The boys are all right
Ice Chips' successfully demonstrated the depth of the skating ranks at The Skating Club of Boston -- particularly among its men.
The Skating Club of Boston’s annual Ice Chips show returned last weekend after a three-year hiatus.1 It was a stellar show, very fitting of its designation of one of the longest running ice shows in the world. The show is known for the high quality of its guest stars, and this year was no exception. 2022 Olympic gold medalist Nathan Chen was a huge get, especially considering how rarely he performs now.
But what was wonderful to see is that The Skating Club of Boston is at a point where they again have a substantial roster of high-level international competitors again, making the skaters that led up to Chen’s two solos a joy to watch. That’s what you want as a major skating club: a stable of skaters so strong that people will attend for them as much as the guest star.
Here are my highlights from the April 7th opening night performance:
Remember the name Jared Sedlis. It has been a week since Ice Chips, and my friend Brenda and I are still talking about Sedlis (pictured above.) Fourth place in novice men at 2023 New England Regionals, he possesses a grasp of fundamentals, great skating speed, stellar jumping technique and a flow out of his jumps that many skaters currently lack. He performed as part of the excellent Top Gun number featuring the club’s best men’s skaters, choreographed by Alexandria Ronzio and Marissa Castelli. While I enjoyed all of the night’s step-outs (small solos), Sedlis stood heads above the rest. He could really go places.
The boys are all right. One of the things I think this edition of Ice Chips did particularly well was showcase the depth of the boy’s and men’s ranks at The Skating Club of Boston. Besides Sedlis, the group numbers demonstrated the strength of the club’s male skaters - be it senior men like Jimmy Ma and Maxim Naumov, down to the tiniest of Tomorrow’s Champions’ youth skaters (the young boy who couldn’t have been more than five-years-old who had a solo with that group had better spins than skaters four-times his age.)
Good for Nathan Chen. The reigning Olympic gold medalist could have just come to the show, done his numbers and left, but it seems like he spent quality time with the other skaters, with photos of the youngest participants and him dotting social media in the days afterward. Chen hasn’t performed much this year, but he was not rusty by any means. His two new programs - one to Billy Joel’s Vienna (pictured below) and the other to Electric Light Orchestra’s Mr. Blue Sky - looked top-notch and were well-received. He did several triple jumps and he hasn’t lost any of the height and tight rotation that were his trademark during his competitive career.
Jinna Han! That’s it. That’s the headline. Han, the 2023 New England Regional Juvenile Champion, has a command of the ice and a performance ability that reaches the last row of the rink…and then through the glass windows to the rink next door. She was in several numbers and stood out in every single one. She points her toes, has a snap to her jumps and spins very well. There was a buzz about Han after the event, and I can’t wait to see what else she accomplishes as a competitor and a performer.
Adult skaters rock. I came away from Ice Chips really wishing Ipswich to Norwood wasn’t such a haul on Route 95, because I want to skate with the adult skaters. Talk about living your best life! They were having a great amount of fun, they could move, and they showed that, despite what the general public thinks, skating is truly a lifelong sport. I enjoyed the adult skating performances so much that the woman sitting next to me asked if I knew them. “No,” I answered, “I just want to join them!”
Upcoming
Keep an eye on the Boston Globe in the coming days for my feature on The Skating Club of Boston’s Gabbie Izzo and her switch from singles to pairs skating.
Have skating news or a story you want to share? My email is katcornetta@gmail.com and I’d love to hear from you!
In 2022, much of the elements and staff of Ice Chips were used in a special anniversary edition of An Evening with Champions, which was held the same weekend Ice Chips traditionally would have been held. I have never asked the back story on that, but I should.