After watching the Winter Carnival Ice Show this past weekend, every song feels like it deserves a spin, sparkles take on a new meaning and the possibilities of two blades on ice feel endless. In two stunning shows on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, college and local figure skaters’ impressive maneuvers and theatrics dazzled the audiences that filled Kenyon Arena.
The special collaboration between town and gown to put on this love-themed event was clear from the opening number, when both members of Middlebury’s figure skating competition team and of the local Middlebury Figure Skating Club came together to skate to “I Feel Like Dancing” in their red Winter Carnival Ice Show sweatshirts.
This opener was followed by 21 performances, whose brilliance and variation kept the audience’s eyes glued to the ice for an hour and a half. Some members of Middlebury’s figure skating competition team — Jeannie Paguaga ’28, Kate McDonald ’27.5, Esteban Catono-Molina ’27, Maya Henning ’25 and co-president Ting Cui ’25.5 — showed off solos, and additional student skater Josie Cochran ’25 glided into a solo as well. Henning and Catono-Molina staged an especially memorable duet, decked out in matching red and black costumes. McDonald’s hot pink, rhinestoned dress was also particularly eye-catching as she jumped and glided around the rink.
Skaters from the Middlebury Figure Skating Club as young as five years old — some sporting protective helmets and elbow pads to accent their tutus — held hands and roamed the ice for charming group numbers, and three high school seniors skated together to commemorate their upcoming graduation.
Most breathtaking was the duet choreographed and performed by Cui and guest skater from the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club Emmanuel Savary as a tribute to the 28 members of the figure skating community and their family members that passed away in the tragic plane crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 only a few weeks ago. The skaters and their families were on the plane to travel home from the National Development Camp held in Wichita, Kan. directly after the 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Cui and Savary had both competed in the national competition as Team U.S.A figure skaters and already headed for home when they heard of the tragedy.
The news of the deadly crash shook the nation and deeply affected figure skaters in particular, who comprise a small group of athletes compared to other national sports. A loss like this forms a deep hole in the heart of an intimate community, according to Cui.
The show’s announcer, Chris George, read out the names of the 14 figure skater casualties and held a moment of mournful silence before Cui and Savary took to the ice. Skating to “Saturn” by Sleeping at Last, the pair moved beautifully to the flow of the music.
“We both kind of just knew that we wanted to take a moment to honor all 28 skaters and coaches and families, members of U.S figure skating that were on board the flight and pay a tribute to them and in a way that we know we can — in doing what we love and doing what they loved,” Cui said.
Cui and Savary could not see each other in-person to rehearse the number until 12 hours before the first show on Saturday, but were able to make the piece work by adapting it from a duet they’d performed together in a previous show.
“We kind of readapted it and re-choreographed it to make it feel a little bit more intimate,” Cui said.
Participants in the J-Term figure skating workshop also skated in a charming group number to “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles after having been coached on their skating skills for only a total of eight hours by the figure skating team throughout J-Term. They showed off their novice swizzles, spins and lunges with notable confidence.
Also particularly impressive in the post-intermission half of the show were Cui and Savary’s solos. Cui skated to the bluesy “Black Magic Woman” by Santana in a one-strap black dress with a matching wristband piece, earning ample applause from the audience from her triple salchow jumps. Savary prompted wows in his performance to “Purple Rain” by Prince with his seemingly never-ending whirlwind spins. How these skaters do not end up incredibly dizzy was a mystery to all.
The show reached its conclusion with the figure skating team appearing in backwards baseball caps and baggy clothing to perform a group number to “Tearin’ Up My Heart” by NSYNC choreographed by club co-president Lizzie Sherman ’26. The team was joined in upholding this boy-band inspired tradition by Savary, their advisor HaQuyen Pham on Saturday and by Cochran on Sunday.
Butch Atkins has managed the ice rink and driven the zamboni for 45 years, and has helped prepare the ice for the show since he started the job. He noted how much work show directors Anna Harrington and MariAnn Osborne put into tying the show together, and what it’s like to watch the performances year in and out.
“We have a lot of kids from the town that you see start out when they’re little kids and see how they’ve progressed, and it’s just awesome, because they come back every year,” Atkins said.
Watching the smallest children glide on and off the ice between the college skaters’ advanced leaps and turns is a reminder of the ice show’s storied tradition, and how far it has yet to lunge in years to come.
Editor’s Note: Ting Cui ’25.5 is the Senior Sports Editor for The Campus. She had no involvement in editing this story.
Madeleine Kaptein '25.5 (she/her) is a managing editor.
Madeleine previously served as a staff writer, copy editor and local editor. She is a Comparative Literature major with minors in German and Art History. In Spring 2024, she studied abroad in Mainz, Germany, from where she wrote for the Addison Independent about her host country. In her free time, she enjoys journaling, long walks and runs, and uncomplicated visual arts projects.
