Casper Figure Skating Club sculpting moves to movie magic
by Christi Marsico
The smell of popcorn and cold hangs in the air while a mother laces up her daughter's white skates.
Light hip-hop music penetrates the mood, as girls ages 6-16 giggle and gear up for the ice.
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The red blinking lights often found on children’s shoes twinkle on the ice skating guards of 6-year-old Laurel Hodgson as she approaches.
Her blue eyes sparkle as she spells out her name slowly and deliberately and then exclaims "Jumps and spins are fun!"
Decked out in a red skating outfit with a hair scrunchy to match, Laurel tells how she looks forward to the can-can number she performs with her friend, Madeleine Taheri, and also of the Spanish outfit she wears during the "Ole, Ole" number.
When she falls down, Laurel gets right up and at this time feels intimidated to learn the axle, which her older sister Cailin, who is also her favorite ice skater, is mastering.
Currently, Laurel is working on her loop technique -- "a three turn where you go backwards and your right foot goes over the other one and you jump and land."
Eager to perform for the upcoming "A Night at the Movies," even though she has "performed in front of people lots of times," this young skater can't wait to glide with charm on the ice.
As Laurel bops away, 8-year-old Payton Stack, who has been skating for three years, draws near.
Payton’s long hair is pulled back, and she is wearing a matching athletic black top and pants with a pink stripe uniting the ensemble.
She listens with complete attention.
The hardest thing in figure skating for Payton has been the "one-foot spin where I couldn't get my right foot position bringing my foot up and pushing it down while spinning."
Drawing inspiration from her ice skating idol Michelle Kwan, Payton's determined to learn that spin.
Her favorite thing about figure skating is the competitions because it showcases her skills and talent in front of an audience.
Despite her least favorite thing about figure skating being the early morning lessons when she'd rather be sleeping in, Payton lights up when speaking about her hip-hop costume that will debut in the Feb. 2 performance.
As Payton heads to warm up on the ice, the upbeat demeanor of 16-year-old Brittani Griffin is introduced.
Brittani, who has been ice skating since the age of 3, is going on her second year of coaching. For the upcoming presentation, she’ll be performing in the group number, "Hairspray," and skating to the song "Listen" from the film "Dreamgirls."
Brittani is coaching six kids who will perform during the medley of super heroes. In addition to working with these students on the technical aspects, Brittani believes that a helpful coach is a good listener and can relate to the younger skaters.
Her favorite thing about skating is performing, and Brittani notes with the flick of her short hair that her least favorite part revolves around the technical steps in between spinning and jumping.
With the motto, "Don't say ‘can't,’" that she learned long ago while on the ice, Brittani whisks away to the arena to help the younger skaters.
The Casper Figure Skating Club has been practicing for the past two months, working hard persevering and preparing their performances to selections from some of Hollywood's well known films, such as "Indiana Jones," "Happy Feet" and "Grease" among others.
Featured guest skater Christopher Darling, who is a junior level, four time Sectional Championship competitor from the Denver area, also will be performing during the evening’s performance.
Regardless of the solo sportsmanship of figure skating, friendships are fostered among the lockers and while lacing up in Casper's ice arena.
They’re developing lifelong skills, and the skaters on this kids’ beat can't wait to entice on the ice.