It’s harder than it looks, the graceful gliding of athletes on bladed skates.

That’s what adult figure skating student Aurora Elza follows. She’s gone through the training sessions and is currently in the advanced group. Last week, it was about mastering skating backward, and today, she plans to work on her Salchow jumps.

“I love it; I was so excited to get on the ice for the first time. I even brought my own skates,” Elza says.

The Galleria Dallas Ice Skating School ensures skaters of different ages and skill levels are able to be comfortable and balanced on ice.

“We have little stepping stones,” rink manager Chris Pearce says. “We also are well-known for beginner skating here. We pride ourselves on that because they learn really good bases.”

When Galleria Dallas opened its rink in 1982, Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill was in attendance.

That day set the tone for the life of Galleria’s rink. Since its opening, it has been frequented by many shoppers who need a break, students in the training school and more Olympians who ask to come take a spin on the ice. 

As many as 275,000 skaters use the rink every year, which is more than Rockefeller Plaza in New York.

“We’ve always called it the heartbeat of the mall,” Pearce says. “You can hear people having fun from both sides of the mall. People are constantly leaning over, looking and watching, especially little girls who dream of doing that.”

That rush of energy and captivation was bottled up for this year’s holiday show, the Grand Tree Lighting Celebration. Students of the Galleria Dallas Ice Skating School went through an audition process that started in August and then learned the choreography, trained and got costumes measured. After the school performed, Olympic figure skaters took to the ice.

“When I was getting up there today, I was really having fun because I know how much the simple things that we’re doing mean a lot to the audience, and I just embrace it and enjoy that,” says world figure skating champion Alexa Knierim, who won with her pair Brandon Frazier in 2022. “It’s more like a treat for them and the treat for us is to have fun.”

Olympian skater and Dallas native, Ashley Cain graced the rink with a solo performance. Throughout her career, she’s used the Galleria Dallas rink. After winning her gold medal for individual figure skating in 2022, she now plays Elsa in Disney on Ice.

“It’s been beautiful to see how the crowds and the skating community in general have grown in this area,” Cain says. “I have students in the audience and other people that I see come year after year. It’s a special time getting to be a part of this show.”

The reputation of the mall’s skating rink continues to live up to its original hype. 

“When Olympians come to skate here, it’s because it’s word of mouth,” Pearce says. “When we do our shows, the energy that the crowd portrays is what creates a good performance because they thrive on that energy. It’s really become something that’s evolved into a great thing.”