Can anyone suggest good rinks for practice ice in DC, mid level dance and freestyle? My son is starting college there in a few weeks and I expect to be there a few times this year (including in October when we don't have ice here.)
Thanks!!
There are a number of good rinks in the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs. Wheaton Ice Arena is home to a well known ice dance academy: http://www.wisa.us/about.html http://www.montgomeryparks.org/enterprise/ice/wheaton/
Of course I'm partial to my home ice at Bowie Ice Arena; well lighted and well maintained ice but for dance he'd want to get a coach : http://www.cityofbowie.org/?nid=105
The Cabin John rink has a social dance schedule: http://www.montgomeryparks.org/enterprise/ice/cabin_john/
He can also contact the Skating Club of Washington: http://www.washingtonfsc.org/
There are many other rinks in the DC burbs. The bottom line often boils down to convenient location/ice time scheduling and one's tolerance to beltway traffic.
In addition, if he won't have a car (or you just don't feel like dealing with driving and traffic), Kettler Capitals Iceplex is a short, easy walk from the Ballston stop on the Orange line! They have a very large, active community of adult skaters, both hockey and figure, and plenty of freestyle and public sessions. I was afraid when I started skating there that it would be totally focused on hockey, since it is the Capitals' practice facility, but was pleasantly surprised at how many figure skaters there are. I've never skated on their freestyle ice because you have to be in Adult 4 or above to use it, but I've watched plenty of sessions while waiting for my lessons and always see a few ice dancers out there.
I believe that SkateQuest in Reston is also metro-accessible now that the Silver line has opened, but I've never skated there.
My page lists a lot of DC area rinks:
http://mgrunes.com/dcicerinks.html
Click on the map link to find locations.
If your son can skate during the day, many rinks have nearly empty daytime public sessions cheap, and most don't stop people from doing fancy stuff when the ice is almost empty.
The DC metro area is famous for traffic jams. Some parts of the DC metro area are hours away from others. Without knowing where he will be, it is hard to advise where he should go to skate. Watch for traffic light and speeding cameras, stay with legal parking spots - DC and to some extant Maryland and Virginia have a third world approach toward tickets, which are a major source of income.
E.g. the University of Maryland has a figure skating club that skates at Herbert Wells Ice Rink, about half a mile from campus.
If he has no car, Wells and Kettler are the two rinks close to a Metrorail stop.
To Lutefish's list of rinks with large ice dance communities, I'd add Gardens Ice House, Kettler, Skatequest, and Mount Vernon.
I'd be glad to privately send you the name of my last ice dance coach. She teaches at Bowie and Piney Orchard, and is particularly great with people who like an analytic approach.
Wish him good luck!
Thanks all!
Wish I had known this when I was in DC two years ago for school. After 11 hours in class, I could have used some recreation on the weekends. If you ever decide to attend a 2 week intensive program for school, do NOT take more than 2 classes.
Does anybody know who coaches at The Gardens Ice House in Laurel? They don't have a list of coaches on their website and in particular I would like to hear about the personalities & teaching style of any coaches that anybody may have experience with. Yeah, I need to just go and watch some during freestyle sessions I'm not skating on too...
Casey- I sent you a PM about the coaches I know.
I LOVE the Kettler Capitals rink! I try to find time to skate there everytime I'm in DC.