Colors On Ice / Former speedskater, Disney On Ice performer to be part of ‘Kaleidoscope’

After graduating from high school, Emma Baxter and Taylor (Wentz) Burdekin spent their next few years pursuing dreams on some of skating’s biggest stages.

Now, the Columbus natives are back in their hometowns coaching young skaters at Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena.

This weekend, Baxter and Burdekin will play a major role in the annual ice show for the first time since they were seniors in high school.

“It’s pretty neat to have gone away and gotten to continue our skating career somewhere else and then come back and bring it back full circle again,” Burdekin said.

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After graduating from Columbus East in 2011, Burdekin, a former figure skater, moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, and trained to become and Olympic speedskater. She qualified for the Olympic Trials in 2014 and 2018 and missed making the Olympic team by one-one hundreth of a second in 2014.

Baxter, who graduated in 2004, spent 6½ years traveling and performing with Disney On Ice. She then moved to Spain and coached figure skating for about four years before returning to Columbus two years ago.

“They are both coaches with our figure skating club here, so we wanted to get them involved, as well,” said Heather Lehnert, a Nashville native and former skater at Hamilton Center. “They were both originally skaters as part of the club, and they skated in the show in their youth, and now they’re coming back as coaches.”

Lehnert and Liz Fernandes are coordinating this year’s show, which will have four performances — 7 p.m. Friday, 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

The ice show in Columbus originated in the early 1980s.

“Originally, it was more of an exhibition, and then Katie Baxter (Emma’s mother) came in, and it started to expand, and Liz came from Brazil, and together, they developed it into quite a production, especially for a community this size,” Lehnert said.

About 140 skaters from all levels, from 3 years old to adults, will take part in this weekend’s show.

“It’s really for the children of the community,” Fernandes said. “All the children that are in the community are involved in all the numbers.”

This year’s theme is “Kaleidoscope of Colors.” Each number represents a color.

Burdekin will be speedskating and do some hybrid speedskating/figure skating moves. Her color is blue, and she will skate to the song, “I am Blue.”

“With our history of having Katie and Liz both being a part of Holiday On Ice, their expertise that they’ve honed through the years, it’s really a high-caliber show,” Burdekin said.

Emma Baxter did a performance for her mother’s final show last year. This year, Emma’s color is Gold, and she will be skating to “Goldfinger” from the movie, “007.”

Student Alex Martin is in charge of the music and the lighting, which Emma Baxter said is very complicated.

“We have a lot of good volunteers, and a lot of the dads put up the curtain, which is all plugged with lights,” Emma Baxter said. “It’s really neat. They have all the lights that go with the music. There’s a lot to look forward to.”

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What: Kaliedoscope of Colors ice show

When: 7 p.m. Friday, 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena

Admission: $8. Tickets are available at https://www.eventslogbook.com/events/2019-ice-show/ or at Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena.

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