When Heather Klosterman performs as Tinker Bell for Disney on Ice, she points to her wings and to the wings of the little girls dressed just like her in the audience.
“It’s always fun to see all of the girls dress up as Tinker Bell,” Klosterman said during a phone interview Monday from a hotel in Everett, where she performs this weekend prior to a Nov. 10-14 stop at the ShoWare Center in Kent. “I try to point them out when I point at my wings and then point at their wings. That makes any show when you see them.”
Klosterman, 20, who grew up in Minnesota, is one of only three new skaters to the Disney on Ice Let’s Celebrate! Tour. There are 35 skaters on tour who perform more than 50 characters from Disney shows.
The characters who star in this show include perennial favorites like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as Disney celebrates holidays and festivals from around the world. The sprightly Tinker Bell appears in the opening and closing acts of the show.
“I think the best thing about Tinker Bell is you can always be playful with the audience and perky and excited,” Klosterman said. “That happens anyway as soon as you step on the ice and see all of the little kids naturally excited. You don’t have to hide that excitement like you do with a more sophisticated character like Cinderella, when you need to be elegant.”
A competitive ice skater since age 4, Klosterman actually quit the sport more than a year ago when she decided to focus on her freshman year at
Gustavus Adolphus College, a private school in St. Peter, Minn.
“I decided after I graduated from high school to give up skating and focus on a career and school because I had always sacrificed everything for skating,” she said.
But Klosterman took up coaching ice skaters as a part-time job during college and realized how much she missed the sport.
“I had a hard time because I was giving instructions about skating to students and realized I was not ready to give it up yet,” Klosterman said. “I finished my first year of college. But skating was a part of me since I was 4 years old and I still wanted to share that with others by performing.”
Disney on Ice didn’t have any auditions coming through Minnesota, so Klosterman compiled a couple of audition videos to send to Disney. The videos included performances she had done as Cinderella and Marilyn Monroe as a member of her local ice skating club; competitive skating performances; and even an interview about what she likes about skating and performing.
The videos did the trick, because Disney hired Klosterman to join the tour last August. The tour continues through May.
It’s a lot of time on the road. The tour typically includes shows four to five days per week in each town. Klosterman performed in Portland last weekend before heading to Everett and then to Kent.
“I love it because it’s something new every week,” she said. “You see different places every week and each city has its own culture. I’m from Minnesota and traveled a bit but I had never been to Portland or to Washington. It’s cool for me to see all of the cites.”
Klosterman joins other cast members to check out the sites of each city.
“We get to bond on and off the ice,” she said.
Klosterman expects to keep skating with Disney on Ice for quite a while.
“I’m not setting any limits,” she said. “I’m following my heart and as long as I love it and have the passion I’ll keep doing it. I am going to continue giving until I have nothing left.”
If you go
What: Disney on Ice, Let’s Celebrate! tour
When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10-12; 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13; 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14
Where: ShoWare Center, Kent
Cost: $65, $40, $25, $18 and $16
Tickets: www.showarecenter.com or call 253-856-6999
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