Skater Stories: Sydney Kosiak
Meet a former Disney on Ice skater who is now performing on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship!
One of the things I truly wanted to do when I started this site was share the stories of the many skaters whose paths I’ve crossed over the years, particularly those who’ve brought me so much joy through Disney on Ice. I saw Sydney Kosiak perform nearly three years ago in Worcester, Mass. when she was with Disney on Ice: Frozen & Encanto (and, by pure coincidence, her parents happened to be at the same show I attended!). Sydney is now skating on Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas, as part of the only cruise line that has an onboard ice rink. She recently took the time to chat with me during one of her port days, and I’m excited to share her story.
Q: You started skating when you were 11, which is relatively late for a skater. What made you want to get into it?
A: MY MOM wanted an activity her and I could do together. She grew up skating during the winter and her neighbor who was a skater on the Ice Capades would teach her!Flash forward to 2011, we had just moved to Massachusetts from Pennsylvania and my mom saw an ad in the local newspaper for Learn to Skate in Gloucester!
Q: That’s so cool! Aside from your mom and neighbor, did you have any skating inspirations growing up? Any favorite childhood memories of watching skating?
A: WHEN WE lived in Pennsylvania, we would always go skating at the blue cross river rink in downtown Philly during the winter as a family! I was always so impressed with my mom’s hidden skill of skating around the rink with ease! Growing up, I tried a lot of sports. I did the YMCA gymnastics camps, town soccer, dance classes, and swimming lessons but none of them really stuck until I tried skating!
Q: And how did you get your start with Disney on Ice?
A: MY MOM and I would always see the Disney on Ice show that played the TD Garden during winter break in school. I remember seeing it one year and asking her if she thought I could do that one day. The next day at skating we sat down with my coach and came up with a plan to audition during my senior year of high school. I started taking ice dance lessons, I joined a theatre on ice team, and passed all the skating tests I could to best prepare myself for the audition. I had a live audition in Springfield, MA when a show came to play that area and I went to the ProSkaters events in Knoxville, TN and Sun Valley, ID. After a few months of waiting to hear back, I received a call from Judy Thomas, the casting director for Disney on Ice at the time, and she had offered me a contract for an ensemble position on Road Trip Adventures!
Q: So you made your own dream come true! I love that! As an ensemble skater, you played a lot of different roles in your time with Disney on Ice. Can you run those down for us?
A: WHILE PERFORMING for Disney on Ice, I was lucky enough to portray some of my favorite characters! During my time on Road Trip Adventures, I was best friends with Bo Peep! While I was a part of the cast of Frozen and Encanto, I spent a lot of time with Tia Pepa! I also had the amazing opportunity to take a few trips under the sea with Ariel and explore the library with Belle!
Q: This is probably like asking a parent to pick a favorite child, but did you have a favorite role out of those?
A: THAT IS a tricky question! When my sister watched Encanto at home and then saw me perform, she told me that I truly was the live version of that character! I loved getting to portray Tia Pepa and act out all of her different moods and expressions! However, when I would portray Ariel, I was also skating with my partner, Justin [Hergett]. I loved getting to skate and perform with him. That truly was a dream come true! These two characters will always hold a special place in my heart!
Q: I know there’s probably no such thing as a “typical” day during the season, but can you take us through what a day was like for you as a Disney on Ice skater?
A: THE DAYS leading up to opening a show in the city of the week were pretty fun! We’d explore, Justin always loved finding little coffee shops and I was always on the hunt for postcards to send to my extended family! The opening night of a new city was exciting!
Justin and I would head into the venue early for warm-up ice. I would search around for the women’s makeup room and set up my spot for the engagement. Then I would meet Justin on the ice for our warm up session. After that we would have a few hours before the rest of the cast would come to the venue for edge class. I would usually do my hair and makeup during that time! After edge class we would have opening night meeting and discuss the venue and safety protocols. It was almost time for the show so I would grab a snack from coffee stand, then head to group warm up off ice before opening the show!
Q: Shifting gears to the very atypical, you were touring with Road Trip Adventures when the COVID lockdowns began. What was that like, being on the road then suddenly just not having a show anymore?
A: I WAS heartbroken! I remember being in Minneapolis and having a meeting with our whole show team. The PD told us that we were the last Disney on Ice show performing and that we didn’t know when our last show would be. When I was home during quarantine, I was going stir crazy as I’m sure everyone was! I went to the rink as much as I could until they closed too. My parents and I had a talk about the reality of live entertainment coming back, and with that in mind, I made the decision to start my degree at the University of Montana. They were semi online and semi in person classes during 2020! Justin was also going to the University of Montana, he was going to be the school mascot and start his college career too! We took this time to get an education and continue to train our pair skating skills, so when live entertainment did come back, we were stronger as a team!
Q: And you had just performed what was basically a hometown show in Boston just a few weeks earlier, right? What was that wild emotional swing like?
A: IT WAS a weird feeling, for sure! I was lucky enough with having played “home” a few times (Worcester, Boston, and Philly) but a quite a few girls were from Minneapolis and this was the first time for their families to see them perform their roles and understudies! We were all so upset about everything ending so abruptly. We were all hoping and praying the two weeks in quarantine would be enough and we would all be back on tour before we knew it.
Q: Post COVID, you joined Frozen & Encanto, a show that debuted in 2022. What was it like going from a show with a lot of different segments to one with just two?
A: IT WAS super interesting to see what sections the creative team kept of each section of the stories! The Frozen portion versus the Encanto portion was so different, but it was amazing how they made these two stories intertwine! It was nice having the in-depth version of the stories, rather than just a few songs! This was also my first show build so I was able to learn all the numbers of the show during rehearsals, which made my job as ensemble so much easier when it came to sparing other positions in numbers!
Q: I can imagine learning from the start would be easier than learning on the fly. I’m curious, Disney on Ice shows can sometimes have nine or 10 shows on a given tour stop. How were you able to keep your skating skills sharp outside of performing?
A: AS SKATERS, we are given the opportunity to skate before and after every show day! Justin and I would skate in the mornings around 8 with our PD! He would help us fine tune our skating skills and develop our routines to present to casting for future roles! On our days off, I would also find creative outlets like aerial or dance studios to learn new skills! I loved getting to learn new tricks on the aerial hoop and silks!
Q: That’s incredible. And now you’re with Royal Caribbean, skating on Mariner of the Seas. What’s the biggest difference between that and skating for Disney on Ice?
A: THE BIGGEST difference may actually be the littlest thing…the ice size! The ice in Studio B (the venue on Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships) is very tiny! Truly not much bigger than the section between the blue lines on a hockey rink! We had to adjust a lot of our timing and skills to fit within the space on the ice. During our first rehearsal ice, we were a bit like a pinball machine bouncing off the walls! Since then we have definitely gotten used to the smaller ice size. Now, when I go home between contracts, skating on the regular size ice feels way too big!
Q: And tour life has to be so different. You’re still traveling from city to city (well, port to port), but your “home” stays the same. What’s it been like living on a cruise ship for such an extended period of time?
A: I DO not miss having to pack up my two 50 pound suitcases every week! Going to the same room every day is also very nice. Hotels were fun and bigger for sure, but you can only make it so homey! I brought my own bedding, towels, and decorations for my cabin! We also set up fun lights and put magnetic picture frames of our friends and tour memories on the walls of the cabin! It’s all metal so magnets are our best friends!
Living on the cruise ship can be tough when it comes to the rockiness! I used to get sea sick, but I think my body has gotten accustomed to it! I also miss being able to cook our own food! When I was traveling for Disney on Ice, I travelled an air fryer in my suitcase and Justin would travel a little cooking pot in his suitcase! We would cook steak, lasagna, and pirogies for dinner some nights!
Q: Do you get to experience some of the other aspects of being on a cruise ship? Or is it really just like a place of work for you?
A: AS ICE Cast, we can pretty much explore the whole ship! When it’s a special occasion we will ask for a table in the main dining room and go for a special dinner as a cast! Or sometimes Justin and I will dress up and go to the speciality restaurants on the ship! We also are allowed to get off in every port so I try to explore the islands as much as I can! This contract we go to Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico!
Q: That’s so cool. And for those reading who haven’t gotten to experience an ice show on Royal Caribbean (myself included), what can we in the audience expect to see during a performance?
A: EXPECT TO be amazed! These shows have amazing skating talent from all around the world! Every day I step on the ice, I truly am proud to be a part of something so special. Every ship has a different show, some even have two ice shows! My show is called, “Ice Under the Big Top” and it tells the story of a ringmaster creating his own circus! Justin and I are the “trick pair” in the show so from us you can see some of my favorite elements such as a partner backflip, a flying squirrel, and a bounce spin!
Q: That sounds incredible! If you’re up for it, let’s do a little lightning round.
A: SURE!
Q: Favorite move to perform on the ice?
A: Definitely our flying squirrel!
Q: Favorite city or port you’ve visited on the road?
A: Favorite city: San Francisco
Favorite port: Grand Cayman
Q: Favorite costume from your time with Disney on Ice?
A: Donkey costume from Surface Pressure!
Q: I adore the dancing donkeys! All-time favorite Disney song?
A: You’ll be in my Heart from Tarzan!
Q: All-time favorite figure skating movie?
A: That’s a hard one!! But I’d say Ice Princess!
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: I think my least favorite would be lutz, that edge was always so hard to hit perfectly!
Q: Last but not least: One piece of advice you’d give anyone starting out in skating?
A: Have fun and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Everyone at the rink as been in your shoes, or skates, once!
Q: This has been wonderful! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!
A: Of course!! Thank you for asking me!!
You can see Sydney and Justin performing on Mariner of the Seas, which is currently sailing Western Caribbean itineraries out of Galveston, Texas. The show “Ice Under the Big Top” is included with the cost of all domestic sailings.