A half-day Adult Stroking Seminar for skaters to learn on and off ice techniques for improving the quality of their skating skills. Adult skaters are invited to register to attend a full morning of skating, stretching, and instruction. Each skater will receive 40 minutes of an on-ice group-based stroking class, 40 minutes of an off-ice ballet class, and up to 45 additional minutes of open freestyle to practice skating skills. Skaters will also benefit from a US Figure Skating judge and technical specialist who will be on hand for skater education in the International Judging System (IJS).

There is no test requirement, skaters should be age eligible for the adult test track, and comfortably be able to skate using forward and backward crossovers. Registration for the event is limited, so register early if you’re interested in attending.

Instructors:

• Rachel Nevares is a USFS Double Gold Medalist in Freestyle and Moves-in-the-Field and coaches all levels of competitive figure skating at Medstar Capitals Iceplex and is the recipient of the 2016 Champions in Life award from Grassroots to Champions. She toured professionally all over the world portraying various roles with Disney on Ice for 8 years and was a competitive figure skater for over 12 years.
• Melanie (Mel) Riffee is a former professional ballerina with Boston Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and The Washington Ballet. She has performed extensive classical, neoclassical, and contemporary repertoire on national and international tours from 2008-2020, and been featured as a Guest Artist. Melanie holds a master’s of liberal arts degree in Psychology, has been teaching for eight years and presently teaches ballet, pointe, contemporary, and conditioning in the Conservatory Division at BalletNova Center for Dance and at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. 
• Melanya Berggren is a US Figure Skating judge and technical specialist who has judged Sectionals in both singles and pairs skating. She is also an adult skater.