Figure Skating in Harlem and the Art of Showing Up

The trick of figure skating is that the hard part is supposed to disappear. A blade cuts a curve; a body seems to float. Hours of practice become a few minutes an audience can admire. Grace gets the applause. Repetition, as usual, has done much of the work.

AI-generated editorial illustration. The skater and Harlem-inspired setting are imagined, not a depiction of an actual Figure Skating in Harlem participant, rink or program session.

Figure Skating in Harlem takes that work seriously, then gives it a wider brief. The nonprofit combines figure skating for girls of color with education and leadership development. Athletic ambition shares the schedule with tutoring and public speaking. The interesting question here is what a girl gets to become when nobody insists that she choose just one kind of capable.

This began with people in Harlem making a practical request. In the early 1990s, community leaders Gene Kitt and Bernice DeAbreu invited former competitive skater Sharon Cohen to teach in their community. Cohen worked with parents and Upward, Inc. to develop the program; Figure Skating in Harlem incorporated as a nonprofit in 1997. Families helped shape the opportunity from the beginning. Their children were people with interests worth taking seriously, not supporting characters in somebody else’s story of generosity.

The organization’s I Can Excel program still makes a persuasive case through its particulars. The 2026–27 season runs from October through March, with required programming three days a week. Tuition follows a sliding scale. No previous skating experience is required. That last detail deserves a little applause of its own. In a culture that can seem more interested in discovering prodigies than teaching beginners, here is an invitation to arrive without the trick already mastered.

For a young person, that distinction matters. An interest ought to be allowed some time before it has to become an achievement. Trying something difficult means accepting a period in which enthusiasm outruns competence. Adults can make that period bearable by providing instruction and taking the effort seriously, rather than demanding an inspirational ending on arrival.

Off the ice, the work is refreshingly specific. Figure Skating in Harlem’s educational programming includes reading, writing, math, STEM and financial literacy, supported by teachers, counselors, mentors and tutors. Small-group tutoring uses individualized learning plans. There is something reassuringly unglamorous about that detail. Potential may look good in a mission statement; someone still has to work out what a particular student needs to learn next.

The writing and public-speaking curriculum is especially revealing. Weekly classes range from fundamentals for younger students to personal narratives in middle school and college-application writing in high school. An organization associated with bodies in motion also makes room for ideas in words. Precision belongs in a sentence as well as a skating sequence. A girl can care deeply about both, without one interest being treated as the decorative extra.

Leadership, too, is given more to do than look impressive on a brochure. Licensed social workers lead life-skills classes covering subjects including peer pressure and conflict resolution. Career-exploration trips introduce students to professionals and workplaces. These are useful ways to put some substance behind the instruction to find your voice. Having something to say is a start. Learning how to express it, navigate disagreement and consider the choices ahead is work of its own.

There is a temptation, in writing about youth programs, to rush straight to the triumphant finale. The scholarship. The standing ovation. The wonderfully tidy before and after. Young people deserve more room than that. They deserve to be interesting while they are still learning, and to pursue excellence without making every imperfect attempt evidence of some grand transformation.

That is what earns Figure Skating in Harlem a place in YouthStrong’s Encourage series. Its programming gives desire somewhere to go and dedication something concrete to do. Instruction is on the calendar. Academic work belongs beside artistic expression and athletic discipline. The girls bring their own curiosity and effort; the adults have work to do, too.

A beautiful performance is worth celebrating. So is a place that makes room for the long, untidy business of learning one.

Learn more at Figure Skating in Harlem, or support its work with a donation.

Athletics • Academics • Arts
Desire • Dedication • Discipline

Be You, Be Youth, Be YouthStrong.