Entertainment

AFRO Exclusive: Disney on Ice Enchants with Black Skater as Line Captain

THE AFRO — For three years, professional ice skater Chelsea Ridley has been dazzling audiences with performances.

Published

5 years ago

February 24, 2019

By Micha Green

For three years, professional ice skater Chelsea Ridley has been dazzling audiences with performances through Feld Entertainment, and this year she is not only shining on ice as a member of the ensemble, but keeping her fellow cast mates in formation as ladies line captain for Disney On Ice “Worlds of Enchantment.”

“I’m an ensemble kid, which means you can see me anywhere. You just got to keep your eyes open, because you never know when you can see me. But I’m also the ladies line captain, so I’m the person that’s in charge of making sure the numbers get taught, and they’re nice and clean, spick and span and beautiful for every night’s performance,” Ridley told the AFRO.

The 25-year-old skater did not simply stumble into the sport and is now getting to tour with the renowned show. Ridley has been putting in work on the ice since she was 4 years old, however the sport was not always her first love or career choice.

“I would not say it was love at first sight, because I did not love it,” she said. Yet, Ridley’s Caribbean parents forced her to keep up with skating and decades years later she’s a pro.

“I think that’s a good message for the kids out there, that sometimes you just have to be resilient, because you never know what could happen. Just don’t give up too fast. By the end of the session, I really found my love for it, and here we are 21 years later and I’m still loving it everyday,” Ridley told the AFRO.

Now Ridley loves skating, finding a liberating property on the ice.

“I love that you can express yourself in anyway that you want,” she said. “I think that skating is the closest you can get to flying without actually leaving the ground. You can go and just feel so free.”

Having skated competitively for years, Ridley said she particularly finds joy in being able to perform for audiences regularly.

“I’ve always just really loved performing and I think that’s what’s gravitated me towards being part of Disney and going where I can go with that performance aspect,” Ridley said. “I just love being able to perform and put smiles on people’s faces, everyday.”

With this being her third year with Feld Entertainment, the producers of Disney On Ice, Ridley is somewhat of a vet when it comes to these shows, having even starred as Princess Tiana from the “Princess and the Frog,” with another Disney on Ice production. However she said that audiences who see this “Worlds of Enchantment” are in store for a treat.

Unfortunately for D.C. readers, the show was only in the District for a short time (Feb. 14- Feb. 18) at the Capital One Arena, however, this reporter can confirm after seeing the show on Valentine’s Day, it’s a colorful and entrancing trip for all ages if able to catch “Worlds of Enchantment” in another city.

“It’s a really fun show. I’ll just say that sometimes the shows can be a little more princess-based, but this show is really different because we have a lot of different stories that are told, which is really fun for audiences of all ages, boys, girls, kids of all ages. It’s so fun,” Ridley said.

“Worlds of Enchantment” is particularly special because it features four different Disney films told on ice.

“We have ‘Toy Story,’ we have ‘The Little Mermaid,’ we have Disney Pixar’s ‘Cars and we even have ‘Frozen,’” she said. “Fun fact: We are the only Disney show that has Disney Pixar’s ‘Cars,’ so you got to make sure you see those cars, because they are great on ice.”

Beyond the joy she brings to Disney audiences, Ridley also inspires the next generation of skaters. As one of the few people of color in Disney On Ice, and as a Black skater in a sport that is still developing in terms of diversity, Ridley takes her job as a coach seriously.

“I teach a lot of African American skaters at home, and I always try to let them know and teach them that, ‘You need to be yourself, and just really do you and don’t let anyone ever tell you no, because you know yourself the best and what you’re capable of, and you need to go out and do what you want to do because it makes you happy.’ And I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned throughout my career,” Ridley told the AFRO.

The 25-year-old also has one last piece of advice for those that want to follow in her footsteps: “Push the envelope always.”

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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5 days ago

April 19, 2024

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Entertainment

O.J. Simpson, 76, Dies of Prostate Cancer

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson, who rose to fame as a college football player who went on to the NFL and parlayed his talents in acting and sportscasting, succumbed to prostate cancer on April 10, his family announced.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson. Wikipedia photo

By Post Staff

Born and raised in San Francisco, the Galileo High School graduate was recruited by the University of Southern California after he was on a winning Junior College All-American team.

At USC, he gained wide acclaim as a running back leading to him becoming the No. 1 pick in the AFL-NFL draft in 1969 and joining the Buffalo Bills, where he had demanded – and received — the largest contract in professional sports history: $650,000 over five years. In 1978, the Bills traded Simpson to his hometown team, the San Francisco 49ers, retiring from the game in 1979.

Simpson’s acting career had begun before his pro football career with small parts in 1960s TV (“Dragnet”) before “Roots” and film (“The Klansman,” “The Towering Inferno,” Capricorn One”).

He was also a commentator for “Monday Night Football,” and “The NFL on NBC,” and in the mid-1970s Simpson’s good looks and amiability made him, according to People magazine, “the first b\Black athlete to become a bona fide lovable media superstar.”

The Hertz rent-a-car commercials raised his recognition factor while raising Hertz’s profit by than 50%, making him critical to the company’s bottom line.

It could be said that even more than his success as a football star, the commercials of his running through airports endeared him to the Black community at a time when it was still unusual for a Black person to represent a national, mainstream company.

He remained on Hertz team into the 1990s while also getting income endorsing Pioneer Chicken, Honey Baked Ham and Calistoga water company products and running O.J. Simpson Enterprises, which owned hotels and restaurants.

He married childhood sweetheart Marguerite Whitley when he was 19 and became the father of three children. Before he divorced in 1979, he met waitress and beauty queen Nicole Brown, who he would marry in 1985. A stormy relationship before, during and after their marriage ended, it would lead to a highway car chase as police sought to arrest Simpson for the murder by stabbing of Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.

The pursuit, arrest, and trial of Simpson were among the most widely publicized events in American history, Wikipedia reported.

Characterized as the “Trial of the Century,” he was acquitted by a jury in 1995 but found liable in the amount of $33 million in a civil action filed by the victims’ families three years later.

Simpson would be ensnared in the criminal justice system 12 years later when he was arrested after forcing his way into a Las Vegas hotel room to recover sports memorabilia he believed belonged to him.

In 2008, he received a sentence of 33 years and was paroled nine years later in 2017.

When his death was announced, Simpson’s accomplishments and downfalls were acknowledged.

Sports analyst Christine Brennan said: “… Even if you didn’t love football, you knew O.J. because of his ability to transcend sports and of course become the businessman and the pitchman that he was.

“And then the trial, and the civil trial, the civil case he lost, and the fall from grace that was extraordinary and well-deserved, absolutely self-induced, and a man that would never be seen the same again,” she added.

“OJ Simpson played an important role in exposing the racial divisions in America,” attorney Alan Dershowitz, an adviser on Simpson’s legal “dream team” told the Associated Press by telephone. “His trial also exposed police corruption among some officials in the Los Angeles Police Department. He will leave a mixed legacy. Great athlete. Many people think he was guilty. Some think he was innocent.”

“Cookie and I are praying for O.J. Simpson’s children … and his grandchildren following his passing. I know this is a difficult time,” Magic Johnson said on X.

“I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere,” attorney Gloria Allred, who once represented Nicole’s family, told ABC News. “I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family, and they should be remembered.”

Simpson was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a year ago and was undergoing chemotherapy treatment, according to Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter. He died in his Las Vegas, Nevada, home with his family at his side.

He is survived by four children: Arnelle and Jason from his first marriage and Sydney and Justin from his second marriage. He was predeceased son, Aaren, who drowned in a family swimming pool in 1979.

Sources for this report include Wikipedia, ABC News, Associated Press, and X.