China and Patrick Quinn have been dancing together for the last five years.
But the show must go on without them after the New Zealand run of Disney on Ice.
“We’ve been on the road for five years together now,” Patrick said ahead of the first show at Spark Arena.
“And we’re actually celebrating the end of our careers right now and we had to finish it right here in beautiful New Zealand.”
Even after five years the couple seem so enthusiastic and excited about the show.
“At the start of each show I have moments, and I’m not even being cheesy, I have a moment where - let’s go fly a kite - where it hits me. We’re doing this!” China says through a broad smile.
“I portray the role of Moana, which I’m so excited to do in New Zealand about as close as we can get, right?
“And then Patrick here gets to be himself, which he’s the only one that gets to do that in the show… he gets everyone riled up, make sure everyone in the audience knows what’s going on and he’s our biggest cheerleader. That’s pretty epic.”
Patrick says you can expect what you always expect from Disney on Ice with the dancing, princesses and dazzling costumes. But this year brings a few more elements.
“We’re gonna bring in Mary Poppins Returns for the first time in this show,” he said. “[And] we bring in real BMX bicycles on to the ice to do big jumps off of a ramp.”
And if that’s not enough, there’s the Mickey Mobile where cast members drive a car onto the ice and get the audience to join in for the ride.
“Over the course of the show you can sometimes expect up to as many or more audience members participating as we have ice skaters on the ice,” Patrick said.
Patrick says he doesn’t want to spoil the surprise for his audience, but reels off a list of characters that could fill a glacier, let alone the Spark Arena.
“We got Mary Poppins Returns. We got The Incredibles. We got the Lion King, Moana, Frozen, Toy Story, Aladdin. And if that’s not enough, we’ll get just about every Disney princess you can imagine on the ice for the final big bang,” Patrick gushes. “I don’t want to spoil the whole show, so I think I can leave it there.”
But the best part of the show for him is when China gets onto the ice to dance as Moana.
“When Moana comes out here on the ice, you’re gonna see me just crouch down right here, just watching, just jaw on the floor,” he enthused. “It’s my favourite part of the show to watch her do her solo.”
The couple gaze at each other in a way that could melt even the most frozen heart.
“We drove through the countryside for two weeks and I can’t imagine a better place to wrap up this magical journey of our lives,” Patrick said as the interview wraps up.
“It’s gonna be great,” China counters.
And the music keeps playing.
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