Since the age of 4, Sabrina glides on ice as naturally as walking on land. She made her debut on an ice rink at a ski resort.
Nice-Premium: Sabrina, do you remember that moment?
Sabrina Cappellini: Not really. My first memory on ice is my gala at age 5, I was dressed as a cowboy!
N-P: I believe your sister followed you in this discipline?
S.C: Yes, from being at the ice rink non-stop, she got into it too! She did it for 4 years. It’s a shame she didn’t persevere because she was more talented than me!
N-P: A family affair, since if my source is correct: your grandmother made your costumes?
S.C.: Yes, and she still makes some of them! All my girlfriends call her “super granny”. She has a lot of patience, she spent long nights sewing my sequins, making me wool combinations so I wouldn’t be cold. I was very spoiled!
N-P: Was “ice skating” a career you thought about doing when you were a child?
S.C.: Yes, as a child, I would spend hours attending Holiday on Ice rehearsals (which at the time took place in Nice) and I didn’t miss any shows. Creating “shows”, it’s a childhood dream that came true.
N-P: Tell us about your journey?
S.C.: So I started at 4 years old and from age 8, I had adjusted schedules allowing me to train between 3 and 4 hours a day. At 14, I decided to join a Parisian club to do pairs skating, followed by 2 years of training in Vienna, Austria, then at 17, I got injured and came back to Nice.
Creating shows has always been my dream and my goal. So I went through auditions and here we are! The adventure began. As a funny anecdote, I remember going to see Philippe Candeloro and telling him at 17 years old: “anyway, I know you’ll take me in your show, and it’s soloist or nothing!” Looking back, I think I was pretty bold!
N-P: A particular image, among so many others, that you would put on the first page of your photo album about figure skating?
S.C.: There are so many, but it’s mainly a mental image. Two moments actually:
- when I skated at the Nikaïa at 18 years old with Holiday on Ice. My whole family came to see me, I went on the ice and they were all there: so proud and me terrified!
- when I got my first solo contract in Hong Kong: the phone call to my mother and the first time she saw me skate, these are moments you don’t forget… But summing up 8 years in one image is difficult!
N-P: So your skates took you around the world?
S.C.: Yes, I joined Philippe Candeloro’s troupe at 17 in Paris. Then I moved on to a show in Portugal and finally Holiday on Ice with whom I traveled four continents: Hong Kong, South America, Qatar…
N-P: And then one day, you left your troupe?
S.C.: Yes! You turn 25, you think back on the last 8 years and you say to yourself: I’ve achieved my dream, it’s time to make myself another one!
N-P: A desire to start your own business? Brave? Ambitious?
S.C.: Both! It came from a very strong desire, another dream, which after enormous work and sacrifices is starting to come true. Brave? Definitely. I’ve always been taught that in life when you want something, you can do it. What I’ve learned over the past year is that you can, “yes”, but it also takes time… This adventure taught me to be patient!
But I’m lucky to be very well surrounded, which allows me to put things in perspective and breathe when things don’t go as planned.
N-P: A business, certainly, but still with your skates playing the lead role?
S.C.: Yes! For me, skating is as natural as walking. I wasn’t ready to put my skates away, but I also didn’t want to go back on tour – since no compromise existed, I created one!
N-P: Tell us about your company? How was this idea born that puts stars in people’s eyes?
S.C.: My company DELICE is a completely new concept that was born from the desire to give another dimension to figure skating.
While traveling a lot, I noticed that all these private evenings, as magnificent as they were, didn’t innovate much in terms of entertainment. At the same time, skating has a somewhat classical and old-fashioned connotation. I wanted to propose, thanks to a synthetic ice rink, skating animations/shows for events. My shows are short, very modern, energetic. They are presented in unexpected places and, above all, custom-made, which allows us to adapt to our clients’ wishes.
N-P: Your portable ice rink can be set up anywhere?
S.C.: Exactly! There are no temperature or location limitations, it’s very quick to set up and, moreover, it uses no energy, so it’s ecological!
N-P: Recently, you performed at VIP ROOM during the Cannes Festival. Your impressions? A particular moment during these evenings?
S.C.: The best moment was the call from the VIP team. I tried to stay calm, but I was overjoyed. VIP ROOM is sort of the heart of festival evenings and it was the culmination of so many months of work and hard effort!
I confess that until the last moment, I didn’t dare tell anyone for fear it would bring me bad luck or they’d change their minds! Every evening, people came to congratulate us. They took photos. They watched – it’s not an audience that’s there for that, per se, they’re people who come to party. Their judgment is impartial and seeing their reaction is the best reward!
N-P: On June 10, your art will be linked to that of your sister, I believe? Two artists?
S.C.: Yes, and above all a family affair, like everything else, we support each other a lot and we complement each other.
So it was natural that we decided to work together on this event. My sister created her business in decoration with the cushion as the centerpiece. We’re going to do the first: cushion parade on ice! It will be June 10 in Monaco, at Place des Bougainvilliers, an event you absolutely must not miss.
N-P: Other events on the horizon?
S.C.: Yes and lots of projects too, but nothing is certain yet, so I prefer not to count my chickens…
N-P: To finish, “ice skating” is…
S.C.: It’s me. Who I am, one day I’ll be too old to be Sabrina “the skater”, and I’ll have to build myself another dream, so until then I’m still enjoying it a bit 😉
Website: https://www.deliceshow.com
The photographs were extracted from the Delice Show website.
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