{"id":232912,"date":"2026-05-15T17:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/232912\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T17:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T17:50:10","slug":"the-ice-theatre-of-new-york-celebrates-the-joy-of-dancing-on-ice-with-annual-benefit-gala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/232912\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ice Theatre of New York celebrates the joy of dancing on ice with annual benefit gala"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ice skating makes the seemingly impossible feat of jumping and spinning on thin metal blades a reality, as if the skaters are dancing on ice \u2014 and at the Ice Theatre of New York, performers do exactly that.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1984 by Moira North, the Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) is the nation\u2019s first not-for-profit professional ice dance company, aiming to advance ice dance as an ensemble-based performing art. The professional ensemble\u2019s home season performances were on May 1, 2 and 4 at the Chelsea Piers Sky Rink, with a benefit gala following the May 4 performance.<\/p>\n

The gala performance featured a setlist full of stunning artistry, as well as special performances by 2026 Olympians Ilia Malinin, Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik. The benefit dinner and award ceremony honored 2022 Olympic champion Nathan Chen and \u201cStars on Ice\u201d producer Byron Allen.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/a>Sarah Baetge and Liz Yoshiko Schmidt perform Peter DiFalco choreography, restaged and directed by Joe Johnson.Photo courtesy of Hideki Aono<\/p>\n

Fundraising from the event will support ITNY\u2019s outreach initiatives to spread the art of figure skating across the city through its free \u201cCity Skate Concert Series\u201d at seasonal outdoor rinks and its arts education programs on ice dancing and figure skating that serve 1,000 NYC school students annually.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince its inception, [ITNY] has enriched the city\u2019s cultural landscape,\u201d Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. \u201cThrough dazzling shows and concerts, as well as classes and workshops, [ITNY] showcases the best of the art form while supporting future skaters as they carry on the tradition for generations to come.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The show opened with 10 of the 16 ensemble members skating to Vaughn Williams\u2019 \u201cThe Lark Ascending\u201d \u2014 choreographed by Rob McBrien and re-staged by Sarah France \u2014 inspired by a quote from 1976 Olympic champion John Curry stating that \u201cthe simplest movements in skating can be the most beautiful and most meaningful ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Karina<\/a>Karina Manta and Joe JohnsonPhoto courtesy of Hideki Aono<\/p>\n

Company skaters Liz Yoshiko Schmidt and Aaron Singletary performed a world premiere duet choreographed by two-time Olympian Kaitlyn Weaver. Malinin skated to \u201cI Was Made for Lovin\u2019 You\u201d covered by YUNGBLUD, while Zingas and Kolesnik performed to Hozier\u2019s \u201cWork Song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music selections also included an electrifying solo to Prince\u2019s \u201cPurple Rain,\u201d choreographed and performed by Emmanuel Savary, and a thrilling tango group piece choreographed by Peter DiFalco and re-staged and directed by Joe Johnson.<\/p>\n

After the gala performances, guests moved to The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers for a cocktail reception and awards dinner, which was attended by several members of the 2026 Olympic figure skating team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Entire<\/a>Entire cast of the ITNY Benefit Gala performance, including special performer guests Emmanuel Savary, and Olympians Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik and Ilea MalininPhoto courtesy of Hideki Aono<\/p>\n

At the dinner, Byron Allen received the Arts and Business Award for his work as a producer of \u201cStars on Ice\u201d \u2014 a figure skating performance tour showcasing top Olympic and World champions \u2014 over three decades. Honoree Nathan Chen was selected for his background as a trained ballet dancer and his role as a pioneer of quadruple jumps in the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than four decades, ITNY has done something that almost no one in our sport thinks to do \u2014 they have insisted that figure skating belongs in the same conversation as contemporary dance, music and visual arts,\u201d Chen said in his acceptance speech. \u201cBut what moves me even more is what happens off the stage and ice, introducing so many New York City public school children to the joy of ice skating. That is how our sport and the art form grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about ITNY, visit icetheatre.org<\/a> or follow @icetheatreofny on Instagram and Facebook.<\/p>\n

\"Trio:<\/a>Trio: honoree at ITNY 2026 Benefit Gala, Olympic & World Champion Nathan Chen, with his first coach Stephanee Grosscup and Olympic Champion Timothy Goebel, who were also Chairs of the ITNY Benefit GalaPhoto courtesy of Hideki Aono<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ice skating makes the seemingly impossible feat of jumping and spinning on thin metal blades a reality, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15098,5786,2035,91375,91376,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-232912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-benefit","tag-gala","tag-ice","tag-ice-dancing","tag-ice-theatre-of-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}