By Katherine Williams
The holiday season conjures up images for everyone, from colorful decorations and traditions to, of course, ice skating.
Charity Hendrickson, a coach for Metro Edge Figure Skating Club at Webster Groves Ice Rink in St. Louis, combines all of the festive imagery into one fun spectacle with the classic “Nutcracker on Ice.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the show and the excitement level could not be higher as more than 150 skaters come together to celebrate this monumental occasion.
This show, however, wasn’t always the grand spectacle it is now; in fact, it didn’t even start in St. Louis. Hendrickson, who is the show’s director, said that her mom first came up with the idea at the Riverview Ice House in Rockford, Illinois, in the mid-1990s.
Hendrickson and her sister were skaters in the first edition of the show. Although, in Rockford, it only ran for about eight years before losing momentum. However, that was far from the end for the show or Hendrickson’s involvement.
After moving away for college, Hendrickson mentioned the show to some of the skating moms at her new rink in St. Louis, and they became determined to bring it to life in their city.
That first year, Hendrickson recalls, was a learning process.
The set and lighting were minimal, and they reused old costumes (Hendrickson’s mom even drove some of the original outfits from Rockford to St. Louis for the show); however, the community couldn’t have been more enthusiastic. Tickets sold out for the two scheduled shows, so they had to add a third. The show, Hendrickson said, has “just continued to grow here over the last 20 years and become a huge part of our club and community.”
As the holiday classic show developed, the number of skaters involved continued to grow.
“When we first started, it was pretty isolated to just our skating club,” Hendrickson said. “Now we have so many more skaters, and what I really love is that it’s truly skaters from the entire St. Louis area and beyond.”
Usually, there are about 150 skaters in the show, from 3-year-olds to skaters in their 60s.
“We make sure there’s a part for everybody in some way,” Hendrickson said.
The scope of the show hasn’t been the only change, either. The skaters, coaches and parents involved have had their lives touched by this show in many ways.
“I really loved it,” said Skye Patton, who skated in nearly every show from when she was 6 years old to her senior year of high school. “You get to meet so many other skaters who aren’t at your rink, and you get to see all of these different skills and disciplines that you haven’t grown up with.”
The show gives skaters the opportunity to showcase their skills across all disciplines, from freestyle and ice dance to synchronized and theatrical skating.
“It’s just such an amazing way to meet people,” Patton said.
Hendrickson described “Nutcracker on Ice” as a “full city-wide and beyond production versus just our club or our rink. It’s really more of a community thing.”
Within the skating community, relationships are forged between the skaters throughout the duration of the show.
Brooke Lacey has been the show’s producer for many years and is volunteering as a co-producer this year.
“It’s neat to see the connection between the younger skaters and the older skaters,” Lacey said. “The little ones so often look up to the experienced skaters; friends stand to watch rinkside during the show and you’ll often see a little kid sitting in an older one’s lap.”
“The show is such a magical experience, and it really does feel like such a family no matter your age, which is really special,” Patton added.
“Nutcracker on Ice” has continued to grow so much that now it even affects people beyond the skating community. Vendors from church groups to the Girl Scouts attend the show, and the outreach continues.
“We just want the word to get out there so everybody who wants to be a part of it can come skate in it and continue to grow our audiences to new areas and groups that we haven’t reached yet,” Hendrickson said,
As the historic anniversary show nears, Hendrickson and the skating community in St. Louis continues to reach out to people so the magic of “Nutcracker on Ice” can touch as many lives as possible.
“There’s tons of people who can still come to see it,” Hendrickson said. “We want the skaters around here to know about it and to get involved in it. I hope it’s something that can continue on like it has.”
“Nutcracker on Ice” with be held at the Webster Groves Ice Rink, with shows at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on both Dec. 14 and Dec. 15. For more information about the show, visit www.nutcrackeronice.org.
