Recently the weather was a chilly minus 40F. The ice froze, and then it melted at plus 40F on Saturday, Feb. 2, just when the debut show by Iceformance needed ice the most.
Iceformance, a Minnesota-based professional figure skating performance troupe, was created in May 2018 by professional skaters Amy Berglund, Twin Cities and Debbie Mueller of Grand Marais, both of whom performed all over the world in various national and international ice shows. They were excited to present their first week of shows, and the weather presented challenges for these skating pros.
Iceformance was to perform at the St. Paul Winter Carnival Family Fun Night only to be canceled due to the deep freeze. In spite of the weather, Bergland and Tam Bui presented their acts on stage at the Landmark Center without ice or skates.
Excited for their second show, a few days later the weather warmed up for the City of Lakes, Luminary Loppet on Lake of the Isles, and it became quite the challenge for the five skaters to actually skate on slushy, sandy ice.
Pros they were, however, as they skated in the dark night sans music, with only the sound of their blades… wearing LED lights over their winter-wear, on their blades, and with just the luminaries to light their way on the ice. The scene was set, and in spite of the conditions on the ice, for several hours the audience of 4,000 attendees watched with wonder at the beautiful debut in the Luminary Loppet event.
The Berglund/Mueller duo were thrilled with the outcome in spite of being unable to glide, spin and jump across the ice.
Mueller desired Iceformance to be part of this “cool” event and is no stranger to the Luminary Loppet as her partner, acoustic performing artist Michael Monroe of Grand Marais, has been singing with the Ice Band.
The Ice Band is an innovation of Monroe’s longtime friend and Ice Band leader, Marc Anderson, who collaborated with an ice sculptor to create the instruments of ice.
The balmy weather came at a perfect time for participants who enjoyed skiing and walking around the lake, especially after a week of cabin fever and the deep freeze.
However, the warm weather not only melted the ice for the skaters, it also melted the ice instruments for the Ice Band. Monroe said it was a challenge to figure out how a band of 10 could play in spite of their instrument meltdown. Nevertheless, they sounded great and remain an ever-popular part of this fantastic event.
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