawaii-themed skate Sargent referenced. Below: Sargent skates O Holy Night.

Below: The Learn to Skate, the youngest group during the Holiday show.