MIT Figure Skating Club Holds Annual Exhibition Featuring Local, Club Skaters
Vincent Auyeung—The Tech
The MIT Figure Skating Club held its annual exhibition last Saturday, with twelve guest programs and twenty-seven club skaters participating. The show was coordinated by Trish Fleming of the MIT Enterprise Forum, Saja A. Fakhraldeen ’09, and group lesson instructor Susan Alpert. Esther Horwich ’77 was the show’s emcee and Wellesley College alumna Amy Mossman produced the show.
The opening number, choreographed by Jessica A. Eisenstein ’06 to Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You,” featured several first-time student performers: Annie Ouyang ’11, Brianne M. Holmbeck ’08, Victoria Lee ’10, Vidya Ganapati ’10, Wendy Chen ’09, and Xiumin Zeng ’09.
Wellesley student Anne Goldberg choreographed and directed MIT’s Theater on Ice team in the first year of its existence. Team members included Ouyang, Aubrey L. Samost ’10, Holmbeck, Jingyi “Cynthia” Tang ’09, Dave Wentzlaff G, Diana S. Cheng ’04, Helen You ’09, Eisenstein, Kachina C. Gosselin ’10, Patricia Lee, Fakhraldeen, and Victoria Lee. Their program to Fantasia’s “Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” which they plan on performing at the International Theater on Ice competition in June, featured the themes of slow movements, growth, and repetition.
Two group ice dance numbers, the Canasta Tango and Willow Waltz, also featured club performers. They were directed by group lesson instructors Alpert, Horwich, and Alex Landsman.
Club soloists included Tang, who skated to Yann Tiersen’s “Les Jours Tristes” and Wentzlaff, who skated to the Russian folk song “Korobeiniki.” Gosselin skated to a Celtic piece, followed by Cheng skating to LeeAnn Rimes’ “Looking Through Your Eyes.”
Hillary Lang skated to “The Battle” from the soundtrack of The Chronicles of Narnia, Diane M. Brancazio ’90 skated to Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life,” Kristina K. Brown ’09 skated to “Happy Feet,” and Eisenstein skated to Arcade Fire’s “Neighborhood #1.”
Cheng and Mickey Barry skated their pairs program to music from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Cars, and “Radar Love.” In addition, Samost skated to George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and Gillian M. Grogan ’10 and Jane Codman skated to music by Vivaldi.
Among the cast of guests were 2007 Senior Nationals competitor Margaret Wang, the Skating Club of Boston’s Act 1 theater on ice team, and 2008 US National Intermediate silver medalists Susan Enright and Michael Bramante.