Club Galas, Showcases and Carnivals

[arena_gal]

Don't quite know where to begin so I'll ask two questions:

1.As a skater, what do you like about these? Do you like to do your competitive program that you've skated all season, or do you like to put together a show number? Do you like solo numbers or group numbers (with your friends)? I won't even ask about wearing stupid costumes made by someone's mom 25 years ago. {okay, that was more than one question but that's the first question}

2. As a parent, what do you like to see? Do you look for your little Suzy and then sneak out once she's done? Do you like to see better skaters in the club? Do you like solos or group numbers? What if there is an ice dance demonstration to show what all those bronze, silver and gold levels really mean? ( I still don't get why the Viennese is so hard) Does it matter if there are guest skaters? And what do you really think about the hordes of Learn to Skate kids that are paraded out, cute, charming and never ending? {okay more than one question in THAT question too}

You get my drift. See my problem this year is that what the skaters would like to do on the ice is going to be different from what the audience wants to see, and the program committee wants to make everyone happy which makes my brain hurt.

[Lee]

So do some of both...have some group numbers, some demos, some solos from the better skaters (providing they've been a good role model, etc through the year -- and soloists get to skate what THEY want to skate, be it competitive program or exhibition), and some solo or duets 'earned' for whatever reasons (going above and beyond as a PA or something like that).

We tell the kids in our club they have a limited amount of say in the production because while they ARE the performers, the *show* is for the public and must meet certain standards they've come to expect. Most of our numbers are group numbers, with the groups determined on tests passed (also group test and CanSkate groups). PA's earn the right to 'highlight' a CanSkate group, and soloists are chosen from PA's, unless there are more than a couple skaters who are in their final year with the club -- they automatically get a solo. Soloists can choose to do a competitive number or an exhibition number -- good taste is required. Other skaters get a chance to do their solos at the Christmas charity skate.

Coaches select music for the group numbers in keeping with the carnival committee's chosen theme, but solists are not required to keep to the theme.

If we can get guest skaters for a reasonable cost, we do -- the carnival is *supposed* to be fund-raiser so we're unable to go for the really big names. We've had an up-and-coming pairs team the past couple years and they've been wonderful.

It's soooo tough to please everyone when putting on a carnival -- the best we can do is try to put on a good show and let the skaters take satisfaction from the feedback they get from the audience (ever notice the parents tend to raise more of a stink than the skaters do????).

Aren't carnivals just sooooooo much fun????? (says she who finally watched an entire show a year ago after 12 years of volunteering *during* the show).

[arena_gal]

We have a clear protocol over who skates what and when, similar to yours Lee, actually senior solos aren't a problem, it's all the intermediates and group test (parents) "My child is a STAR, they should have a SOLO" . Anyway, I've been asking kids, in a casual way, what they would like to do if given a choice and surprisingly many of them like to do group numbers, LOL, with drop dead gorgeous costumes.

[Lee]

Originally posted by arena_gal
Anyway, I've been asking kids, in a casual way, what they would like to do if given a choice and surprisingly many of them like to do group numbers, LOL, with drop dead gorgeous costumes. The kids LOVE the group numbers and yes, they MUST have the 'drop-dead' gorgeous costumes. And it's soooooo much fun to be in the dressing room with them when they're doing all those quick changes! THAT's the part I *do* miss now...;)

[jp1andOnly]

At our club we usually feature all the kids who have gone to nationals or junior nationals. One year a skater won a medal, so they were a special "guest" star. The skaters who went to subsectionals/sectionals got a duet or small group number. There were also "fun" auditions for each level of skating. These skaters would get a duet as well. Then we had all the group numbers. Boy oh boy, was carnival ever fun. When its all said and done, you need a whole year just to recover :)

[sk8er1964]

Regarding solos - that was always a big political thing when I skated as a kid, especially since I was the skating director's kid. Mom always had the soloists picked by the club's pros (she had no vote), using a secret ballot so there would be no question of undue influence. It worked, and there were few questions about why certain skaters were picked for solos while others were not.