No matter what you did, an ice rink was always so cold! But at least there was a decent turnout for this first practise and rehearsal session, 'Taya smiled to herself, wobbling on her own blades as she skated out to where everyone could see her. She raised her hands for their attention, rather gratified when it was given to her almost immediately.

"Hello, ladies and gents," she greeted them, volunteers and professionals, in her own unmatched manner. "I can't tell you how pleased I am to see so many of you here today. As you know, the Shanachie has something planned for the Winterfest celebrations, and that's where you all come in. We intend to put on an ice-show on the three days following the Crowning of the Frost King and Queen, which will be a medley of seasonal songs strung together in hopefully what will pass for a story. You, my friends, are going to illustrate those songs on ice for the audiences."

Before the groans could go through the group, she plunged on, grinning through her chattering teeth. "Don't panic if you've never danced on ice before. There's one month between now and your debut, and I've pulled all kinds of strings to get us as much help as we can get. You will notice that sitting among you are several professional figure skaters and ice dancers - those of you who have not danced on ice before will each be partnered with one of the professionals, who will teach you all kinds of neat tricks with which to terrify your friends and families when we show them what you've got."

Thank God she still followed reality TV from home, was all 'Taya could think. Dancing on Ice was where she'd gotten that idea, and with any luck, the professionals here would be able to help her wonderful volunteers look utterly amazing on ice.

"Please do not worry yourselves about learning lyrics and tunes," she added with another smile. "I am going to bully the Shanache Theater Company into forming a choir to provide the lyrics to the music. This does not mean you can't sing if you really want to, it's just there to take the pressure off you."

And she couldn't help but notice the relief that passed over the faces of some of the volunteers as she said that. She really had to stop asking Rhy'Din to give her all-singing, all-dancing wonder performers, and go for the basic line. They seemed so much happier when they could surprise her.

"I'm now going to leave you in the capable hands of your choreographers, Lisa Mulqueen, Gerry Newton, and Sandeep Amra," she gestured to the three leaning against the barrier between ice and seats, "who will go through the basics today, pair you all up, and start setting out the steps for the routines you will be performing. But please, just have fun with it, and hopefully I'll see you all at the Winterfest!"

((Thread is open for anyone involved in the Shanachie's Winterfest offering to slap up a post or seven. Rehearsal schedules are fluid, the professionals will be able to work around whatever constraints there are on your characters' time in order to get them up to scratch. Any details that come up in this thread pertaining to the content of the show will be worked into the description of Winterfest On Ice when it goes up in the week prior to Winterfest beginning. And as 'Taya says, just have fun!))

It was one thing to skate on ice, Rori was discovering. It was quite another to dance on ice, and somehow make it look good at the same time. She'd been fortunate in her partner, a Russian silver medallist from Earth named Viktor Norikov, who was definitely what she would call a safe pair of hands.

He was also far too confident sometimes, as evidenced by the second day of her training with him, when he had hoisted her off the ice and held her at arms length above his head. As he was over six foot himself, this had put her at an alarming height from the unforgiving medium on which he was balanced. She supposed it helped that she'd been forced to take dance lessons as a child. The positions Viktor was insisting she hold in the air as he lifted her off the ice weren't quite so daunting as they might have been.

No, what she was really objecting to were some of the costumes. The medley costumes - long skirts and muffs - those were fine, in her opinion. It was the Santa Baby/Zat You, Santa Claus" costume that really brought out Rori's prickly side. Bright red, trimmed with fake white fur, it was the most form fitting, revealing leotard she'd ever seen, much less worn, and the sorry excuse for a skirt that barely skimmed her backside wasn't helping matters.

"I feel naked in this," she complained to one of the other volunteers, who just laughed it off, apparently revelling in her own skin-tight catsuit of the same red and white motif.

"You look stunning," she was informed by the costume mistress, a woman who ran the Shanachie's costume department with an iron fist and had transferred her attentions to costuming the ice show with ruthless efficiency. "Stop fidgeting with it, nothing's going to pop out."

Today was the first attempt to dance in the costume, hence Rori's uncertainty. At least this two-song piece was a group effort - she wouldn't be the only one on the ice wearing something that barely counted as lingerie, much less clothing. Skating out to join Viktor with far more confidence than she had had a couple of weeks ago, she came to a smooth halt beside him, glowering as he opened his mouth.

"Not a word," she muttered, daring him to comment on her appearance as the choreographer called for the twenty-strong group to take their positions. Chuckling, Viktor bowed and skated back to join the men, leaving her in a gaggle of brightly-dressed women. Remind me again, she thought to herself as the music started, why did I volunteer for this"