Ice Show: 1st Information Bundle for Contract Skaters

All Rochester Figure Skating Club contract skaters who wish to skate in the club’s 2025 ice show, must complete the Online Registration Process by Sunday, October 20, 2024. A $25 late fee will be assessed for entries submitted after October 20.

Registration is now open! To sign up for the ice show:

1. Registration is now available on this website (not the Customer Portal where you normally register). You do not need to be logged in to register, but this will retrieve any personal information saved here (eg: for testing registration).
2. Complete the Ice Show Participation Form
3. Fill in all required fields – including your skater’s measurements and select your costume sizes!
4. After completing this form, ensure your preferred payment information is entered in your customer portal profile. You will be charged a costume deposit of $40 per skater once the cast list is posted (see the Costume Information section for details).

Ice Show tryouts are intended for higher level contract skaters with specific skillsets. You will be contacted by your professional coach if you qualify. Please check with your coach if you have questions.

Skaters are not required to try out to participate in the show. Typically, a skater will try out if they wish to be placed in a small feature group, trio, duet or solo. Anyone not wishing to try out will be appropriately cast according to his or her skating ability and the needs of the show. Skaters must be current on their skating bill on the day of tryouts to participate in tryouts.

If you don't plan to try out, you may skip this section and move on to the Casting Information section.

Show tryout information

• Minimum requirements are Pre-Bronze Singles OR a consistently landed axel. Skaters should talk to their coaches if they have any questions.
• Show tryout programs may be a maximum of 1 minute and 15 seconds.
• The tryouts will be held on the South Rink and the judges will sit on the bleachers on the west side so tryout programs should be choreographed accordingly.
• Tryouts will be grouped according to test level. Test level is determined by the highest singles test passed. A random drawing will be done within test level groups to determine skating order.

Tryouts are not necessary for:

• Opening
• Finale
• Skaters who will be included in a "Grad Feature" (Check with your coach to see if you qualify for this).
• Graduating seniors as described on the Casting Info page

Judging of tryouts

• Members of the skating and artistic community will judge show tryouts.
• Show tryouts will be judged equally on Technical Merit and Artistic Presentation. Technical Merit refers to the difficulty level and quality of skating elements such as jumps, spins, footwork, extensions, etc. Artistic Presentation refers to showmanship, expression, music interpretation, audience appeal, etc.
• Judges' written comments will be given to each skater within 2 weeks of tryouts.

More Information

If you have questions, please contact your professional coach or our Show Tryouts Chair:
Armin Petrosyan | Email Armin Petrosyan

A show number is any of the following:

Numbers That Do Not Require a Tryout

• Grad Feature—For all skaters in their first year of contract ice.
• Large Singles Group—For all skaters after their first year of contract ice. Most skaters will remain in a large group for several years, depending on their skating level and skillset.
• Teen Group—Skaters are chosen based on strength of skating and in consideration of age.
• Sophomore/Junior Number—Skaters who are either sophomores or juniors in high school who have not been included in a feature and have passed preliminary singles or above.
• Senior Feature—Skaters who are seniors in high school who have passed preliminary singles, pre-bronze skating skills, bronze dance or above.
• Axel Number—Skaters who are pre-silver skating skills or higher and/or have strong jumping skills
• Opening/Closing (Finale)—Skaters are chosen by consideration of age, line skating strength or tryout placement. Sometimes skaters earn one of these numbers before they earn a small feature group number.
• Father/Daughter Number—For any girl who is at the pre-preliminary singles or preliminary skating skills or higher on November 5, 2024 (Hiawathaland test session is the last RFSC test session before this cutoff). Dads should be able to skate forward and backward, stop and turn. For more information see the Father/Daughter Information page.

Numbers That Require a Tryout

• Small Feature Group, Duet or Trio—Skaters may earn placement into one of these by achieving a high score in their show tryout.
• High Feature—Includes all the skaters who have a solo.
• Solo, Highlight, or Feature—Skater may earn one of these by one of the following:
  1. Very high tryout placement and/or
  2. Graduating seniors who are skating a minimum of nine free skate units per week at RFSC and who do not have a full or feature solo will be eligible for a senior highlight as determined by the show directors. The type and length of the highlight will be determined by the needs of the show and the skater’s singles test level:
     • Pre-Bronze: highlight in a group number
     • Bronze: highlight approximately one minute in length
     • Pre-Silver and above: highlight approximately one and one-half minutes in length

A skater may be placed in 1 to 4 numbers based on the following:

• Their parent's permission as indicated on the Participation Form
• Tryout placement score
• Singles testing level
• Strength of skating
• Number of units contracted and skated per week (Singles, Skating Skills/Dance, Power, Edge and Synchronized). Units will be determined by registration as of September 30, 2024 with the expectation that the contracting and skating of those units will be maintained throughout the year. Changes in a skater’s contract may affect casting.
• 5 to 8 units per week = 1 number
• 9 to 14 units per week = up to 2 numbers
• 15 or more units per week = up to 4 numbers

A unit is a 15 miniute contracted session of ice time, example 1 hour=4 units

The final decision regarding casting will be made by the artistic director and casting committee.

Previous casting placement does not guarantee similar casting each year.

Senior Soloists and Senior Small Group numbers will work with the artistic director in the selection of music.

Senior Soloists and Senior Small Group numbers will work with the costume committee in the selection of costume/dress options, which include color choices. Costumes must be approved by the costume committee by December 31, 2024.

Costumes will need to be purchased for each number in which a skater is cast. In the past, the average cost per number for costume and accessories has been approximately $90–110. Please consider this cost when selecting the number of numbers in which you are willing to participate.

Skaters who participate on a synchronized team or have tested in dance may qualify for an additional number(s). The Father/Daughter number is considered an additional number and does not count toward the above listed maximums.

Final decisions will be made by the artistic director and casting committee. The cast list is posted around Thanksgiving.

If you will not have a solo in the show, you may skip this section and move on to the Costume Information section.

It is important that solo performances fit in with the theme and general appearance of the Show. For this reason, a soloist may not independently select music, costume color or style.

• The Artistic Director selects all the music for the show, including soloist's music. Graduating seniors who are soloists have input to the selection of their music but the Artistic Director makes the final determination.
• Soloists will work with the costume committee in the selection of a costume.
• Soloists may not wear any costume or dress that has already been worn for competitions or other shows! To be fair to everyone and maintain a fresh look for the show each year, all soloists must agree to purchase a new costume or dress for the show.
• The costume committee will contact soloists after the cast list is posted to discuss costume options, which will include color options for each soloist as determined by the costume committee and artistic director.
• Soloists must have their costumes approved by the costume committee no later than December 31, 2024.
• Any soloist who does not have their costume for picture day, will not be pictured in the show program and a picture will not be posted at the rink. Please plan accordingly!

All soloists are required to attend a special lighting session with the Technical Director. This session is on Saturday, April 19, 2025 at 8:30 am on the South Rink (time is tentative—a final schedule will be distributed). Soloists are to wear their solo costume(s) to this session.

Soloists will not receive any monetary funds for performing in the RFSC Ice Show. Solo performances are for the greater benefit of the Rochester Figure Skating Club and the audience. U.S. Figure Skating has rules that allow payment for performances, but it is not RFSC policy to pay club members to perform in our annual ice show. Prior to the show, the soloist is not allowed to perform the solo, wear the show costume or use the solo program at any engagement, except for show-related practice or performance.

The soloist is required to skate the minimum required units as outlined on the Show Casting Information page. If the skater is injured and unable to skate the required number of units per week, a doctor's note must be submitted to the Show Director.

Costume measurement information is collected during registration. Costume pickup for contract skaters is – TBD –. See the information below for deposit and payment information.

Measurements for Costumes

You will be asked to select costume sizes during registration. Please measure your skater before you begin the registration process so you have the information you need to complete the costume sizing section of the online registration form. Excellent instructions for measuring can be found at Weissman Costumes (one of our show vendors). Or, watch their "How to Measure" video:

Skaters are responsible for any costume size alterations that may be required. Changes to the design of a costume will be made only at the direction of the Costume Committee and Show Directors. ALL costumes must be worn as directed by the costume committee and show directors

If you have any questions on this please contact our costume chairperson:

Amanda Mikhail
Email Amanda Mikhail | (507) 254-1899

We will be including a Father/Daughter number in the Show again this year. Sign up to be in this number by indicating "yes" for the Father/Daughter question on your online Show Registration Form.

• Participation is open to any girl who has passed pre-preliminary singles (not to be confused with Learn2Skate pre-free skate badge), or preliminary skating skills or higher on November 5, 2024 and her father. Please note that the Hiawathaland test session in October is the last RFSC test session before this cutoff date.

  While the intent is that skaters will skate with their fathers, exceptions can be made. It is possible that a skater could skate with another family member (grandfather, uncle, older brother) or a neighbor or friend. However, a skater will not be allowed to skate with her boyfriend.

• Dads should be able to skate forward and backward, stop and turn.
• There is one mandatory rehearsal scheduled on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 7:00–8:30 pm. Attendance is required for both father and daughter at the mandatory rehearsal and all show week rehearsals.
• Cost: $5 for each Father participating (one father with two daughters is still only $5). This amount will be added to your regular skating bill to help cover ice costs.
• Father/daughter couples will skate one show each. You will be contacted about your preference.
• If there is more than one daughter in a family, the father may skate with only one daughter in a given show.
• This number is considered an "extra" number and will not count toward the show number maximum as outlined on the Show Casting Information page.
• Skaters choosing to perform in the father/daughter number in the show must be willing to purchase an extra costume if needed.

Father/Daughter Rehearsal Schedule

Mandatory Rehearsal
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
7:00–8:30 pm

To maintain continuity for the show and to be fair to all skaters we enforce the following policies for rehearsal attendance:

• Attendance is taken at all rehearsals.
• Skaters may not miss more than one rehearsal per number during the show session. This includes rehearsals scheduled on Monday and Tuesday of show week. All skaters must be present for Wednesday and Thursday show week rehearsals.
• While any off-ice sessions scheduled are required for all skaters in those numbers, it does not count toward the one allowed miss.
• Arriving to rehearsal 10 minutes late or leaving rehearsal 10 minutes early counts as half a miss.
• Attendance is required for both father and daughter at the mandatory rehearsal and all show week rehearsals.