Kate McSwain
Co-Executive Director of American Ice Theatre | Director of AIT Boston
Kate McSwain (she/her) is an international figure skating choreographer, earning her Master Rating in Choreography from the Professional Skaters Association in 2017 and her AIT Certification in 2012. She is the Chairwoman and one of the Founding Members of the International Contemporary Skating Alliance (CSA). Kate is also certified in Pilates, has extensive training in multiple styles of dance, and over a decade of experience teaching yoga. Kate was the Assistant Director of the 2016 ISU World Championship Opening Ceremonies in Boston, and co-choreographer for the 2014 US Figure Skating National Championship Opening Ceremonies. She resides in Boston but travels frequently both nationally and internationally to teach AIT movement seminars, choreograph for competitive skaters, and consult with Theatre on Ice programs and synchronized skating teams. Kate has a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Colorado.
Garrett Kling
Co-Executive Director of American Ice Theatre | Director of AIT Minneapolis-St. Paul
Garrett Kling (he/him) is an international figure skating choreographer, holding a Master Rating in Choreography with the Professional Skaters Association since 2016 and his AIT Certification since 2012. Garrett is also one of the Founding Member of the International Contemporary Skating Alliance (CSA). He is a four-time USFS Gold Medalist, winner of the US Open Groundbreaker Award, and has performed professionally with companies Le Patin Libre, Holiday on Ice, American Ice Theatre, Ice Theatre of New York, Willy Bietak Productions, Ice Dance International, Dynamic Shows, and the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships Opening Ceremonies. Garrett holds a degree in English/Communications, has experience in the journalism field, and is a 200-hr certified yoga instructor.
Jimmy Morgan
Co-Vice President of American Ice Theatre
Jimmy Morgan (he/they) is a coach, choreographer and professional figure skater based in Boston. He focuses on empowering his students by placing value in the whole skater including their long-term emotional and physical well-being. He holds a Mass Communication degree from Boston University. In his spare time, Jimmy is a Pro Ambassador for Athlete Ally, an organization committed to the fair inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in sports. He loves reading, traveling, dancing, and watching too much Netflix. He can usually be found making Tiktoks in the corner of a rink or playing ball with his rescue pup, Cali.
Elizabeth Misson
Director of AIT Cleveland
Elizabeth Misson (she/her) has been involved in figure skating for more than 30 years. She is an American Ice Theatre Certified Choreographer, Director of American Ice Theatre Cleveland and a Level 2 Accredited US Figure Skating Coach in Theatre on Ice. She is the Theatre on Ice Head Coach/Choreographer and Ice Show Artistic Director for the Cleveland Skating Club. Elizabeth is a quadruple USFS gold-medalist (Moves (Skating Skills), Free Skate (Singles), Partnered Dance and Solo Free Dance) and is a Skate Canada gold-medalist (Free Skate). Elizabeth has a BA in Communications from Cleveland State University. She began her professional career working at ABC affiliate WEWS TV-5 in Cleveland and is now a Communications Manager in the Philanthropy Institute at Cleveland Clinic. She and her husband (Tom) live in Avon Lake, Ohio with their boys (Christian and Elijah) and stepson (Andrew) who is in the Air Force.
Gillian Robidas
Assistant Director of AIT Boston | Previous Co-Founder of AIT New Hampshire
Gillian Robidas (she/her) is a coach, choreographer, and contemporary skater living in the seacoast region of New Hampshire. She has held her AIT choreography certification since 2020 and choreographs for the “Broadway Blades” Theatre on Ice program at Colonial Figure Skating club. In addition, Gillian runs local artistic skating classes, choreographs for local competitors and club shows, and was an associate coach for the Unified/Adaptive Theatre on Ice team at the Skating Club of Boston from 2019-2022. She is a USFSA Gold Medalist, and competed with both junior and senior Theatre on Ice teams for five years. Since 2018, she has performed professionally with American Ice Theatre, Fight or Flight Productions, Rostyn Ice Shows, and Ice Creative Entertainment. Gillian is currently pursuing her B.A. in Psychology, and loves to journal, read, try new recipies, and get outside.
Annette Thomas
Director of Ballet for Figure Skaters
AIT Collaborator
Annette Thomas (she/her) is founder and director of Ballet for Figure Skaters. She has been a dance teacher and choreographer since 1970. Trained at Carnegie Hall by the late Maria Nevelska of the Bolshoi Ballet, Annette continued her studies with Ana Garcia of the San Juan Ballet Company, Marguerite De Anguera of the Connecticut Regional Ballet Company, and Mme. Alexandra Danilova of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She began working with figure skaters in 1998, providing instruction in Russian Technique Ballet (the Vaganova Method, developed by Agrippina Y. Vaganova used to train the dancers at the Bolshoi and Kirov Ballet.) Annette also teaches Floor-Barre alignment and injury prevention as part of her program.
She received her Pedagogical Certification for the Study of Classical Ballet (Vaganova Pedagogical Training) from Dr. Peggy Willis-Aarnio, and currently teaches online certification courses in conjunction with AIT and the Ohio Conservatory of Ballet. She conducts workshops worldwide for Ballet for Figure Skaters, Floor-Barre, and Russian Method Classical ballet. She is the author of the internationally successful books Fundamentals of Alignment and Classical Movement for Figure Skaters and Lessons in Classical Ballet for the Figure Skater.
John Mucko
Co-Founder of AIT Boston
John Mucko (he/him) started his professional career with Ice Follies and later joined Holiday on Ice in Europe traveling the world for 9 years. He has been coaching figure skating for nearly 40 years and holds a Master Rating in choreography with the Professional Skaters Association, as well as a AIT certification with American Ice Theatre. John co-founded AIT Boston alongside Kate McSwain in 2015 and co-directed the Boston satellite through 2019. He established the grassroots AIT educational series in Rockland, MA. John also created the American Ice Theatre annual “Key to Creativity” Award that AIT rewards to a skating director, volunteer, or coach who supports and promotes the AIT mission and values each year. He has directed many workshops to introduce athletes of all ages to the concept of using dance movements, gestures, and emotions in their skating performance. He also served on the US Figure Skating Theatre On Ice Development Committee and currently serves on the PSA Theatre on Ice Ratings Committee.
AIT Board of Directors (Current):
- Kate McSwain
- Garrett Kling
- Jimmy Morgan
- Jacqueline Benson
- Kat Vitaro
- Cameron Claire