Skater Stories: Tya Greentree
A former Disney On Ice Princess shares her tale as she moves into coaching and recovers from a serious foot injury.
One of the most incredible things about Disney On Ice is how Feld Entertainment brings together skaters from all over the world, including Australia, which is where Tya Greentree sat in the audience for a show in 2016, only to find herself on the ice with the production just a year later. She retired from touring in 2024 and is now coaching the next generation of skaters, but took some time out from her busy schedule (and worked with the 14-hour time difference) to talk to me about her journey and where skating might take her next.
Q: Let's go all the way back. What made you want to take up skating as a child?
A: That's a good question. It was, I don't know if it's classified as a movie, but it's called "Snowden on Ice", and it's got Ekaterina Gordeeva in it as the main character. I watched that movie, since I was a little girl, over and over and over in my living room when I was about five years old, and I tried and copy the moves. The program that she did, in which she's wearing a white dress and the song is called "We Are Home." That's what made me fall in love with skating. And still to this day, that's the program that I adore and love so much and aspire to skate like that. But fun fact, I didn't actually start skating until I was eight years old because there was no ice rink near my home at that point in time. So I started quite late.
Q: So that actually leads me perfectly to my next question. What was the skating scene like in Australia?
A: There were a few rinks around here and there. I remember when I was about five or six years old, I did go skate a few times on the school holidays at Penrith Ice Rink and a few times at Canterbury Ice Rink, but they were all about, you know, 30, 50 minutes away from my home. So my parents never really wanted to commit to that travel or that commute, so I could do ice skating. But funny enough, long story short, when I did start skating at eight years old, that was the rink that opened up near my house. It was five minutes away and it's still there. But as I grew up and got older and became a teenager, funny enough, I ended up commuting to Canterbury and Penrith Ice Rink anyways, because my coaches were there and I started training there. So I ended up there anyways.
Q: You mentioned seeing Katia in the movie. Did you have any other skating influences or any other skaters you particularly liked watching growing up?
A: At that point in time, I was quite young, so I didn't know, I didn't really follow skating, I didn't really understand, I just watched it on TV, but it was definitely Ekaterina Gordeeva, and I would say Sasha Cohen were my top two that I formally remember quite a lot, and watching a lot when I was a little girl.
Q: You start at eight, you build up your skills, and then a few years later, you get to compete at nationals. What was that experience like?
A: Funny you say that, because when I joined Disney, I performed in front of thousands of people, but when I grew up skating, I strongly disliked competing. I did not enjoy it. I really didn't like it. I got a lot of nerves to the point where I felt sick. I would underperform. I really didn't like the competitive side of figure skating at all, and I still really don't 'til this day. So I didn't do well at competitions. I was never a competitive skater. My parents wanted me to compete, but I really didn't enjoy it. So when it came to nationals and stuff like that, I underperformed, I didn't do well, sadly. No, so yeah, I didn't like competing when I was growing up.
Q: In 2016, you posted an Instagram post from the stands watching a Disney on Ice show, and then a year later, you were in the show. So what was it like to manifest that and make your dream come true?
A: It's funny how you say manifest because I don't know if it's manifestation or but, yeah, I remember going to that Disney on Ice show with one of my best friends from school. When I was about 15, 16 years old, that's when I kind of started getting really interested in Disney on Ice and I would come home from high school and watch Disney on Ice videos on YouTube instead of doing my homework. And I remember watching the Under the Sea segment and I remember I remember this very clearly. I was on the couch at home in my school uniform, on my school laptop, watching Under the Sea, and for some reason, I just had an overwhelming feeling in me, and I was like, 'that's what I'm going to do one day. I want to do it. That is my dream. It's going to happen.'
Funny enough, I auditioned in 2014 and sent in a video and I never heard back, but then I had an audition in 2017. I had a live audition. I went in person. And, yeah, I got in, but when I was watching the shows growing up, especially when I got a lot older and I knew that's what I wanted to do, there was also a big part of me and a big fear. You just don't know if you're gonna get in, right. Like, you never know. That's really out of your control.
But yeah, watching the show that previous year and then joining the company, the following year, I mean, I was crying. I remember finding out the day that I got in. I got an email from Judy Thomas. I was at work at my 9-to-5 job, working at a printing company and I was really unhappy. I wasn't enjoying what I was doing and I got that email at work and I just broke down crying. I called my dad. I called my mum. I called my friends. Everyone was crying because I knew how much I wanted it and they knew how important it was to me. It was the best thing that's ever happened to me in my life, still to this day. And not many people can say that their dreams have come true. And I'm so lucky and I'm so fortunate.
Q: That's incredible. Now, one of the shows that you got to be in was what was then Disney on Ice: Frozen, and it's now Frozen and Encanto. What was it like being part of a show that really just brought one movie to life and such a popular movie?
A: I really didn't know what to expect at the time. When I joined the company, I didn't really understand that there were multiple shows with different castmembers, different directors, completely different choreographers. I didn't really understand at the time. But what I will say is that, still, up until this very day, I would say the director of that show, his name is Gig. He is the best director that I had personally, and he was so inspirational for me, especially first joining the company, learning all the ropes, not knowing what to do, leaving all my family and friends behind and going across the other side of the world to work for Disney and work with directors. It's a lot, and it's very overwhelming, but I would say Gig was such a great director and he's still one of my favorite directors and he really inspired all of us.
He had such good morals and such good values on that show and he really supported everyone, and really pushed everyone. He would say, 'What's your brand? When you come here to skate, when you come here and walk in the hallways, how you carry yourself and how you carry your brand as yourself, as a skater, it's really important.' And I achieved a lot in those first three years on Frozen. I was really surprised. I was sparing. I wasn't a princess at the time, I was sparing a lot of princess roles, and I was very, very fortunate, because I know not everyone got the chance to do that, and there were many, many, many girls on that show that would have loved to have done what the opportunities that I got to do on that show.
Thanks to our director Gig, I think that's what really shaped me as a skater and my career with Disney on Ice. Funny enough, Frozen came to Australia in 2017. And that was the show that I did my live audition with. So I did my live audition with Gig and the Frozen show. But that doesn't mean you're going to go onto that show. But, I think, honestly, he saw potential in me. Thanks to him, he's the reason why I got into Disney on Ice. And of course, Judy. But then he's my director for three years and, yeah, Frozen was such an incredible show. His detail, his care for the show, Frozen is his baby. He's been with that show for many, many years. And so attention to detail, the rehearsals that we had to do.
We did like rehearsals like once a week throughout the whole entire tour constantly because he was so meticulous and he knew what he knew what the show had potential to look like, so he wanted the show to look really good. He just put so much care and attention to detail into the show and into us.
It was a hard show as well for us skaters, because there are only two roles, technically, two main roles, available for all of us girls. There's about 20-plus girls and the main roles are Anna and Elsa. So it was really hard in that way and it was competitive at times. But you do your best and you find a good group of core friends and then you just work your way up, and you just work hard and, and you earn the roles that you get over time with loyalty and hard work.
Q: You also got to skate on the Mickey and Friends show, which has had a few different names, but it also has a lot more segments, a lot more roles. So what was it like when you moved to that show and there were so many more opportunities?
A: That was my first show I joined back after COVID. Funny enough, fun fact, I did break work on that show just before COVID happened. So I had a little bit of experience on that show and I knew some of the segments, I knew some of the steps. So when I knew that I was going back to that show after COVID and joining that show completely for a whole season, I was very excited. I knew there was a lot more opportunity and potential for me to do different roles. And there were a lot more smaller segments, so I thought, for my skating, for my ability, it was a lot more achievable.
I was very excited, and I was even more excited because I got selected to join the aerial team and train with the aerial team. So that man, you know, I had the opportunity to potentially go into the show as Ariel and Rapunzel. And that was another big, big, big, big dream of mine, a big goal of mine. I never knew throughout my whole Disney career if I was ever going to get the chance to be on a show with an aerial team, let alone join the aerial team. So I was so over the moon about that.
I was happy to go back to Mickey and Friends and join the show because I knew the potential, I knew the variety of different roles that they had so I could expand and explore more roles in my skating, more opportunity, challenged myself, and I was just so over the moon and so happy to join the aerial team. It was one of the most difficult and hardest things I've ever done in my life.
Another fun fact is that we actually had to start like a mini training program, even before we joined tours. So like we had to make do with what we had physically at home. So in Australia, I was already training fitness wise, pre-fitness training for the actual fitness regime for when we got there and did the boot camp. We needed a bar to hang off, to practice our grip strength. And I had no bar at home, so I had to find a local park that had like some sort of like monkey bars and of course, at the park, they're really thick and they're really slippery, but I made do and yeah, I was really happy to join that show very, very, very, very happy. I was so excited.
Q: I think mostly because of your profile photo, I associate you strongly with the role of Snow White, but you got to be a lot of different princesses during your time. I'm curious, how does it feel to go out there and be a Disney princess for the audience?
A: Oh, my gosh, Adam, you have no idea. Oh, that question. It's so overwhelming to answer. Considering the fact that Disney on Ice was my dream since I was a little girl, and to my knowledge, not many Australian skaters get into Disney on Ice. And the fact that I even got to portray even just one princess or a princess, is more than I could imagine.
My first ever Disney princess that I ever portrayed was Cinderella, I got to spare her on the Frozen show, and I remember seeing my name on the whiteboard as sparing Cinderella for that for this one particular show. And I cried. And Cinderella on the Frozen show didn't have any main role or major part. She was just skating in the opening, in finale, and it meant the world to me. I cried. Every time I went into a new princess and I saw my name on the whiteboard that the directors write on this whiteboard, I cried. It's unbelievable.
I remember when I first went out into Cinderella, the kids are screaming out "Cinderella." In my head, and in my body, and in that moment, I know that I'm Tya and I still feel like Tya. It's really weird, like, you know you're in the costume, you've got the makeup on, you do feel like you're becoming that character, but you know inside you still feel like yourself. But to thousands of people watching you right now, they really think -- well most of them do -- they really think that you are Cinderella, and it's such an honor. It's such an incredible honor. It's so overwhelming. You really want to do that character justice.
I don't know if many people know, but we have this book on tour with all the characters in the show and has their story backline, it has certain poses at these particular princesses or these particular characters are known for. So I loved character work. I loved it so much. That's what I loved about Disney. I just loved Disney in general, but I love studying the characters and understanding, like, okay, 'why is Cinderella's wave different to Belle's wave, or why is Ariel's wave different to Cinderella?' I loved the mannerisms. I loved studying their mannerisms and really doing my best to show, okay, that is Cinderella. That is Ariel. Taking those particular mannerisms or certain points that you recognize from the movies, that those characters do, like particular movement or arm movement or hand or head, so that the kids can really recognize who you are or really bring that character really to life.
I also remember going into the show as Ariel flying in the air, especially at the very end of that segment, where I am hanging on with one hand and I'm spinning really fast and the crowd just, they scream, they love it and they call out "Ariel!" and I'm spinning so fast in the air. It's amazing. I also remember going to Rapunzel and then going up really, really high at the top and holding on, and because I'm spinning so fast up there, you just see flashes of lights and bits of the audience and I'm spinning so fast, but they are so amazed. It's just the most incredible feeling in the whole entire world and nothing I don't think will ever replace that feeling for me, which I think is hard being off the road. It's an honor. I would say it's a huge, huge, huge honor. Huge honor.
Q: Did you have a favorite princess that you like to portray?
A: Oh, that's so hard. Okay, I will say when I first joined, I was obsessed with Ariel. Ariel hands down. But then when I joined Mickey and Friends, I portrayed the role of Belle for a few years and she, at the time, had a really big place in my heart because that was the first Princess role that was given to me. That was mine in my track. So then I really, really loved Belle. And then in my last two contracts, I was given the role of Snow White, so then that opened up another door in my heart for Snow White. So I don't think I can say I have a favorite. I would say that the ones that I have portrayed are all my favorites. The ones that stand out, I would say now, really, for me, definitely a thousand percent Snow White, Belle and Ariel but if I had to pick and just tell you one right now, I would say... I would say Snow White, because she is the very first Disney princess ever to be created, but she was also my last role before I just finished. That's very special to me.
Q: Were there any roles that you didn't get to portray during your time with Disney on Ice that you were like, 'man, I really wish I had gotten to do that just once?'
A: Oh, yeah, for sure. Definitely 1000% Elsa. She was the biggest goal and the biggest dream of mine. I worked so hard on her, her character is so beautiful, skating is beautiful, her strength, yeah, definitely Elsa. I would also say Anna as well. They're very different from what I've done. And they're very unique and different to other characters as well. And their relationship with each other are sisters. It's not something that the other princesses have in common, so, yeah, I would say those two.
Q: You hung up your crown last year. How hard was it to say goodbye to Disney on Ice?
A: Very hard. It was my choice, and I was very happy, and I am very happy with my choice. It was on my terms. I could have stayed if I wanted to. People stay for 20 years plus, some people. It was very hard. I still to this day, I get very emotional about it, as you can hear. I'm still not over it. I miss it with all my heart and soul. You know, I miss my friends as well. I've made some really beautiful, strong friendships. I don't know when I'll see some of these people again. Some people are in Sweden, and some people are in Canada, America. They're all over the place, some people live in Japan, some are my good friends, so very beautiful.
But also, I miss performing. I miss performing, embodying those characters. That's what made me feel really alive and it made me feel really beautiful when skating to portray those roles. There's really nothing quite like that lifestyle or that job, and the feelings that you get with that job. So, yeah, it's very hard. It's been very hard, but I'm very happy, also, with my life here that I created for myself. I have a beautiful partner. I'm home with my family a lot more and I get to spend time with my grandma and my friends and I'm coaching now and I get to share all my knowledge and experience with the students that I have and I want to give back to them. So it's bittersweet, but it's still very hard for me.
Q: Compounding the emotion of leaving the show behind shortly after that, you had the broken foot. So how much of a challenge was that to deal with the duality of both leaving the show and then also not being able to be on the ice?
A: Yeah, I left Disney in 2024, February, and I sadly broke my foot in October last year. I've never had a serious injury before in my whole 22 years of skating. I've never done something like this ever my whole entire life.
As we're speaking right now, I'm still having to go to physio. I'm still doing my rehab. I'm still not allowed to do my double jumps. I've only just been allowed to start single jumps, maybe about three weeks ago, four weeks ago. So yeah, huge injury. I broke the main bone in my foot. Talus. It's the main bone in your foot that carries all your weight when you walk, stand, run. I broke that in half and I had surgery and I've got screws in my foot that will stay in there now. I was on crutches for three and a half months straight and I could not put any weight on it. I couldn't drive. I couldn't go to college. I couldn't work. It was very, very hard from going from being so physical and going to the gym, skating, and then, you know, just a few months ago, only just retiring from Disney On Ice.
I had to relearn how to walk as well. When I got off crutches, even if I wanted to walk normally, I physically could not. My body, my foot wouldn't do it, because the range of motion wasn't there and the pain. So, it's still an ongoing injury. I've never experienced this before. I'm 10 months post surgery. It's been a really hard journey. I hope that I can get back to where I was. I've been told I can. I've been told I can do my doubles. I'm allowed to, but I'm also been told at that point in time when I was in the hospital that I was very lucky to escape again because of the bone that I broke.
It's been a very hard journey, lots of ups and downs, but I was very committed during my recovery. When I was on crutches with my boot on, I was still going to the gym. Obviously, I couldn't do anything on my other leg, but I was still going to the gym because that's just who I am. I'm very determined, I really don't give up. Like, I refuse to stop and I just kept going to the gym, doing what I can, and I think doing all that really helped with my recovery as well, even though I wasn't doing anything on my bad foot. I think it helped with my body physically. When the time came to walk again, I recovered a lot quickly because I took care of my body, I took care of my mental health, even though I did struggle. But it was very hard and it still is hard for me. As I said, I am still going, I'm still doing rehab and physical therapy, but I've come a long way and I'm very proud of myself.
Q: What was the feeling like when you got back on the ice for the first time following the injury?
A: Very emotional, very overwhelming, and also very shocked and surprised. Leading up, maybe a month or two before I could go back onto the ice, I had quite a lot of anxiety because I really didn't know what to expect, going back onto the ice. This was the longest time I've ever been off the ice. I was off the ice for about six, seven months. I've never been off the ice that long in my whole entire life. The longest I've been off the ice was during COVID and I was off the ice for three months, but this was six to seven months. So I really had no idea what to expect, and I was very nervous.
But I was very shocked and surprised when I did step on the ice, I was like, 'oh.' And I started doing edges and just moving around a bit. I was like, 'Oh, I feel normal. I feel like myself. I expected to feel way worse than this.' I expected my foot to feel so foreign in my skate and to feel so foreign on the ice, within reason. Obviously, some things did feel a little bit weird and strange, but overall, I was so shocked about how normal I felt on the ice and how I felt like me. I could do things, I could do certain edges and footwork. I was like, 'oh, obviously I'm rusty,' but I was like, oh. I don't know if that's just because I've skated for so long and my body has a lot of muscle memory for skating for 22 years or maybe it's a bit of both because I worked so hard in my recovery as well.
Yeah, very emotional. very emotional, but also very shocked and surprised how normal I felt being back on the ice. So I was very, very happy about that. I was really, really happy. And I was like, 'oh, well, maybe I don't have to start from scratch.'
Q: You said you're still working your way back. You're also doing some coaching now. What do you see for the next phase of your skating career?
A: I'm not sure. I'm definitely coaching now, and I definitely want to continue and pursue coaching from now on until many, many years to come. Disney on Ice, going back to them. I will never go back over the season, do a tour overseas again. I don't want to leave my family and my partner, etc. I'm really happy in my life where I am and I really would like to pursue a family quite soon in the next year or two. But I am open to opportunities if it arises, to go back and help out Disney on Ice when they come to Australia.
I did get offered to go back to help out Disney on Ice this year when they came to Australia, but I unfortunately had to turn it down because my foot is not ready for that kind of commitment. Yes, I had returned to skating, but with the schedule that I know that they had, and not being able to commit to certain intricate steps that they had in their show, I knew I couldn't do it.
Career wise, definitely coaching moving forward as long as I can, as much as I can, and Disney, if the opportunity arises again to help out the show in Australia, I'm more than happy to do so and would love to do so. Just to come back and say a little hello and feel it again and feel the magic again and then come back home. So that's as far I'm willing to do, career wise with my skating now.
I'm also a lot older, like, not to say I'm old, but in the skating world, I'm 30 now. So it's a lot on my body and I don't know if my body will ever go back to the stage where I would like it to be. I would love to be back in my prime. That was around when I was 24, I felt like I was in my prime. I don't know if I'll ever get back there. That's what I would love to do and try and achieve to do, but realistically, I skate twice a week, with my foot not too sure. But for now, I would just say coaching and coaching as much as I can. And then, yeah, if Disney asked to help, if they need my help for the Australia shows in the future, I would be more than open to helping them out.
Q: Now, if you're up for it, I'd like to finish these off with a little quick lightning round.
A: Yeah, of course. Okay. It sounds fun.
Q: What's your favorite move to perform on the ice?
A: Ooh. A donut spin.
Q: What's your favorite city you visited on the road with Disney on Ice?
A: Oh, that's so hard. New York.
Q: Your all-time favorite Disney song.
A: Part of Your World.
Q: And your all-time favorite Disney movie.
A: Oh, Adam, that's so difficult. You put me on the spot here. Um... The Little Mermaid, I'd have to say.
Q: And your all time favorite figure skating movie?
A: Oh, Snowden on Ice. I don't know if that's classified as a movie, but when you watch it, it seems like a movie. So I would say it's Snowden on Ice with Ekaterina Gordeeva.
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 would say Axel. I don't like Axel. I don't like Axel.
Q: It's that extra half rotation?
A: Yeah, it's just the forward takeoff. It's the only jump that takes off forward and I am really swingy on Axles, and if you're really swingy, it can really go wrong and I've done a lot of what we call Waxles. You, like whack it too swingy and you end up sideways in the year and you fall sideways and it's really not fun.
Q: Last but not least, one piece of advice you would give to anyone starting out in skating.
I would say just do it. I would honestly just say, just really do it, just go for it and don't let anybody stop you. And when times get really hard, because the sport can be really hard, you just need to push through. You just follow your own journey and just worry about yourself. If you love the sport, please just do it. Just do it, just do it, just do it and just go for it.
You can keep up with Tya’s coaching career as she shares her journey going forward and looks back on her time with Disney On Ice by following her on Instagram @tyajasmine.coach.
I love these interviews!