Elvis Stojko and Teysan Angeline Henry will star in Fire and Ice in Mackenzie in March.
The figure skating show happens at the Mackenzie Recreation Centre on Saturday, March 1 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, March 2 at 2 p.m. The Mackenzie Figure Skating Club is hosting the event.
Henry, a nationally recognized figure skater, is a member of the Gitxsan and Tsimshian First Nations. She is a recipient of a 2022 Premier’s Award for Indigenous Youth Excellence in Sport, and has won gold in competition in Kelowna, two bronze and one silver medal in Williams Lake, and is also the first Canadian to be featured in Native Hoop magazine.
“One of my favourite medals is Super Series,” said Henry. “I got gold back in 2023 for my gold artistic, and it was against around 10 skaters in my group. It's hard to get gold in the Super Series because it's against a lot of skaters from different regions. My second favourite achievement is also gold. I got gold for my Star 8 free skate at Super Series Victoria Day.”
Henry has an extreme passion for skating and her favourite aspect of the sport is to see her achievements shine through in her performances.
“It's a lot of ups and downs,” said Henry. “Like, sometimes I would lose some jumps and I would get super frustrated, but the moment I get it back, it's a nice feeling. Figure skating in general also eases my mind because I'm sometimes full of anxiety and it's really soothing to skate.”
Stojko is one of Canada's most successful male figure skaters, lauded for his unique style and technically proficient performances. He is a two-time Olympic silver medallist and a three-time world champion, and has won seven national titles.
He is known as the first person to land a quadruple-double jump combination in the 1991 World Championships. In addition, he was recognized by the governor general with the Meritorious Service Cross.
He was born in Newmarket, Ont., and is still inspired by his hometown to this day.
“It's always nice to be able to get out to the smaller communities and connect with the kids,” said Stojko. “I started skating in a small community here in Ontario years and years ago, it's a bigger city now but it was a small little town. It was a great time and it just brings back memories of when I was a kid growing up and having a skater, either a pro or someone coming into skating, coming out and inspiring the kids. So it's fun to get connected to my roots.”
Stojko also spoke on how rewarding it is to see how his skating has inspired others at performances like Fire and Ice.
“It's a way to connect to a lot of people who had seen me skate over the years,” he said.
"Some had a chance to go to some of my competitions that were held in Canada. Some of them were young kids and now they've got kids of their own or they are coaches. It reminds me of how skating has connected with so many fans across the country.
“You forget how many people watched skating back then and it's a way to hear their stories and have them share some of their stories about how people like myself or Kurt Browning or other skaters have inspired them to either become a coach or help inspire their kid. That's an inspiring piece for me.”
Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased on at mackenziefigureskatingclub.uplifterinc.com/events.
Tickets will be available for purchase for people outside of Mackenzie on Feb. 10.
