Staff Writer

Scarborough resident Morgan Sewall, 12,  will soon be showing off her skating skills in Falmouth.

Sewall will participate in the 11^th annual North Atlantic Figure Skating Club show in Falmouth. Deb Coppinger, the club’s skating director, said the show will feature 85 skaters from the greater Portland area. Coppinger said the show will also have 2009 Junior World bronze medalists Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir as guest performers.

The show, themed “A Night at the Movies,” will take place at 7 p.m. April 10 and 11 at the Family Ice Center in Falmouth.

Coppinger said the North Atlantic Figure Skating Club is a non-profit organization that provides figure skating lessons. 

Morgan said she has been a member of the club for four years, and first began figure skating five years ago.

She said her love for figure skating came naturally, after she watched an ice skater practicing in Portland.

“My mom took me to one of the public skating sessions at the Portland Ice Arena,” Morgan said. “I saw someone doing all kinds of different moves, and I just started doing them.”

“She thought it was a lot of fun,” Polly Sewall, Morgan’s mother, said.

Morgan  practices 10 to 12 hours a week and has to change practice venues throughout the week, in Saco, Portland and Falmouth.

Polly Sewall said driving Morgan to practice is not difficult, as she works in Falmouth. She said her neighbor, Donna Clark, also gives rides to practice.

“We all do what we have to do,” Polly Sewall said.

Coppinger said ages for members of the skating club are between 3 to 70 years old.

“Skating is for everybody, it’s not like gymnastics,” Coppinger said. “We have a small group of adults, some are recreational skaters and some are competitive.”

Coppinger said there is a yearly $140 member fee for costumes and the skating coach, as well as routine costs for ice time.

Coppinger said the average age of a competitive skater, such as Sewall, is 12 to 16 years old. She said to be competitive a skater must join a United State Figure Skating Association (USFSA) club, such as the North Atlantic Figure Skating Club. 

Morgan said a skater must then go through six different levels in both free skating and moves in the field, or jumps, and must test in front of judges to move up in levels. She said she recently moved up from the novice level to the juvenile level in free skating after taking a field test in front of judges in Boston.

Polly Sewall said Morgan is in the novice level for moves in the field, meaning she only has to move through the juvenile level before reaching senior level, which is the highest level a skater can get to. She said Morgan wants to work toward reaching senior level in both categories. Morgan Sewall said Olympic skaters are often in the senior level.

Morgan said it’s not easy to perform in front of people.

“It’s kind of nerve-racking,” she said. “But you have to pretend [people] are not there and know you have gone through your routine a million times.”

For the upcoming April 10 performance, Morgan  said she is skating in two performances: a free skate – a one person performance – to the song “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield from the movie “Ice Princess,” and she will also be part of the synchronized group skate, which will be to the song “All That Jazz,” from the movie “Chicago.”

Morgan said rehearsals for the show begin one month before the performance date. She said she works with both a skating coach and a choreographer to decide how she will perform the program. 

Coppinger said the choreographer helps the skater perform with the tempo of the music, such as moving in a “short, bouncy” tempo with faster-paced music, or long, slow movement with slower-paced music.

Polly Sewall said Morgan will soon participate in various competitions, including the Colonial Open, the Boston Open in the middle of May and the Cranberry Open at the end of August. She said all of those performances lead into the New England Regional Figure Skating Championships Oct. 22 in Vermont.

Polly Sewall said she keeps a close eye on Morgan, to see if she gets worn down from competing. She said Morgan had a knee problem a year ago, the result of a growth spurt, but said there hasn’t been any other reason to keep her from her competition schedule.

“We generally keep a close eye [on Morgan],” Polly Sewall said.

Morgan said she plans to continue figure skating as long as she can.

Tickets for the show are $7 for adults and seniors, and $10 for adults. Premium seating (reserved seats with backs) will be available for $20. For more information, contact ice show chairman Sarah Lawsure at 523-9944.