Ice Theatre of New York 2024 Home Season Performances and Benefit Gala

Ice Theatre of New York® (ITNY) announces the 2024 Home Season Performances, beginning on Friday, May 3 at 7pm and continuing Saturday, May 4 at 7pm, before concluding with the Benefit Gala and Performance on Monday, May 6 at 6:30pm. All performances will take place at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers. Performance tickets are $25-50, with $50 tickets for the Gala Performance. Benefit Gala tickets start at $550. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://icetheatre.org/2024-home-season-performances.html. To learn more about the performers, visit https://www.icetheatre.org/performers.html. HOME SEASON PROGRAM “In Flight Entertainment” an exploration of the circles created in dancing both on the ice and in the air, performed by ITNY Professional Ensemble Members Sarah France & Libby McGrosky. “Neurocircle” choreographed and performed by ITNY Professional Ensemble Member Sarah France to the music of “Between Worlds” by Anna Phoebe and Jake Downs. This aerial skating piece is created by an autistic artist, working with the idea of how our neural pathways effect our connection to others, isolation, and expression of self in the broader world. “In brain development, the neural pathways created inform how we move through and interact with the world and find us both in communication or connection with each other and in silence or distance from others. Existing in spaces between worlds of the personal and performative, we become who we are - working in circles of life, mind, figures, and apparatus.” “Root to Rise” choreographed by ITNY Performing Apprentice Milly Wasserman and performed by ITNY Performing Apprentices Georgina Blackwell, Caroline Mura, and Milly Wasserman to the music selections recomposed by Max Richter: “Vivaldi – The Four Seasons.” “Root to Rise” explores the awakening of three beings, finding their roots and becoming one. “Take Five” choreographed by Eliot Halverson and performed by ITNY Professional Ensemble Member Danil Berdnikov to music composed by Paul Desmond and played by the David Brubeck Quartet. A playful, virtuosic piece designed to entertain, “Take Five” brings a familiar piece of music to life on the ice. “Butterfly Phase” choreographed by Benoit Richaud and performed by ITNY Professional Ensemble Member Liz Yoshiko Schmidt to music by New York producer-composer Kelly from her new album, Moves In The Field. "Rhythm Dance" by Oona & Gage Brown a sister and brother ice dance team from Long Island, NY, who are previous Junior World Champions and National and International competitors this season. “Dry Your Tears, Afrika” choreographed and performed by ITNY Professional Ensemble Member Theron “TJ” James to music from the film Amistad. This is a powerful testament to black history, serving as both an acknowledgment and tribute to the countless black individuals before us who — in the face of profound darkness, embodied resilience, light, and the unwavering desire for freedom. “Dry Your Tears, Afrika” is not just a historical reflection but a joyous homage and celebration of the indomitable black spirit that inspires and uplifts us all. “Sacrosanct” choreographed by Lorna Brown, performed by Kseniya Ponomaryova & Collin Brubaker to music “The Poet Acts” by Philip Glass. “We treasure the trees, as they stir love in the darkness and light in the breeze.” — Lorna Brown Untitled Performance by 2024 World Champion Ilia Malinin, “Quad God.” - (May 6th Performance Only) “Appalachia Waltz” (Re-Staging), choreographed by JoAnna Mendl Shaw & Douglas Webster, performed by ITNY Professional Ensemble Members Danil Berdnikov, Sarah France, Joe Johnson, Karina Manta, Liz Schmidt, Aaron Singletary. The Benefit Gala will be followed by cocktails, dinner, and an awards ceremony at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers. The Benefit Gala is part of ITNY’s 2024 Home Season and will feature performances by the ITNY Ensemble and Guest Artist Ilia Malinin, “Quad God” 2024 World Champion. ITNY will honor Olympic ice dancing pairs Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Tanith Belbin White and Ben Agosto, present the Choreography Award to Sandra Bezic, and present the Alumni Award to Judy Blumberg. "ITNY is proud to honor Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Tanith Belbin White and Ben Agosto not only for their accomplishments as artistic Olympians and US National Champions, but also as important role models in our ‘icy’ world.” said Moira North, Founder/Artistic Director. “I’m sure I can speak for everyone when I say that we appreciate the honor and are looking forward to attending the Gala.” – Ben Agosto About the Artists Ilia Malinin is 19 years old and hails from Fairfax, Virginia. He is an American competitive figure skater and phenomenal jumper, nicknamed the “Quad God.” At the recent World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, he completed 6 quadruple jumps in his free program, including the quadruple axel (4.5 rotations in the air), a feat only he has accomplished in competition. He is coached by his parents, Tatyana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, who were figure skating Olympians and competed for Uzbekistan. Ilia is the 2024 World champion, 2023–24 Grand Prix Final champion, 2023 World bronze medalist, the 2022-23 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, a six-time Grand Prix medalist (four gold, one silver, one bronze), a three-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (two gold, one bronze), the 2023 and 2024 U.S. National champion, and the 2022 U.S. national silver medalist. Malinin is also the 2022 World Junior champion. Danil Bednikov has been with ITNY for three seasons. He hails from the city of Samara, Russia, from which he competed as part of the junior national team as well as across his vast native land through high school. He then moved to Moscow both to continue his education and to join Stage Entertainment Russia to begin performing as a skater. Performing for an audience allowed Danil to fall in love with skating in a new way and his career has blossomed over eight years with Willy Bietak Productions and Wheeler Productions in the United States, Stageworks Worldwide Production in the UK, and Holiday on Ice Productions and Dynamic Shows Entertainment in the EU. Danil is grateful to his parents, coaches, choreographers, and the fellow skaters who have supported him along the way. Lorna Brown, a British and World Professional Champion and World and Olympic coach, has been a principal performer in numerous ice shows across the globe, including John Curry’s Ice Dancing on Broadway and Theatre of Skating at the London Palladium. She has appeared in TV specials, touring galas, and commercials worldwide and has studied contemporary dance, working with some of the world’s leading choreographers. She has coached and choreographed for over 50 national champions including two world professional champions. Lorna most recently choreographed for Emanuel Sandhu, (three-time Canadian Champion), Kevin Van Der Perren (Belgium Champion, two-time European medalist and 2011 silver medalist in Bratislava and Skate America) and Jenna McCorkell (10-time British Champion). Lorna has given workshops on all aspects of figure skating at National and International seminars for both skaters and coaches. She has produced and directed her own international skating school in the UK called Skate of the Art with the world-famous Rafael Arutunian. She specializes in the latest physics and aerodynamics in skating techniques, focuses a great deal on expression and style in her choreography, and has written several articles for skating magazines on these subjects. Lorna moved to the USA several years ago, has been awarded the PSA Level 7 ranking and holds a Bachelor’s in sports science. Oona and Gage Brown are a sister and brother U.S. ice dance team from Long Island, NY. They were crowned the 2022 World Junior Ice Dance Champions in Tallinn, Estonia! Since then, they have made the transition to the senior level and competed for Team USA. Oona and Gage perform regularly with ITNY while training with their coaches, Inese Bucevica and ITNY choreographer, Joel Dear, for over three years. Collin Brubaker hails from Chicago, Illinois, and made his ITNY debut at Rockefeller Center on March 8, 2022. He started skating at the age of six, following in the footsteps of his older siblings. A former team USA member, Collin has a US National Junior Silver Medal under his belt and represented the USA in the ISU Junior World Championships, ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada, and other international competitions. After finishing his competitive career, he completed his degree in Finance & Communications at Eastern Michigan University. Together with Kseniya Ponomaryova, they are 2021 US Open Professional Championships Skater's Skater Award winners and 2022 US Open Professional Championships Grand Champions. Sarah France joined the Ice Theatre of New York in 2018, bringing her passion for ice dancing and broad knowledge of skating skills, choreographic styles and skating disciplines to the company. France has translated her skills to many different areas as both the Director of Outreach and within the ITNY Professional Ensemble, in addition to being a choreographer, edge class instructor, aerialist, inline skater, dancer, and off-ice instructor. Her dedication to skating and desire to share her love of the ice with others has made her a sought-after instructor and performer, who firmly believes in the life-transforming nature of skating. She is a six-time US Open Professional Figure Skating Championships competitor, national ice dance competitor, US Figure Skating triple gold medalist, and is honored to realize her childhood dream of performing as a member of ITNY. In addition to her work with ITNY, France’s skills have been highly valued in training developmental through internationally competitive skaters, working as a coach, choreographer, and program director. She is a faculty member for Shattuck-St. Mary’s International Figure Skating Center of Excellence training camps, and a welcomed guest coach in skating programs around the world. Her well-rounded education on and off the ice has allowed her to flexibly work in all disciplines of skating, and she loves to share her passion for movement, glide, and artistic expression with others through performing, teaching, and introducing others to the joy of skating. Eliot Halverson, a native of Minneapolis, started skating at age six. She won the 2007 U.S. Junior Championship, 2006 U.S. Novice Championship, and 2004 U.S. Intermediate Championship. Eliot is a national and international level competitive choreographer and served as choreographer for the Bressanone Summer Skating Camp in the Italian Alps. In addition to “Take Five,” she created “Swimming,” a piece for three skaters to music by Florence and the Machine, for ITNY in 2016. Theron “TJ” James made his ITNY debut in the 2019 City Skate Concert Series when he skated “Presence," a piece that acknowledges the presence and absence of blackness within the predominately white space of skating in honor of Black History Month. Following his amateur career as a national-level skater, TJ joined his first touring ice show in 2009 and has been a principal soloist for most major professional companies including Holiday On Ice, Disney On Ice, Royal Caribbean, and many more through the span of his vibrant career. He has also performed for television shows such as Dancing on Ice and Instinct through ITNY with Alan Cumming on CBS. When TJ is not performing, he is a full-time real estate agent and advisor here in NYC with Nestseekers International. Joe Johnson has been skating with his partner Karina since 2014. Together they are the first LGBTQ team to compete on Team USA for four years, becoming international medalists and Grand Prix competitors. He retired from competition in 2019 to join in the creation of Cirque du Soleil's show, Axel, and has also been a part of the UK television show Dancing On Ice. The 2024 Home Season marks Joe’s first season with ITNY. Karina Manta is an ice dancer and former international medalist and Grand Prix competitor for Team USA with her partner, Joe Johnson. Since retiring from competitive skating, she has toured with the Cirque du Soleil show AXEL and performed as a professional for the UK television series, Dancing on Ice, which she and her celebrity partner won in the 2021-22 season. Karina is the author of the young adult memoir, On Top of Glass (Knopf 2021) about growing up queer in figure skating.  Libby McGrosky has been skating with ITNY since 2023. They began skating at the age of four and continued skating through high school with a focus in freestyle and an interest in synchronized skating. In college, they skated for the Hayden Synchronized Skating Teams at the Junior and Senior levels and represented the USA for three international seasons. After completing their competitive career, Libby joined ITNY and began the process of switching to professional figure skating. Libby obtained a BS in environmental science with a minor in climate change and sustainability from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. JoAnna Mendl Shaw, veteran choreographer and dance educator, has been expanding the parameters and strategies for dance-making since 1998. Her company, The Equus Projects, tours throughout the States and Europe, creating site-specific works in immersive collaboration with local communities. An internationally recognized dance educator, Shaw has taught on faculty at NYU, The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey, Princeton, Mount Holyoke and Montclair State. Shaw is the recipient of NEA Choreographic Fellowships and multiple NEA grants for Interdisciplinary Performance. She has brought her somatic practice of Physical Listening into elementary schools and academic think tanks, the Naval War College, NYU Medical School and in 2024, as a Visiting Adjunct Professor at the Stanford School of Medicine. Shaw is a certified Laban Movement Analyst and is the author of Physical Listening, A Dancer’s Interspecies Journey. Moira North has been named one of the 25 Most Influential Names in Figure Skating by International Figure Skating Magazine, as a driving force in the development of figure skating as a performing art. Since founding ITNY in 1984, she has commissioned renowned dance choreographers to make new works for the company, while nurturing and developing choreographers from the world of ice. She has also been a catalyst in the development of other artistic ice dance companies in both Canada and the USA. Moira and partner Patrick Dean skated ITNY’s first work, a collaboration with Belgian dance choreographer Marc Bogaerts, which won them first place in the Free Dance at the Professional Championships in Jaca, Spain. In her subsequent work as ITNY Director, Moira has continued to integrate contemporary dance into the repertory of ice choreography. Kseniya Ponomaryova made her ITNY debut at Rockefeller Center on March 8, 2022. A native of Odesa, Ukraine, she started skating at age five and trained with the Figure Skating Team of Ukraine beginning at age eleven. She has won a Ukrainian Novice Championship, ISU Junior Grand Prix and competed internationally for Ukraine, as well as five times at US Nationals, where she has been a US Sectional medalist. Kseniya holds a Master Rating in Choreography and a bachelor’s degree in sports education. Together with Collin Brubaker, they are 2021 US Professional Championships Skater's Skater Award winners and 2022 US Open Professional Champions. Liz Yoshiko Schmidt has been skating with ITNY since 2017. Luscious edges, artistic movement, and ice dancing inform her skating and professional career which began in 2013, at the age of 18, performing internationally in Europe, Egypt, and across the US. She is a Japanese/German American skater who hails from Chicago, IL, and recently moved from San Francisco, CA, to New York City. A U.S. Figure Skating double gold medalist in Freestyle and Moves in the Field, and a silver medalist in Ice Dancing. Liz received her BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2018, has an art studio in Brooklyn, and is the creator of the ice fashion line Dansu Wear. Aaron Singletary grew up in Pennsylvania skating for the Penguin Figure Skating Club and started his national competitive career training with Craig Maurizi at the Ice House in Hackensack, NJ. Aaron earned gold in Moves in the Field as well as singles Freestyle. Aaron now coaches primarily at City Ice Pavilion in New York City. Over the years Aaron has had many internationally revered coaches. Each left a prominent mark on his approach to skating and singling one or two would be a disservice to the others. He aims to further his knowledge so that one day he too may be an internationally recognized performer and coach. The 2019 Home Season marked his debut with Ice Theatre of New York. Douglas Webster has been involved in figure skating since he grew up in North Conway, New Hampshire. He is a graduate of The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. From 2011-2014 Douglas served as the Artistic Director of Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) bringing the company to new heights. Since 1991, he worked with ITNY as Associate Artistic Director, Resident Choreographer, and Ensemble Director. In addition to his current work with Ice Dance International as Founding Artistic Director and Choreographer, Douglas serves as the Creative Director for Shall We Dance on Ice, a Disson special that airs on ABC and features ice dancing and ballroom. Douglas has choreographed for many skating companies in the world including Disney on Ice, Stars on Ice, and Holiday on Ice; he serves on the board of the Young Artists Showcase and is on Stars on Ice and Holiday on Ice; he serves on the board of the Young Artists Showcase and is on the staff of “Grassroots to Champions.” He is also the Artistic Director of Labrie Family Skate at the Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH, where he implemented IDI’s outreach program, “Get Out and Skate” with the public schools. In 2015, Douglas was nominated by the Professional Skaters Association (of America) for the F. Ritter Shumway Award given to a person in the skating world who has earned distinction for unending dedication and significant contribution to the world of figure skating. Kelly Moran is an American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist based in Brooklyn. Her music spans classical, electronic, minimalist, jazz, impressionist, and metal genres. In many of her compositions, Moran utilizes electronic musical techniques in combination with the John Cage-pioneered technique of the prepared piano. Moran signed with Warp Records in September 2018 to release her album Ultraviolet, which has been recognized by the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Vice, among others. Ultraviolet is more rooted in improvisation than Moran's other meticulously-composed works. Until Ultraviolet, which was released in November 2018, Moran had been the sole engineer and producer of her records.  About Ice Theatre of New York Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) exists to create and advance ice dance as (an ensemble) performing art form with its professional ice dance company. ITNY is also dedicated to providing education and to presenting public performances to people of all ages. We aim to inspire people to experience the balance, flow and flight of skating and to engage in a lifelong healthy activity. Founded in 1984 by Moira North, Ice Theatre of New York has changed the face of figure skating by creating works that integrate the sensibilities of contemporary dance, music and art challenging the perceptions and conventional definitions of figure skating. Through its performances in both traditional and site-specific venues, ITNY presents ice dance that opens one's eyes to seeing skating in unexpected ways. ITNY was the first ice dance company to receive dance program funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information, visit www.icetheatre.org. ITNY is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy C. Hochul and the New York State Legislature. ITNY is also supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and NYC Council Members Shaun Abreu and Christopher Marte. ITNY's Manhattan programming is funded in part by a grant from the New York City Tourism Foundation. Additionally, ITNY receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Daniel & Corrine Cichy Memorial Foundation, Eagan Family Foundation, The Hearthland Embers Fund, The Lisa McGraw Figure Skating Foundation, the Will Sears Foundation, and its generous private patrons.