Beyond the Classroom

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s teenagers, many people dream of taking lessons of one sort or another, to learn a new skill or just to have plain old fun. I, too, had lots of hobbies as a teen and wanted to expand my knowledge base. I wanted to learn an instrument (that never happened), I wanted to learn ballet, but that never happened either. I ended up only doing the basic (boring) stuff like swimming lessons, chasunah dancing, and exercise classes. Although there are many people like me, who dream big dreams and they remain just that, dreams, there are some girls who make the effort to make their dreams come true. Taking interesting kinds of lessons and learning uncommon skills isn’t as uncommon as many of you might think!

“When I was younger, my older sister started ice skating and I went skating with her a few times,” Raizy Cohen of Toronto shares. “I really enjoyed it. In addition, I took dancing class when I was young. Two years ago, when I was in tenth grade, some of my friends suggested that we take figure skating lessons. I loved skating from the beginning and lessons were even better! Figure skating is generally considered graceful dancing on the ice. Nowadays it’s a lot more than that; we also do all types of ice dancing. Jumps and spins are some of the skills incorporated into the many steps we use on the ice.”

It is more typical to start figure skating lessons at a younger age but Raizy was a quick learner and also came in with plenty of dance experience from her high school years. “My friends eventually stopped taking the lessons but I enjoyed them so much that I continued without them. In my case the lessons aren’t a social outlet anyway. I take them because I get personal enjoyment.” And the benefits are many.

“I consider figure skating fun exercise, a real workout. It’s dancing with a twist because you can move even more on ice than on a gym floor. The coach plays a big part in the lessons, so it’s important to use someone you like and can learn from.”