Summertime and the living is… BUSY!
Thank you all for your continued support of AIT and the events and programs we provide all over the country. What an amazing summer we had!
If you missed it, check out our blog post about CORE CAMP and our summer blog update to check out footage from The American Contemporary Skating Festival.
AIT Abroad – Berlin, Germany
AIT Co-CEO/Executive Director, Kate McSwain, represented American Ice Theatre at the Unfreeze Festival Berlin 2019 and the Organizers Conference for the international Contemporary Skating Alliance on August 21-24. At the conference, they created the first Mission Statement for the Contemporary Skating Alliance. We look forward to hearing more updates on their progress for the international contemporary skating community!
For more information on what our contemporary skating friends in Berlin are up to, please visit their website.
Creating and Skating: AIT Boston
On Ice Perspectives (Jordan Cowan) filmed AIT Boston’s 2019 company piece entitled, “Doomed,” choreographed by Kate McSwain at the American Contemporary Skating Festival Showcase on Sunday, June 9. Check out the full video:
Performers include Toby Evett Sydney Kosiak, Jessica Ricketts, Berlin Sohn, Ella Stanwood, Shayna Smith, and Kat Vitaro. 2019 company members, Julia Rapela and Victoria Craw, were unavailable for this performance.
To support On Ice Perspectives, visit their Patreon page.
AIT Boston’s summer seminar “Edgework & Movement” with McSwain and Sean Marshinski took place August 17 at Somerville Ice Rink.
Here’s a look at the combo they skated, choreographed by McSwain.
New Beginnings: AIT MSP
It’s a big year for AIT Minneapolis-St. Paul as director, Garrett Kling, begins the area’s first professional performance company. Comprised of 11 professional skaters in the Twin Cities metro (and beyond), the ensemble began rehearsals for their company piece “Faith,” to the music of Bon Iver, this past Saturday, September 14.
Scheduled performances include downtown Minneapolis holiday event, the “Holidazzle.” at the end of November and the opening of the Wells Fargo Winter Skate Grand Opening in St. Paul on Friday, December 6.
Ensemble skaters include Lauren Anderson, Aili Arnovich, Seebie Baga, Christine Brennan, Susanna Butler, Kate Charbonneau, Claire Godfrey, Haley Jostes, Tara Lorenz, Sabrina Logren, and Joey Millet. (Not pictured: Sabrina Logren, Seebie Baga & Aili Arnovich).
AIT MSP is looking forward to its upcoming fall seminar this Sunday, Sept. 22 at the Eagan Civic Arena with special guest, professional dancer Da’Rius Malone schweiz-libido.com.
Kling will led the skaters in the on-ice portion, exploring contemporary movement, while Malone will teach a contemporary class following. Stay on the lookout for photos and videos!
Fresh Fall Start: AIT NYC
AIT New York City is ramping up their season starting rehearsals in September at their off-ice location at Gibney Dance and ice rink at the Andrew Stergiopoulos Ice Rink in Great Neck, NY. Any contemporary or artistic skaters in the NYC area is encouraged to join them on Wednesdays from 12-2 PM for an open rehearsal at the Andrew Stergiopoulos rink!
Led by AIT NYC Director Chiquita Limer, veteran company members Jordan Bailey, Nathalie Borgella, Danielle Cinone, and Ryah Mesch welcome new member Keira Vollandt to the group.
The company performed at various showcase exhibitions last spring in the New York City area including the City Ice Pavilion Spring Concert in April and the Andrew Stergiopoulos Spring Showcase in June. They are currently planning their winter 2020 performance schedule.
Being in New York City, ice rental costs are much higher than the national average. To support these costs, AIT NYC Director Chiquita Limer has set up a Go Fund Me page encouraging the public to donate to their 2019-20 season.
Seminar Season: AIT Chicago
AIT Chicago, led by Molly Olson, will have a fall class off-ice dance series featuring AIT Chicago company members. In September, Cordero Zuckerman will be conducting a hip hop class, licensed counselor Shaheen Bronkowski will be teaching mindfulness alongside improv in October, and Kayla Grayson will round out the series leading students in contemporary movement in November.
Education Round Up
Ballet for Figure Skaters: Resources
Annette Thomas’ “Lessons in Classical Ballet for the Figure Skater” is a great resource for the skater to develop a coordinated curriculum for both on and off ice classes.What this book offers: eight complete and progressive 1 ½ hour Classical Ballet lessons exclusively designed for figure skaters are presented for the Beginning Level and six lessons each are presented for the Intermediate and Advanced/Continuing students.
Master Choreography Techniques (MCT) Graduates Spring 2019
In cased you missed our blog post announcing the Master Choreography Techniques Graduating class of Spring 2019, we congratulate our seven online graduate students from all over the world: Emily Murdach (Chicago, IL), Jordan Bailey (New York City), Izzi Gorowsky (Minneapolis, MN), Alexandra Geletova (Slovakia), Shannon Rakovsky (Finland/Arizona), Hazel Dodson Murphy (Rochester Hills, MI), and Seebie Baga (Minneapolis, MN).
