Olds resident Eric Palin began figure skating here in town when he was only eight years old. That turned into a 20-year career, which included performances with the hit show Disney On Ice.
Nowadays he's working on cruise ships.
Palin, 28, talked to the Albertan after returning home for the holidays.
He got his start in figure skating during a free skate on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Mom and dad got me used to skates and I started there when I was about eight years old and then moved into a CanSkate program at the rink,” said Palin. “Then I started to outgrow the facilities so I started in Carstairs.”
Then at the age of 16, Palin began training in Calgary with American figure skating national champion Scott Davis.
With Disney On Ice, Palin played Ken from Toy Story 3, who was portrayed by Michael Keaton in the 2010 film.
“Disney On Ice was an incredible journey, it’s the biggest show I’ve ever been a part of," Palin said.
“It was also an opportunity to become and portray a character that is so loved and so talked about by millions of people all over the world.
“It was such an opportunity to try and portray that character and tell a story through classics everyone knows and loves.”
Palin says performing on cruise ships is a completely different experience than working with Disney.
“It’s completely different, it’s a different show, it’s a different style of skating but it’s still the sport that I love,” Palin said.
Palin does off-ice training to help with building strength.
“The job itself being a professional keeps you in tune for what you need to do on a nightly basis in a show," Palin said.
“The off-ice training I do is to grow stronger and just to better myself, stamina and strength wise.
“Most of the choreography and rehearsing is done on the ice except for the beginning of a contract where you’re learning a new show, then you would spend time learning the show on steps to help translate it to the ice,” Palin said.
