Événement

Metro Edge Figure Skating Club's Nutcracker on Ice

An overview of Nutcracker on Ice

Have you been dreaming of Sweets and Sugar Plum Fairies then this is the community event for your entire family. This abridged one-hour version of the Nutcracker is a magical experience the whole family will enjoy! The traditional ballet has been adapted to ice; skaters in costumes will glide across the shimmering ice to Tchaikovskys Nutcracker Suite with magical sets as the backdrop.

The cast includes over 170 area skaters. The principal skaters are competitive skaters from area skating clubs who will spin and jump their way through this holiday classic! The show also features skaters from the Webster Ice Arena's skate school program as adorable sweets, mice, fairies and more. In the spirit of the season, the area skaters are donating their time to collect food items for Operation Food Search. Patrons are asked to help by bringing non-perishable food items to the show. In return, guests will be entered into a special holiday raffle!

Our Audience
Our primary audience is families in the St. Louis area. We also draw a large number of Girl Scout troops to our shows. We are the only figure skating production of The Nutcracker in the St. Louis area. One of our goals is to showcase the talent of the St. Louis skaters and recognize their coaches before the St. Louis community. The story itself is very family friendly. We have priced tickets to be affordable for families ($10 through the cast, $12 in advance, $14 at door). We support a charity each year and conduct food and/or other drives as part of the event, which is supported by our skaters and promoted through challenges and raffles to the Girl Scout troops and patrons. Through the support of the Girl Scouts and cast members we have made large food pantry donations to the Webster-Rock Hill Ministries in 2005-2011. In 2011 we donated 3 very full short bed truckloads of food to this pantry! This year our drive will support Operation Food Search. We feel this is an important part of the show as it is a great way for our skaters to lead the way in helping those in need in our community.

Visibility
Local and Media coverage of this event continues to grow each year as over 3500 skating fans attend our 4 shows annually. Our publicity plan includes media appearances (including appearing in the Christmas in St. Louis parade on Thanksgiving, a booth at the Webster Holiday Open House and appearances on local news shows), print coverage, public service announcements and placement on many community calendars.

Metro Edge Figure Skating Club of Missouri
The Metro Edge FSC is the organization that produces this event. We are a not for profit, 501c3, U.S. Figure Skating Club with over 100 member families from throughout the St. Louis metro and Eastern Illinois communities. The Metro Edge Figure Skating Club's mission is to provide ways for individual and team figure skaters to achieve excellence in skating and competition, to participate in a team spirit of mutual respect and goodwill and enjoy the time put into attaining their skating goals. We feel producing the Nutcracker plays an important role in fulfilling our mission. These skaters spend hours upon hours perfecting their craft for competitions and tests, but the show provides them the opportunity to entertain and amaze you with their skating ability and talent. Performance in this show is a highlight for all of our skaters as this is when they share their love for the sport and art of figure skating with the community. Their reward will not be a medal or passed level, but will be enthusiastic applause, and they will tell you there is nothing better!

In addition to producing this and other shows, the club hosts an annual competition (Show Me State Games of America) and in 2010 we hosted the ISI District 9 Championships; sponsors eight synchronized skating teams; supports individual skaters through training opportunities and scholarships; has implemented a team building program featuring nationally acclaimed sports psychologist, Jason Selk through the support of a grant provided by the St. Louis Sports Commission, provides professional development programs and funding to our coaches; has sponsored the Webster Groves Community Days Family Day Celebration over the 4th of July and supports local and national charities, which has included "Cool Kids" a foundation that supports families with children who are fighting cancer, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, "Push for Pencils" school supply drive (visit http://www.kidsmartstl.org/push-for-pencils/blog/ for more information) and Operation Food Search through our annual Nutcracker Food Drive and by adopting families for Thanksgiving dinner baskets. The St. Louis Synergy Synchronized Skating teams are a great source of pride for the club, these eight teams represent the club and our city throughout the Midwest region in U.S. Figure Skating competitions. Synergy has had teams compete at Nationals since 2009. Two of our teams competed at the US Synchronized Skating Championships in 2012, the St. Louis Synergy Intermediate and Novice teams. The 2011-12 Intermediate team is the Midwest Sectional Champions and Bronze National medalists; the 2011-2012 Novice team is the Midwest pewter medalists and ISI National Teen Champions and the Preliminary team is the Midwestern Sectional Champions. For additional information on our organization please visit www.metroedgefsc.org

Director
Charity Hendrickson is returning as director for our 8th annual Nutcracker on Ice. Charity brought this production from Rockford, Illinois where it was conceived and created by her mother. Charity has 12 years of experience both as a cast member and a director of this show in Rockford where it was a well-known successful event! She is excited to share this production with the St. Louis community. Professionally, Charity is physical therapist, with an advanced degree from St. Louis University.

Production Staff
A capable 25-member volunteer staff has been recruited to head up all aspects of the show's production under Charity & Dawn's direction. The show utilizes professional coaches form the Metro Edge Figure Skating Club and St. Louis area skating programs to choreograph the group numbers.

Challenges / Community Support Needed
We are dedicated to making this a special experience for the skaters who participate and provide an opportunity to all who participate to give back to the community through our food drive.

We want to continue to keep the show affordable to families so many may enjoy the magic of a show on ice! The costs of doing a show can be daunting; show expenses have run over $25K annually. In addition to ice rental, we must rent lighting and music equipment and purchase materials for costumes and sets. Our volunteers provide over 2000 volunteer hours to execute this show, including all the labor for our costumes and sets, but as you can see the costs are still substantial for a community production.
Corporate sponsorships and assistance in marketing the show can increase our income to cover our expenses. Community support will help draw more patrons to our shows, which will enable us to continue to provide an opportunity for families to participate and attend the show at a low cost.

? Questions
Please call Jannette McBride if you have any questions at 314-541-3633 or sjbkmcbride@aol.com or Lynn Willett at 636-633-1085 or lynnwillett9@gmail.com. For additional information about our show please visit www.NutcrackerOnIce.org