Above: Figure Skating in Harlem alumna and Broadway actress Mariama Diop (center), who performed twice at this year's gala, poses with current students from the program. Photo Credit: Lois Elfman
By Lois Elfman
Photo Credit: Lois Elfman
Skating luminaries Scott Hamilton, Nathan Chen, Maia and Alex Shibutani, Timothy Goebel and Starr Andrews attended Figure Skating in Harlem’s (FSH) 2023 gala, “Celebrating Excellence & Sisterhood.”
Current FSH participants and alumnae mingled with fans and supporters at Manhattan’s Gotham Hall on April 24. This year's honorees were Crystal Barnes, senior vice president, social responsibility & environmental social and governance at Paramount; fashion icon Michael Kors; and FSH alumna Flo Ngala, the first Black woman to photograph the Met Gala.
Success stories abound. High school senior India Freeman joined FSH as a freshman. The pandemic interrupted her sophomore year with the program, but her junior year brought incredible opportunities. She has been selected a Posse Scholar, a prestigious, highly competitive college scholarship program, and will attend Franklin & Marshall College. Other FSH seniors will attend Syracuse University, Arizona State University and either Drexel or Hampton University.
“Over the years, especially after the lockdown from COVID-19, when I got on ice I felt free,” Freeman said. “Watching the more advanced skaters was inspiring and made me more ambitious to learn more ice skills and at the same time approach that sort of work ethic toward my academics.”
High school junior Halle Cespedes said one of the parts of the FSH creed that sticks with her is “In life, like on ice, when I fall, I get back up.”
She said the program builds the resilience to rebound and keep going. FSH newbie eighth-grader Aschah Jones appreciates making new friends outside of school and loves learning to skate.
The week before the gala, FSH was announced as a recipient of Dick’s Sporting Good’s 75for75 program and will receive a $75,000 grant.
The gala’s presentations ended with a quote from the late Nelson Mandela about the power of sport and the announcement of a trip to Mandela’s homeland by 11 FSH participants this summer. They will be the organization’s first international skating ambassadors to South Africa and will share their passion for skating with girls who have never seen a sheet of ice before. In return, the FSH skaters will learn how to surf from the South African girls.
