Skye Patton was 5 years old when she fell in love with skating at a birthday party. Noticing her passion right away, her grandmother bought her lessons at Brentwood Ice Rink for her sixth birthday, and years later, during her time as a student at MICDS, Patton became a teacher at that very same rink. Now, at 19, Patton has landed her dream role as the beloved Luisa from Encanto in the nationally touring production of Disney on Ice, which will visit Enterprise Center February 1—4.
What was it about skating that ignited your passion? Skating is this new challenge that you’re trying to figure out how to maneuver. And that never stops, whether you’re trying to learn how to skate [for the first time] or you’re learning a new jumper spin. I think I fell in love with that challenge and being able to celebrate it with other people. It’s almost like you get to feel like you’re flying, with this movement that you can’t achieve in any other way. It’s just really magical and so freeing.
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Tell me about your time teaching at Brentwood Ice Rink. I was teaching at the same rink where I learned how to skate, which is so surreal—it seems like such a small thing, but it was a huge thing in my mind. Getting to teach these younger skaters or even adult skaters is an amazing experience because you’re helping someone fall in love with the sport like you did.
What did you learn through that experience? I found my own skating actually improved because in coaching, you hyper-analyze and hyper-fixate on these little movements of how to improve someone else, which actually helps you in return. It’s connecting to different people in different paths in life, but you always have that one connection together, which I find really inspiring. I feel like it’s really helped me in my life outside of coaching, as well—with my communication skills and my patience and just willingness to work with others.
What does it mean to you to be in Disney on Ice? I remember going to my first Disney on Ice show at the Enterprise Center when I was 8 years old and immediately falling in love with it. The cast at the time came to our rink to teach us the opening number, and I still remember learning that opening number and skating on the ice with these other instructors. After that, I was really set on doing Disney. It’s so crazy that I’m going be performing at the same venue where I watched all those years ago. And some of the skaters that I watched back then are actually currently in my cast.
Why is playing the character Luisa important to you? Getting to portray Luisa is truly a dream come true. She was one of my favorite Disney characters before I came to Disney because I feel that it’s so important to have different representation in our media, especially showcasing female empowerment. She’s just so strong and shows how it’s OK to not always be OK, which I think I can really resonate with.
What’s been one of your most memorable experiences playing Luisa? We had the chance to skate in Puerto Rico in the summer, and it was the first time Puerto Rico had ever seen Disney on Ice. That was magical, being able to represent a completely different demographic. And I find it really empowering that I am able to bring this character to so many people and relate to so many young kids in the audience that maybe also want to do Disney, and they can see themselves on the ice, which is really cool.
What are your goals in the future? Right now, I’m really excited to keep focusing on spending time with bringing these shows to life. But in the future, I am hoping on getting my degree in architecture from the University of Michigan. I’m hoping to work to reduce and reverse the impacts of social segregation and redlining through architecture and help individuals who were born in less fortunate situations than my own.
What would you say to kids that have this dream? Make sure you keep working hard and trying your best, but also know it’s about presentation and doing what you love. Something that all of our cast members share is we’re all very passionate about being here. We all love what we do, and everyone’s always working on how to better represent these characters that are so beloved by thousands. Of course, technical skating is very important, but it’s also about learning how to love the sport for yourself and learning how to bring your personality on the sport, rather than just all the technical elements.
