Audiences will be taken on a water-themed adventure when the Glenview Park District presents Blades on the Frozen Sea Spring 2022 Ice Show May 20-22 at the Glenview Community Ice Center.
Performances are 7 p.m. May 20, 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. May 21, and 1:30 p.m. May 22.
“We wanted to do a sea-themed show,” said Figure Skating Director Julie Brinskelle, who directs the show. “We’re starting our show above the water, then we’re going into the water, and then we end up on shore.” This journey will take place on the ice.
“We have a pirate number. We’re going to have a beach party number,” Brinskelle said.
Skaters will perform to numbers from the Beach Boys and the Beatles, among others.
Over 250 skaters, ages 3 through adults, will perform in the show, some of them in multiple numbers. Ten choreographers created the skating numbers.
Rachel Buchanan, an 18-year-old Glenview resident, has been skating at the Glenview Community Ice Center since she was three years old.
“A lot of the people I associate with today, I grew up skating with,” Buchanan said. “Up until this past March, I was doing competitions. But now that I’m going to be done with high school, I’m skating more for fun.”
Buchanan has a solo in the ice show and also skates in several group numbers.
“My solo this year is to ‘Come Sail Away,'” Buchanan said.
One of the group numbers in which she is participating is to the song, “In the Navy.”
“We’re going to have flags, which will be really cool,” she said. She is also participating in the pirate number and in another number being skated to a TV soundtrack.
Amelia Winke, an 18-year-old from Carpentersville, has been taking the hourlong ride to Glenview for nine months to train at the Ice Center. “I’ve been in and out of that rink for competitions and practices for a long time. I’ve competed in the competition Chicago Open that they host at Glenview typically for 10 years in a row,” Winke said.
She started going to the Glenview Community Ice Center when she was seven or eight years old.
“It’s a very welcoming environment and the people there are very nice,” Winke explained. “A lot of the rinks I’ve skated at have been very competitive and not as much fun to be there.”
For the Spring Ice Show, Winke will do a solo and skate in two group numbers.
“My solo I skate to is ‘Wipe Out’ by the Surfaris, which I’m really excited about because it’s really fast and upbeat,” the skater said. “I love doing those types of really funny programs as opposed to the formal things that I do at competitions.” She choreographed the piece herself with the assistance of her coach and her mother, who is also a coach.
The Glenview Park District presents this annual show because “It really does bring the community together,” Brinskelle said. “It allows the kids to show off their skating skills and allows people to come and see a show on the ice.”
“It’s a really fun experience to skate with other skaters,” Winke said. “I love the group numbers in particular because as a competitor I don’t get to skate with other skaters a lot. And to be able to dress up and perform for people along with my friends is a really good time.”
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Buchanan added, “I think the ice shows are a really fun way to show off all your skating accomplishments without the stress of competition. A lot of my family and friends that don’t usually get to see me skate get to come and watch.”
‘Blades on the Frozen Sea, Spring 2022 Ice Show’
When: May 20-22
Where: Glenview Community Ice Center, 1851 Landwehr Road, Glenview
Tickets: $5
Information: 847-724-2800; glenviewparks.org/events
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.