Skaters from the Fredericksburg Ice Park won first place with their ice dance called 'Spytacular.' View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

New skating program offered at Fredericksburg Ice Park is proving gold.

New skating program offered at Fredericksburg Ice Park is proving gold.

By REBEKAH ELLIOTT

Date published: 5/8/2005

URPRISE after pleasant surprise seems to be in order for the Fredericksburg Ice Park's newest group.

Twenty-nine skaters, ranging in ages from 4 to adult, blew the competition off the ice in its first "Spytacular" performance by earning first place at an International Skating Institute competition held in Piney Orchard, Md., on May 1.

Before that, however, the group had already bowled over head coaches Olga Garrity and Lindsay Russek.

At the initial registration in September, Garrity and Russek had tentatively choreographed the show and chosen the music; they were set to coach a small group.

"We were hoping for 16," explained Russek. What they got was almost double that number. Jordan Stroh, a skating instructor at the time, had stayed to watch the registration out of curiosity, but was soon asked to help when the numbers poured in.

"It just evolved into something bigger than any of us expected," Garrity said.

When Russek approached Garrity about the possibility of doing a type of theater on ice, it was with the desire to provide more skating opportunities for different personalities and personal goals.

"This opens an avenue for skaters who aren't necessarily into the competition side of skating," Russek explained. "Going to the Olympics is a great wonderful dream, but it's kind of like winning the lottery."

Now, students can enjoy the thrill of competition but in a relaxed atmosphere where fun ranks just as high as gold.

The biggest benefit is "you can see the kids getting closer together," said parent Pam Amorosi.

"Everybody's for everybody else," agreed parent Tracy Watkins. And, "it's more fun because it's not just working on the routine all the time."

The production team class is a type of theater on ice, which isn't new in the world of skating. But, it is very new for this area with none of the surrounding rinks offering anything similar.

It has also gone through a transformation in the past decades in Russia and Europe with impressive, theatrical numbers and huge productions geared to entertain.

In Russia, it's called "circus on ice." In America it's categorized as "ballet on ice," "theater on ice" and "production team" by various groups.

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Date published: 5/8/2005