It’s dark and the spotlight makes its way to the center of the rink. The edge-rip of a skate slices through the ice. A figure appears from the darkness and the music begins. Kari Serbe showcases her dazzling talent on the ice, while also portraying intense emotion. There is this wonderful blend where two halves of Serbe meet, Theatre on Ice. Since the early age of five, Serbe has been involved in the figure skating community. She skates at her local rink, the Skokie Skatium. From learning how to skate, to coaching other skaters, to performing in front of a crowd, skating is a crucial part of her identity. Skating has helped Serbe gain her self confidence and has allowed her to make lifelong connections. “A couple of my close friends I met skating,” Serbe said. “They’re people I go to about pretty much everything.”
Her days start before the sun comes up and end after it sets. In order to manage her hobbies with school and work, she skates in the morning before school. Getting up at 5am shows her true dedication to the sport.
On weekends, she has occasional competitions as well as practice. When she has the time, she is also a skating coach for the lower levels. If the Skokie Skatium knows anything, it’s the name Kari Serbe.
Theatre has also made a major impact on her. Starting her freshman year of high school, Serbe was welcomed into the Niles North theatre community. She has been an active member in what goes on backstage, and onstage as well.
She was the sound board operator for the school’s performances of She Kills Monsters, To Die For, The Prom, and The School of Rock. If being the student sound engineer wasn’t impressive enough, Serbe was also the head of costumes for A Doll’s House Pt.2 and Clue.
Then showcasing her amazing talent, Serbe was Judy, a lead in the play, A Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time. For a number of other shows, we see Serbe featured as an ensemble member.
“Awareness of the time and awareness of knowing that they may not be able to always divide their time,” Megan Baskin, the Niles North Theatre director said.– “That usually helps Serbe make the decision as to whether they want to be on stage or off stage.
She also attributed the many relationships she’s made to theatre.
One may wonder how on earth Serbe can manage both skating and theatre. While there isn’t some magic device that lets her be two places at once, Serbe does an amazing job at juggling two things she loves.
With skating in the morning, her afternoon to evening time frame is free. Right when school ends she makes her way down to the Black Box Theatre and begins her tasks. She uses the time she has when she gets home to focus on school work and anything else she may need to do.
“Weekends are busy because I have skating all day and then Saturday rehearsals,” Serbe said. I usually have to either miss it or only go to the second half of it.”
Unfortunately, there are times when theatre and skating overlap. Serbe then has to make the mature decision of which one to pursue on that day. She has to choose between a skating competition and a performance of a show. While she loves both options, she usually alternates which one is in the spotlight. This just speaks to her adaptability and character.
“But Kari splits their time a lot, which I think can sometimes make Kari feel like they are not always here as much as they want to be.–that being said I know that Kari comes in and has made costumes from scratch for us.–Kari is always wanting to be here– and trying to balance all of their after school things,” Megan Baskin said.
If only there was a way to combine the amazing world of acting with the elegance of skating. Oh wait, there is! Theatre on Ice is a program where figure skating meets portraying a story. This is a group based competition. Serbe is an active skater for Theatre on Ice.
“But both of them are things I’m really passionate about, so that makes it easier to manage because it’s not like, well, I like this one better, so I’m going to put more time into this,” Serbe said.
