member spotlight
HAC MEMBER
LAURA
BERNHARDT
by Sasha Reddy
Laura Bernhardt has spent two-thirds of
her 63 living years affiliated with an ice rink
in one corner of the world or another. From
starring in ice shows in South Africa to training
young skaters at MIT, wherever she’s gone, it seems
as though her feet have hardly touched the ground
without two bladed skates in between. After spending
so many years involved in a sport, you feel like you
pretty much know all there is to know about it. But
Laura is still constantly learning of new developments
in competitive figure skating, both for trainers and
trainees. Having gotten to such a high level as a figure
skater, she has a lot of observations to share.
Laura as a
young figure
skater
Wherever she’s gone, it seems as
though her feet have hardly touched
the ground without two bladed
skates in between.
Growing up, there was always
an influence of the arts in
Laura’s life. Her mother owned
and instructed in many dance
studios when her daughter was
small; this was before becoming
an actress in her later years.
Her dream was for Laura to
become a pianist, but even at
six years old Laura knew music
would never be the field for
her. Though Laura’s hometown
of Los Angeles isn’t known for
its winter sports, she would not
give her mother a moment of
peace until they found an ice
arena where she could begin
training. It took about two years
of begging and borderline
hunger strikes, but at eight years
old, Laura finally found her first
rink in Santa Monica.
Just because Laura wouldn’t
give an inch doesn’t mean her
mother would either. The two
came to an agreement that
Laura would learn to play the
flute alongside her skating
lessons. This lasted for only
a short time before mom
discovered her daughter often
falling asleep during lessons,
instrument in hand, so she
switched to piano after all. She
despised her music lessons, but
having a musical background
turned out to be extremely
helpful with learning and
creating skating choreography.
Laura laughs, “My mom had a
theory: if you run your kids like
racehorses, they’re too tired
to get into trouble.” But all the
responsibility seemed to help
Laura flourish; she skipped
two grades in high school,
graduating at just 15 years old,
all the while rising to be an ice
skater who coaches begged to
train.
A majority of Laura’s training
years were spent under the
tutelage of N ancy Rush. Nancy
was and continues to be a
renowned name in the figure
skating world; she coached
many impressive ice talents
including Barbara Roles, who
won bronze in the 1962 Winter
Olympics for figure skating.
“[Nancy] was an amazing human
being just in the way she pulled
you in,” Laura remembers.
They would sometimes spend
upwards of eight hours a day
on the ice, correcting and
enhance magazine | NOVEMBER 2017
7