The St. Olaf Figure skating club put on their fall showcase Sunday night, with the inventive theme of “in disguise.” The acts involved skaters in costume, donning various personas for their terrific twirls.
The show started off with a troupe of skaters all wearing Sia wigs, skating to the song “Chandelier” by the white-haired pop singer. Each of the skaters simply wore black clothing and identical wigs to mimic Sia’s iconic blonde bob. Matching costumes and robotic choreography made individual skaters difficult to distinguish, and as Sia clones mesmerized the audience as they spun across the ice with effortless uniformity.
Next, Eugene Sandel ’22, a newbie on the ice, performed solo to “I’ll Never Love Again” by Lady Gaga. Sandel had been skating for less than a year, but his clean elementary jumps had the crowd roaring. Sandel, founder of the St. Olaf Winter Guard club, also incorporated his flashy flag skills into his skate. Sandel’s amateur and impressive set emphasized that anything is possible, even on slippery ice.
Sena Spinella ’19, former “Disney on Ice” skater and leader of the St. Olaf Figure Skating Club, was the star of the show. At the show, Spinella celebrated her final performance at St. Olaf, as she is graduating a the end of this semester. Spinella performed an intense solo skate to “Feeling Good” by Avicii, donning a feathery mask and dark clothing. Spinella also performed a piece with Ole the Lion, where Spinella dressed as Belle and Ole donned a fancy coat to portray the Beast. However, the technology was comical – we had to listen to almost all of Wicked’s “For Good” before someone was able to change the song to what it was supposed to be, “Something There,” from “Beauty and the Beast.”
“For Good” was eventually performed for real, once again by Spinella and her skating buddy Emma Kielsa ’22. Their duet celebrated a skating friendship – the announcers shared that the two are podmates and even have an Instagram where they share their skating adventures.
A comedic Zamboni disaster filled intermission with lots of confusion and laughs. After taking a trip around the entire arena and leaving, the Zamboni drivers realized they missed a spot. So, the Zamboni returned to the ice, only to leave behind a trail of snow that had to be cleaned up with a shovel. The Zamboni spectacle was an incredibly clumsy moment that spoke to the general randomness of the show. Half of the show was filled with fantastic skating, and the other half with dead moments of technological difficulties and transition times.
For the finale, each of the skaters took their bows and showed off one last move. Minus numerous technological problems, the St. Olaf Figure Skating Club put on a fun and memorable performance.
