PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Every Sunday, outside the Lloyd Hall Recreation Center on Boathouse Row, you are invited to lace up your skates and take part in a dance party on wheels. The group, Great on Skates, hosts a free, weekly skating event from noon to 6 p.m., and beginners are welcome. You can even get some impromptu lessons.
“We’re skating and vibrating here,” says India Bernardino, a performer and instructor at Great on Skates. “It’s a community environment. We just suck you in!”
Bernardino describes the group as a streetstyle, freestyle dance skating company and crew that combines roller skating with dance movements.
“We just integrate skating with dance and culture and music and art and live entertainment and drumming and all those things together,” Bernardino said.
You may think that joining a group with professional skaters can be intimidating, but you will quickly find a welcoming and inclusive environment. Marquise Bradley, a professional clarinetist, started taking lessons with Great on Skates in October. He said the group’s members were inspiring.
“I needed something that still gave me the ability to connect with other people, but also something that I can practice in my spare time and really sink my teeth into,” Bradley said. “I usually walk away feeling very cheerful.”
Even if you don’t feel like skating and dancing, you are very welcome to come and watch. Lynn Lasswell, who lives in Center City, said she started following the group on Instagram and is now a fan.
“Everything they do just looks so fun!” Lasswell said.
Great on Skates is like one big skate family. But for Bernardino, it’s her literal family. Her father, whose name is Master Jay, taught her everything she knows, and he is part of the group.
“We used to go to clubs, we would go to clubs where we would dance, and my dad would be there with his skates on. And I would say, ‘Dad, how are you allowed to come in here with skates?’ to?’” Bernardino recalls. “Later, as I got older, I learned how to combine both things.”
Her father said skating with Bernardino and his other daughters is an invaluable experience.
“When I first skated, my kids looked at me funny,” Master Jay said. “Now that they’re grown, they come out, and it’s beautiful. You can’t buy that feeling.”
Great on Skates is hosting a skating camp for kids in third grade and up at MoveMakers Philly. It started June 19 and runs through August, and Bernardino said kids can sign up weekly. Visit their website for more information.
