Heather Hanna is achieving her dream of skating with Disney on Ice now that she’s the first skater from here to be accepted into the show.
The 26-year-old skated in professional shows on cruise ships going to and from various destinations in 2011 and 2013 and in 2012/2013 with Holiday on Ice in Europe, which is similar to Ice Capades here, she said.
But it’s Disney on Ice that she saw several years ago and has wanted to skate with ever since.
“All I wanted to do was this (performing),” she said, adding she knows many people who became coaches, but all she ever wanted to do was skate.
The skater spoke of her experiences during a recent visit to Terrace. She’s starting out as part of the Disney ensemble in the show Rockin’ Ever After but there’s the potential to be an understudy to one of the stars and fill in if the star is ill.
And to work up to one of the stars in the show herself one day. The show will take her all over the world, starting with rehearsals in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, which began late last week.
Training will put her on the ice from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day for three weeks, she said.
Then it’s several weeks performing in Dubai, a few weeks off and then an eight month tour of eastern Europe.
Compared to the productions she’s done, she thinks this will be more difficult because it’s a bigger production with more to learn.
Performing is addicting and she literally has friends from all over the world now, said Hannah. “I get to travel for free and do what I love at the same time,” she said.
Performing is better than competing – there’s still pressure but it’s different and more fun, she added.
Skating in shows has helped her become a better skater than she’s ever been before.
Younger skaters should know that there’s more to do than coaching or skating competitively, and they can become performers in professional shows if they desire to as she has, she said.