URBANDALE, Iowa — This week, skaters in the Central Iowa Figure Skating Club will hit the ice rink in preparation for their winter show in December.
The upcoming performance will be their first big live show since the COVID-19 pandemic began. One of the skaters performing in the show is high schooler Neha Bhargava, who has been figure skating for the last decade.
"Being a figure skater is super fun," Bhargava said. "It's definitely a lot of work."
She said for nearly seven years she's been skating with CIFSC, which is a nonprofit organization serving the metro. They are dedicated to promoting skating to make the presence bigger in the area.
To do so they hold multiple practices and classes a week.
Some classes are dedicated to a program called "Learn to Skate." This teaches people how to skate properly so that person could either head down the route of being a hockey player or figure skater.
The other practices held are for the freestyle program. Those are for students who are already on the figure skating track.
Skaters in that program are preparing for their first large live performance since December of 2019.
"I'm excited to perform again. I love performing and I love doing what I love to do," Bhargava said.
The show which is next month will consist of multiple figure skaters performing pieces for two to three minutes each.
Bhargava said to get to this point they sometimes skated with masks, practiced with lots of space between them and could only enter and exit the rink through certain doors.
Kara Dare, a parent of one of the students performing in the show, said she's excited to see students doing what they love again. She noted them performing helps them outside of the rink.
"It builds confidence, poise which then carries over as a student into other areas of your life which can only elevate what you're doing," Dare said.
The show is on Dec. 11 and is free to the public. It's held at the Buccaneer arena in Urbandale.
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