Each year , local figure skating clubs organize year end ice shows where each group of skaters does a choreography on various songs. In 2007, Boucherville Firgure Skating Club hires Alexandre Hamel, the leader of Le Patin Libre, to create the show.

To adapt for the ice the famous story written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , he initiate a long artistic process. It is a very unusual project for this kind of event. A rich soundtrack is created. In order to learn how to give a theatrical life to the characters, the local young skaters start rehearsing 2 months earlier than in the preceding years . A complex scenography and an innovative lighting design are developped. Hundreds of costumes and impressive accessories are made. The whole project is financed generously by the local business community and the families of the skaters.

A dozen of vocal actors, about 250 skaters, about 100 motivated volunteers and a dozen of professional figure skating coaches are implicated in this adventure ending in a enormous success.

An impressive number of tickets is sold . The last representation is sold out. The skating club records surprising profits. Normally, this activity triggers heavy deficits... The little community lives an adventure that will mark positively hundreds of kids.

Some comments :

"There are the breath taking performances of the skaters , but also the sets, the "mise-en-scène", the music... It was a beautiful magic, a real treat for the eyes. It was simply magical."
(spectator who commented his experience through an email to the skating club)

"...it was not an amateur show."
Hélène Beaulieu, vice-president of the Boucherville Figure Skating Club, quoted in "La Seigneurie" newspaper.

Roxanne Dupuis, the skater of the troop who was remarked for her "Little Match Girl" performance is part of the show. She plays the Little Prince in a difficult scene where the little boy must leave Earth and his aviator friend to "go back on his planet". This kind of touching and subtle theatrical interpreation once again prooves that figure skating can be more than the olympic discipline and the show-business that are presently known. Figure skating can definitively be a medium for personal works of art.

Many other young skaters discover their talent in this new way to perform on the ice. Le Patin Libre can count on a promising upcoming youth...

Other members of the troop give a hand. François, our engineer, creates accessories and operates a follow-spot. Anthony works on the long unloading operation of a 140 000 Watts litghing kit... Experience is built...

The adventure was too fantastic to not be repeated soon...

To see more:

The DVD of the show was masterfully filmed and edited by talented students from the Film Production program of Concordia University. It can be watched more like a fim than like a show recording. To order it, contact Alex at alex@lepatinlibre.com. It is sold for 25,00$. The profits will be used for the devlopment of the troop.