Like so many young girls, ice skater Soniah Spence loved the Disney princesses as a child. But like so many young African American girls, Spence also had a hard time relating to the princesses; they all looked so different from her.
“I remember when I was little, I wanted a princess that looked just like me, and I didn’t have that,” says Spence.
Today, she does.
Spence plays Princess Tiana — Disney’s first African American princess — in the Disney on Ice “Dare to Dream” touring production, which comes to the Greensboro Coliseum Dec. 1-4.
Disney introduced Princess Tiana earlier this year as the star of the movie “The Princess and the Frog.”
In her role skating as Princess Tiana, Spence has become a role model for thousands of young African American girls. They show up in droves, clad in Princess Tiana costumes, some traveling hundreds of miles just to see her skate.
“It’s so nice to see little girls come to the show and have my dress on,” she says. “It makes me realize that playing this role is really important to them, and I have an impact on them. The feedback from the audience is just so amazing, and you feel really great to make someone’s day. It’s really nice to have that kind of impact on someone’s life."
Spence grew up in Tennessee and skated competitively for eight years before quitting to attend college. But after a few years, she began to miss skating and looked for a way to get back to the sport she loved without the pressures of competition.
When the opportunity to skate with Disney on Ice came along, she knew it was her chance to get back on the ice.
“I realized I missed skating and this was a great way to get back to it and experience the fun side of it that I initially fell in love with,” she says.
The “Dare to Dream” show features three parts — the Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, and the Rapunzel story from the recent film, “Tangled.”
“We open with Princess Tiana in New Orleans,” says Spence. “We tell her full story, with really fun costumes and great music.”
Spence and the other members of the production travel the globe with Disney on Ice, a perk she enjoys. They go through weeks of rehearsal before hitting the road, acclimating themselves to skating in the sometimes voluminous costumes that can make skating a bit tricky.
“It’s a lot different skating in these costumes than the costumes I wore during competitive skating,” she explains. “It’s quite a change to go from skating in a tiny dress to skating in a big ball gown. Because we dress like that, it’s a little more difficult to skate, at least at first, and there are lots of quick costume changes to deal with, as well.”
But for Spence, the extra work is worth it — seeing hundreds of little girls wearing Princess Tiana’s costume makes her realize her performance is about far more than just skating.
Contact Jennifer Bringle at jenniferbringle@gmail.com
