For the first time in program history, the Sharper Edge Skating School in Concord took home a medal at the National Theatre on Ice Competition.
And two skaters from Wayland were part of the historic accomplishment in Irvine, Calif., which netted the club a bronze medal.
Waylanders Natalie Garibaldi and Penny Fishburn, who both have been skating on the Ice Theatre ensemble team for the past year, were among the more than 20 skaters to take the ice for the required short and long programs.
“At Nationals we were all crying when we went back to the locker room,” said Garibaldi, a sophomore. “And we continued crying.”
Garibaldi started skating when she was 4 ½ years old at Flynn rink in Medford, where she later started private lessons. After moving to Wayland in 2020, she joined Sharper Edge and has been on the open ensemble team for the last two years.
Garibaldi’s younger sisters, Nikki and Nadia, are on the preliminary team. Their mother, Vera, wishes the family had discovered the school sooner for its ensemble team, which incorporates choreography, costumes, and stories on the ice.
“It’s a lot of fun and very creative creating a story on ice as a team,” Vera said. “The coaches, Erin (Whynot) and Kristin (Curran), are immensely creative and design the entire production. While other teams recreate existing stories, they create ideas from scratch. They select a theme and create a whole piece for the programs.”
The theater element is a desirable addition as both Garibaldi and Fishburn also perform on stage.
This year’s theme was “Hypnosis” and costumes represented thoughts in the mind and were similar to the black body suit spider costumes from last year. These differed slightly to include yellow and white swirly lines from the top of the face with face paint. The therapist wore a body suit with lapels on the top and the patient wore a yellow dress.
Jon Fishburn, Penny’s father, said that she began in the learn to skate program in 2018 when she was in first grade and has skated year-round since then. She has classes three days a week and usually a private lesson mixed in. She plans to continue skating throughout high school.
Last season she self-choreographed a “backwards spider lunge” in one of her individual programs. He attributes many positive changes to her participation in the program.
“While the skating is great and competing is fun, her favorite thing about the Club is the sense of community and camaraderie with her teammates from both Wayland and the surrounding towns,” said Jon. “One of the great things about the Sharper Edge club is that it gives skaters a chance to be a volunteer assistant coach for the learn to skate program. So Penny has really come full circle from being a learn to skate participant to now helping teach the classes herself.”
The Sharper Edge Skating school has two teams — a preliminary team for developing skaters and an Ice Theatre ensemble team for those who are more advanced. The Ice Theatre team requires more serious direction and students must audition to join.
The majority of the skaters from Sharper Edge come from Sudbury with others from Burlington, Woburn and Wayland. Coach Billy Whynot, who has been coaching for 22 years, says her favorite things about her job are being a mentor and watching the students grow as skaters and as humans.
“Nat is an excellent skater and her signature move is the Ina Bauer (named after a famous competitive figure skater), a maneuver performed with one skate facing forward and the other facing backward while gliding,” said Whynot. “Penelope is a hard worker and team leader. The other kids wait for her direction.”
Garibaldi remembers the excitement and the build-up from the competition, as well as the anticipation after a strong long program had them in fourth place before the short program two days later.
“Our long program was very strong,” she said.”We were thrilled to know that we won the bronze!”
Practice starts in September at the rink in Concord and there are competitions throughout the year.
“Theatre on Ice is very special,” said Vera Garibaldi. “It’s amazing for these kids to have this team environment where they really are a unit and work so well together. This is very special and unique for the sport.”
