NoVA Skater Returns To Hometown In Disney On Ice's 'Frozen & Encanto'

FAIRFAX, VA — Jenna Teplitzky started her skating career at Fairfax Ice Arena when she was just 6. Her home was close to the Pickett Road facility and Woodson High School, from which she would later graduate.

"I lived in a diameter of about three miles at most from all of those places," she said. "It was really a matter of convenience for me to begin skating. It was something that I could be productive at by myself, be dropped off, skate my heart out, and be picked up."

Growing up in Fairfax, Teplitzky performed with Capital Theatre on Ice, which is based in Ashburn, and skated at rinks all over Northern Virginia and Maryland.

Teplitzky is still skating as a 23-year-old. In fact, she'll be skating in front of her hometown audience this weekend as an ensemble performer in Disney On Ice's touring production of "Frozen & Encanto" at Eagle Bank Arena.

Based on Walt Disney Animation Studios’ "Frozen" and "Encanto" feature films, the Disney On Ice production offers audiences a chance to see Anna, Elsa, Mirabel, and the Madrigal family live. In addition, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald, Goofy, and many more will be making an appearance.

On Thursday afternoon, Teplitzky and Sydney Kosiak, a 21-year-old skater from Boston, Massachusetts answered questions as their fellow cast members rehearsed and got used to the ice at Eagle Bank Arena.

Patch: How long does your tour run? Is it just a winter season or does it run year round?

Kosiak: Not necessarily. There's a lot of tours going on all year round, around that entire globe. So, for us on "Frozen & Encanto," we started our rehearsals on Aug. 1, and then we opened in Sunrise, Florida.

How many cities will you be going to and how many performances will you be doing?

Kosiak: Our tour goes until May and we have a different city every week. Sometimes we spend more than one week in a city. We'll go from one city to another and then back to that first city, depending on what the venue has available for us. So really, every week is a new venue, new city, new place.

What's the most fun thing about being on tour with Disney On Ice?

Teplitzky: The most fun thing for me is our weekly classes that we do with our performance director and our line captains. ... It's a time for all of us to set ourselves as a skating community in each venue that we arrive in and get used to the ice. Because the ice is a little different everywhere you go, just depending on factors out of everyone's control. So, as a class, we get to do these exercises and check in.

Kosiak: The most fun thing about being on tour, I would say, is just seeing all the places and getting to go to places in those cities that you've never been. I'm fortunate enough to be from the East Coast, so I've been able to help my friends in the cast find the good eats and the good places to explore, the good museums. But I really am excited to go to cities I haven't gotten to.

When you come into a town, are you skating every day?

Teplitzky: No. We are guaranteed one day off per week. But there's also load-ins, which is when the crew members build the set and often when there's no house ice, there's also ice being built for us. So, while they do some extreme work, we get to explore, take naps, recover from the shows from the past weekend.

As members of the ensemble, how many costume changes do you go through in a show?

Teplitzky: It depends on the day. The cool thing about every Disney show is that when it comes to ensemble members, we have to know every single part that we could possibly play, so that we can be on the ice, show ready, in an instant and that the audience couldn't tell the difference.

In the audience for "Frozen & Encanto," there may be young skaters who might want to be in a show like this one day. What advice would you give to them?

Teplitzky: I would challenge skaters to think about untraditional types of skate. We all have seen the gorgeous Michelle Kwan-type skating at the Olympics, the artistry and jumps. But at Disney On Ice, we have all types of skaters. We have people that do stunts and tricks and gymnastics on the ice. In other shows, we have some hockey players that do stunts in hockey skates. There are so many creative ways to use the medium of ice skating to tell a story that you wouldn't necessarily think of inside the box of Olympic skating.

I would encourage skaters to just use their creativity, to test their skills outside of what is traditionally figure skating, but also to follow up. That is the most important important piece of advice I could ever give to a skater interested in skating professionally is to follow up with wherever you apply, because you never know.

Disney On Ice will be presenting 10 performances of "Frozen & Encanto" through Monday at EagleBank Arena at 4500 Patriot Circle in Fairfax.

"Frozen & Encanto" Performances in Fairfax

• Friday, Oct. 7, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 8, 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Oct. 9, 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m.
• Monday, Oct. 10, 10:30 a.m., and 2:30 p.m.

Tickets may be purchased online at DisneyOnIce.com.