Fort Macleod figure skater Jesse Smith is about to break the ice into the world of professional skating.

   Smith leaves for Florida Wednesday, July 28 to begin a 10-month contract with Disney On Ice.

   The tour starts with five weeks of rehearsals in Lakeland followed by performances in the eastern United States in a different city every week. The only Canadian stop will be in Montreal in March 2011.

   “This will be my first time doing professional skating,” Smith said. “It will be a good start to my professional career. I’m excited for the opportunity and experience . . . and I’m excited to see how I will handle living out of my suitcase for almost a year, as well as just being away from home for such a long time.”

   Disney on Ice is a figure skating show based around Disney movies and characters that act out scenes through on-ice choreography. Smith’s performances will be based primarily on Toy Story.

   “I don’t know which characters I will be playing as of yet, I’ll find that out at the rehearsals,” Smith said. “The casting director also said there is a strong possibility of me being an understudy for other solo roles other than my own too. In case others are unable to perform I will have to take their place.”

   Smith made the Disney connection by putting photos and videos of himself on a professional figure skating Web site.

   The casting director of the ice shows then contacted him offering him a position.

   Now 22, Smith has already competed at the national level four times. Smith is also a certified skating coach and has been coaching skating and doing ice dance partnering around southern Alberta for the past three years.

   Of late Smith has been concentrating on his upcoming professional career, focusing on honing his skills by putting in as much ice time as he can get.

   “I began skating in Fort Macleod; it was my home skating club,” Smith said. “I represented Fort Macleod at competitions for 10 of the past 12 years. The town has always been very supportive of my skating, and I’m very thankful for that. There is not much ice time here though, so I have been training in many different cities including Lethbridge, Calgary, and Edmonton in order to get more ice time and coaching.”

   Smith is hopeful the Disney experience will open other doors for him as well.

   “The Royal Caribbean cruise ships have professional skating shows, and I hope to perform for them. I also got accepted to another skating show called Holiday on Ice, which is based in Europe. I would like to try both of those after I gain the experience from skating with Disney.” Smith said the Disney performances are not usually televised, but quite often show up on YouTube.