IMAGE GALLERY: Skating Club Hosts Annual Show

Family, friends and ice-skating fans packed the stands for the North Star Figure Skating Club’s 2011 show which was held on Sunday, May 21, at the  in Westborough.

This year the show was A Red Carpet Event and each routine featured a popular song that had a connection with a motion picture. 

Denise Marco, Director of Figure Skating for the North Star Figure Skating Club and Executive Director of the North Star Youth Forum said, “Skating - or should I say coaching - is my passion and it is all so gratifying for me to watch the time and hard work these young skaters put in to become figure skaters.”  She added that she “applauds the skaters hard work and dedication that was put into this year's show.”

The show began with Marco, who was appropriately dressed for the red carpet in a floor length red gown, interviewing solo skaters on a red carpet which had been installed on the ice especially for the event. 

The show featured a combination of solo skating performances primarily by New England Regionals Competitors and group numbers skated by Freestyle and Shining Star club members. Marco said, "All of our soloists, duos and Shining Star members have trained many hours this season hoping to showcase their news skills and possibly bring a smile to your face.”

Every number was choreographed by a North Star coach and featured coordinating costumes. The opening song Fame featured a group of thirteen skaters.  The audience “oohed”, "aahhhed” and applauded to show their appreciation. 

Skaters showed their personalities while skating and used fun props to highlight the songs’ unique attributes. For example, a solo skater skated with an umbrella to Singin’ in the Rain, and Jailhouse Rock featured prison cell walls along with a warden, prisoner numbers and handcuffs.

“The surprise adult number, in my opinion, was a highlight of the show,” said Marco, explaining that she had secretly planned for parents of skaters to perform a routine to Your Momma Don’t Dance, a seventies hit by Loggins and Messina. The fifteen participating parents only practiced once and were dressed in tie dye shirts, fringe and peace signs.

Marco told Westborough Patch that there were challenges in producing the show. “Matching the songs to the soloists is the most challenging area. If it is the correct choice, it certainly is portrayed in their performance.” 

The final routine featured Vogue by Madonna, followed by the entire cast skating at their own pace around the rink to some of the show’s song selections before the zamboni machine was rolled out to resurface the ice.

Putting the show together takes hours of behind the scenes work. Marco said that she and her team began to prepare for the 2011 show last October and that it takes months to select the costumes, music and arrange the choreography.

The 2011 show was Marco’s twenty-sixth production. “When I came to North Star in 1985, there was no Club and I formed North Star in 1987.  Their first show was in conjunction with the now defunct Central Mass Skating School.”