Beauty on ice
Silver Gliders present Beauty and the Beast on ice
Their excitement level overpowered feelings of nervousness as the show they worked so hard to prepare for was about to begin.
The Kentville Silver Gliders Figure Skating Club presented a reimagining of the classic tale Beauty and the Beast as the finale to a successful skating season on March 27.
12-year-old Toni Marie Barkhouse of Kentville, a Star 3 level skater, played one of Gaston’s admirers. Nathan Slade played the role of Gaston.
She said she was looking forward to performing in front of the packed house at the Kentville Centennial Arena and was sure the experience would be fun. Barkhouse hoped the crowd would be “amazed” with Beauty and the Beast.
“It’s pretty cool,” she said. “It’s going to be awesome.”
Barkhouse said the show would be much different than a typical skating event, with music, dance and acting being incorporated. She spent about five weeks preparing for her role. Barkhouse liked that all the club’s skaters were included in the show.
12-year-old Clea Matthews of Coldbrook, a Star 4 and 5 level skater, played the keeper of a bookstore. Matthews said the performance would involve a different set of skills than she normally employs on the ice and she hoped the audience would be impressed with the production.
“It’s kind of like being in a movie I guess, only on skates,” Matthews said.
She said there is a lot of effort involved preparing for a production like Beauty and the Beast.
“It takes hard work to get your part ready,” Matthews said. “It has to be pretty good so it works well with the music and the timing.”
Kentville Silver Gliders president Darlene Redden-graves said they’ve been talking about putting on Beauty and the Beast for a few years but had put it off because of the level of production involved.
After deciding to go for it this year, they realized their timing couldn’t be better with the event coinciding with the release of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast movie.
She credited coach and producer Cheryle Gaston for pulling it all together with the help of the other coaches. There were approximately 90 skaters involved, ranging in age from 3 to 15. Redden-graves said the skaters enjoy getting a break from competitions and test days to have fun preparing for the club’s annual end-of-season show.
Redden-graves said she is proud of the effort all the skaters and coaches put into the production and the skating season in general. The Kentville Silver Gliders have “a great group of kids.” She is particularly impressed with the progress made by the young Can Skaters over the past five months.
“When they first stepped on the ice, some of them couldn’t even stand,” Redden-graves said.