Ice Skating for Dummies

The phone lit up with a familiar phone number.  I recognized the first six numbers - 714-781-XXXX.  Disney was calling, but I didn’t know the last four numbers.  I picked it up, “Hello?”

“Hi Liz, this is Amanda from Disney Special Events.  We would like to invite you to an audition for a special event.” Already this was weird.  I had done special events for Disney before, but I had never had to audition for it. “Do you ice skate?”

The honest truth is no.  I didn’t ice skate.

I replied, "Sure.”

So let’s just pause for a second.  I know that technically that was a lie, but I had ice skated once when I was in 6th grade.  I figured the audition would be at least a week away and I would have time to get steady on my feet.  I mean, I’m an amazing rollerblader -  I was sure I could pick up ice skating.

“Great!  Sorry this is so last minute, but we are holding auditions tomorrow at 9am.  So we will see you at Anaheim Ice tomorrow.”

My face turned red.  My heart started pounding. I had to sit down. Was I really going to show up at an audition tomorrow when I had absolutely no idea if I could actually ice skate?

You bet.

When I got there I interviewed with the show director first and then skated second. Before I knew it I was joking and laughing with the show director. If I could just not look like a complete idiot on the ice, I just might get the gig.

I grabbed some rental skates and sat down watching the other girls.  It was very obvious who could skate and who couldn’t just by their arms.  If a girl had her arms out straight in front of her like a zombie, she was a rookie.  When she knew what she was doing her arms were relaxed.  I knew I couldn’t control my arms because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.  But by the grace of God, just as I was finishing up my laces and moments from walking onto the ice, my friend Michelle sat down next to me.  I looked at her and I figured it out.

“Michelle, I know this is going to sound crazy, but can I borrow your scarf?”  Being the kind human she is, without even a question, she took off her scarf and gave it to me.  I wrapped it around my neck once with the excess hanging in front.  I was going to hold onto that scarf with all my might because then at least my arms wouldn’t be flailing about.

I walked over to the ice and stood there looking at it.  What would it feel like to step onto it?  I remembered it being kind of slippery.  Would I just immediately fall on my ass?  Would I suddenly become scooby doo where my feet were pushing like a maniac but I would stay stationary? I looked around at the huge oval rink and made an exit strategy.  I was entering the rink at one end and if it went humiliatingly bad, I could just crawl back out the way I came in.  If it wasn’t the worst, but wasn’t good - I would hopefully be able to push my way to the other end and get off the ice as fast as possible.  If it was going well, maybe I could make a lap or two. I had no idea what was going to happen, but there was only one way to find out.  I pushed off onto my right foot like I was a freakin’ olympian.  I stood tall, stuck my chest out in confidence, and gripped that scarf like my life depended on it.  I stayed steady on just my right foot for about six feet when I heard my name.

“Liz. We know you can skate.  You can get off the ice.”

The choreographers and stage director knew I was a great rollerblader so they just assumed I was a fantastic ice skater.  I just glided along on my right foot until I got to the next exit and stepped out.  My left foot never even touched the ice.

I got the call. I got the gig!

Oh god.  

Now what?  I got hired to be an ice skater and had no idea how to ice skate.

I literally went out and bought the book, "Ice Skating for Dummies". I went to the rink every single day from the time I got the call to our first rehearsal.  I tried so hard to look as graceful on that slippery floor as I did on the pavement of skateparks.  I was going to do my best to not look like a total fool.

At the first rehearsal they surprised us with some interesting news, “You are going to be doing an outdoor show at Disney’s California Adventure.  Because the weather is so warm, instead of skating on ice,  you will be skating on teflon.”  Yep, the same stuff that you cook on, we skated on.  We strapped on our skates and hit the rink.  It felt exactly like a skatepark.  I was in heaven.  I suddenly and accidentally look pretty darn good. Unfortunately for the other ice skaters, this was strange and confusing.  There was a lot of falling and frustration.

The honest truth is none of that should have worked out for me.  I shouldn’t have been called for that audition.  I shouldn’t have succeeded at the audition.  I shouldn’t have been hired on that show, but in the end it was perfect for me.  There are so many of these stories in my life where it just doesn’t make sense, but God knows what he’s doing.  I’m going to keep saying “sure” and with courage and some lucky breaks, we will see where the next adventure takes me.

(Note: This happened years ago, but I was just reminded of it and it was exactly what I needed today.)