Skater Stories: Skye Patton
Now skating for the University of Michigan, Skye had the opportunity to bring the character of Luisa Madrigal to life with Disney on Ice.
For our second installment of Skater Stories, I had the pleasure of chatting with Skye Patton, a former Disney on Ice castmember who is now skating for the University of Michigan. I've been able to see Skye skate in person four times, including most recently at American Ice Theatre's Contemporary Skating Festival. She was kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to talk with me about her skating journey, the importance of representation on the ice, and balancing being a skater with being a student these days.
Q: You started skating when you were 6 years old. What first drew you to the ice at that young age?
A: SO funny story, the first few times I went skating, I actually hated it. It wasn’t until I attended a birthday party at the age of five that I really started to enjoy the ice. My grandma then decided to pay for Learn to Skate lessons for my sixth birthday which is how I began skating a few months later! I then found my private coach from my Learn to Skate classes and started competing when I turned seven!
Q: And we’re glad you stuck with it! Did you have any skating inspirations growing up? Any favorite childhood memories of watching skating?
A: YES for sure!! I was truly in love with Johnny Weir, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Surya Bonaly growing up! Of course, there are so many others, but these three I really drew inspiration from. All three were redefining the world of figure skating and I loved watching every second of it. Along with, of course, their phenomenal showmanship, grit, and strength, which was amazing to see as a young skater coming up into the world of figure skating.
Q: Kristi was a favorite of mine too! Now you joined Disney on Ice shortly after finishing high school. What was that process like?
A: YES! I submitted an audition reel that featured my skating skills (jumps, spins, and tricks), choreography and personality segments, along with footage from my previous competitions. After emailing the tape to Feld Entertainment, the casting director and I began conversing and I was offered a contract a few months later! After graduating high school, I spent around a month back home before flying to Feld Entertainment’s Headquarters in Florida to begin rehearsals!
Q: And that was about two years after you’d passed your gold level senior skating skills at SLSC, right? I read less than 5% of skaters hit that level, so how did you feel when you accomplished that?
A: YUP! It was around 2.5 years after I passed my senior skating skills test, which was so exciting at the time. Typically skaters start working on their Skating Skills tests immediately after working with a private coach, so it truly was a feeling of pride after passing my final test. Testing had also become more difficult with COVID-19 at the time, so it was super exciting to have been able to test again as well!
Q: Then with Disney on Ice, you got to portray Luisa from "Encanto." What did it mean to you to bring that role to life?
A: IT was so incredibly surreal. Luisa Madrigal was actually one of my favorite Disney characters before coming to Disney on Ice. I truly fell in love with her strength, advocacy for mental health, and overall the representation she brought to Disney. Words cannot express how grateful I feel to have had the opportunity to portray Luisa’s character on a larger stage. She’s such an amazing woman and will always be in my heart.
Q: Speaking of representation, the creators of "Encanto" fought for Luisa to be drawn the way she was. As someone who is taller than the average figure skater [Ed. note: Skye is 5-foot-9], what did it mean to you to provide that representation for a character who didn’t look like a typical Disney Princess?
A: ABSOLUTELY so much. That’s truly one of my favorite things about her character. It shows that a heroine doesn’t have to look like the typical Disney princesses we often see. Luisa is the representation that I wish existed in Disney when I was growing up. Especially coming from the world of figure skating, it was amazing to showcase her height and strength on the ice as something that was truly beautiful.
Q: On a lighter note, what was it like to share the ice with the dancing donkeys?
A: THE best time of my life. The donkeys steal the show everyday! You can truly see the joy that radiates from that number and it's so fun to watch all of my castmates have so much fun on the ice. I could watch the donkeys all day long!!
Q: You were with the show for a little over a year. What was a typical day like for you in that time?
A: WELL it depends! On off days I would typically get coffee with one or a few of my castmates before exploring the new city we were performing in that week. A fun fact about me, I actually went to an art museum in every single city I visited on tour, so that was definitely a priority for me as well! A lot of times I would have friends want to join as well, which was always a blast!
Days with multiple shows, I would spend my breaks stretching or chatting with friends! Oftentimes, we would go get coffee on our breaks. I also became super crafty, so I spent a lot of time making felt animals and characters during down time, specifically taking requests and gifting them to my castmates!
Q: Did you have a favorite art museum you visited?
A: OOOO that’s really hard. I’ll have to think on that one for a second, but I definitely can give you my top three.
This comes as no surprise, but one of my favorites was the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City of course! Aside from the MET; however, I absolutely loved Museo De Las Américas in Puerto Rico, Detroit Institute of the Arts, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, to name a few. The Milwaukee Art Museum and Toledo Museum of Art come just shortly behind. Too many amazing exhibits to pick from! My ultimate favorite experience though was the Zen Night Walk in Kyoto at the Kenninji Temple. It was truly one of the best experiences of my life.
Q: As an obsessed Gossip Girl fan, the Met obviously holds a special place in my heart. In a different type of art, you recently performed in American Ice Theatre’s Contemporary Skating Festival. How did you get involved with AIT and what was that experience like?
A: I actually found AIT in 2019 and got involved through their C.O.R.E. Camp which takes place just outside of Chicago! I then attended C.O.R.E. Camp until I turned 17, when I began attending the Contemporary Skating Festival in Boston! This was my fourth year at the festival and it is always one of my favorite times of the year. It’s such a beautiful community filled with nothing but love for each other and the sport of figure skating. I love having the space to try something new and find my authentic self on the ice. I largely credit American Ice Theatre for helping me fall back in love with skating and it being such a fundamental part of my life to this day! A fun fact actually is that I submitted to Quest 4 Creativity for three years, a choreography competition created by AIT for skaters under 21 interested in creating! Laura Seal and Ian Lorello, my castmates on Find Your Hero, were actually judges in this competition, so we knew of each other before Disney!
Q: That’s incredible. And they do such beautiful work. This past season you were skating with the University of Michigan. What was it like making the change from show skating back to competitive skating?
A: IT was a larger jump than I could have imagined, but it’s been fun to create my programs again and bring back that competitive side! I love my teammates at Michigan and cheering everyone on, which has made me enjoy competing again! However, nothing will ever beat that feeling of bringing a show to life and those high energy numbers!!
Q: How are you able to balance staying sharp as a skater, performing in competitions and doing your actual schoolwork?
A: THAT’S a great question! I have always been someone who has loved school and Michigan has only continued to inspire my passion for learning. It definitely can be a lot to balance sometimes, but luckily we are all in it together! I always plan out my schedule in advance, so I can find times when I can get my work done, so I will not feel stressed when going to practice. I try to squeeze in practices at other rinks if I have more downtime and have gotten ahead on my work, but at the end of the day, I prioritize my school work always! Competitions are also super funny, cause our team will always have our laptops in the stands while watching every event, just to make sure we’re staying ahead of our work haha!
Q: Speaking of that passion for learning, in high school you were part of a non-profit group, the Literacy Initiative. What does the importance of reading mean to you?
A: YES I was! I joined the organization my freshman year of high school and actually became the Executive Director my junior year. Our organization was completely run by high school students, working to build a more equitable world, starting with education. The programming was originally based on a study stating that a student who cannot read at a third-grade level by third grade is four times less likely to graduate from high school by nineteen, driving our goal of increasing literacy rates. We ran free after school programs across St. Louis, working to help students become more comfortable and fall in love with reading! It was an amazing experience and we ended up providing over a $300,000 value of new books and worked with 28,000 students across the country!
Q: Wow, that’s so impressive! With your busy schedule between skating and school, how much reading do you get to do yourself these days?
A: NOT as much as I’d like haha! But during the school year, I have myself turn my phone off an hour before bed, which I usually spend reading and occasionally journaling!! Most recently, I just finished Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell.
Q: Okay, if you’re up for it let’s do a little lightning round here.
A: Haha deal!
Q: Favorite move to perform on the ice?
A: Butterfly!
Q: Favorite city you’ve visited on the road?
A: Kyoto!
Q: All-time favorite Disney song?
A: Surface Pressure 😁
Q: Understandable (and also the song I tell people is actually the best song on the Encanto soundtrack).
A: Yes.
Q: All-time favorite Disney movie?
A: Oooo. Okay, I'm thinking again. "Mary Poppins."
Q: All-time favorite figure skating movie?
A: Oh, easy. "Blades of Glory."
Q: There are six kinds of jumps in figure skating: loop, toe loop, flip, salchow, lutz, and axel. Which one is your most hated?
A: Lutz 😇
Q: One piece of advice you’d give anyone starting out in skating?
A: Everyone has a place on the ice! We’re all on different journeys and that’s something to celebrate!
Q: And last but not least, where can readers see you skate next?
A: National Showcase in Rochester, Michigan! [Ed. note: July 28-Aug. 2!]
Q: Awesome! This has been incredible! Thank you so much for your time and all the amazing memories.