Canton – Ice skating is fun whether you can jump and spin, or you just like making your way around the rink, and the Arctic Edge in Canton is a great place to get started.
Since they first opened in 2001, they built an ice skating program with world-class coaches, that created several Olympic champions. Many are in the ice dancing discipline, including the Shibutani siblings, Charlie White and Meryl Davis, and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, amongst others.
Here, however, you can learn all the different forms of ice skating, and there are a lot of them. There is synchronized skating where a group of ladies performs a number together, Figure Skating pairs, where a duo performs doing jumps and lifts, Ice dancing, which is more like ballroom dancing on ice with minimal lifts, Then of course there are individual competitors.
However, you don’t need Olympic-level goals to enjoy this sport. Their Learn To Skate program is one of the most robust in the area. It runs year-round and has classes for young kids up through adults. Even if you have no dreams of competing, it’s a great form of exercise and will make you feel more confident out on the ice.
Jennifer Goen, the Learn to Skate Director, shared some advice for those getting started.
- Start by getting on the ice and try marching in place, slowly lifting up one foot thEn the other. Once comfortable with that, march forward and then glide.
- Move on to forward swizzles to get that gliding motion. Start with your heels together toes pointing out. bend your knees and push down and out, then about halfway through a circle, angle your toes together and pull your feet together, standing up. It should look like connecting ovals.
- To stop, slowly transfer your weight to one foot, and push down and out with the other, scraping it across the ice. This is called a snowplow stop and is similar to how you stop in downhill skiing.
If you want to try your hand at skating, they have open skate for $10 which includes skate rental.
If you want to learn ice dancing from Olympians Charlie White and Tannith White (nee Beblin), as well as Junior World Champion, Greg Zuerlein, they will be offering lessons at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena, through their new program, MIDA - Michigan Ice Dance Academy. They will be kicking off their new school following the Olympics.
For more information, watch the full video above.
Arctic Edge is located at 46615 Michigan Ave. in Canton.