Nursing graduate travels the world as show skater with Royal Caribbean, Disney on Ice

Liberty University School of Nursing alumna Carley Bryant (’21), who competed for the Lady Flames’ figure skating and synchronized skating teams, has experienced the thrills and chills of life as a professional show skater over the past year.

The Athens, Ga., native performed in SeaWorld Orlando’s “Winter Wonderland on Ice” in 2021, spent most of 2022 skating to “Ice Games” aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Allure of the Seas, and recently performed in Busch Gardens Williamsburg’s Christmastown production of “’Twas The Night” from mid-November through Jan. 1.

“Ever since I heard this was an option as a skater, after you finish your competitive career, I knew it was what I wanted to do professionally,” said Bryant, who completed her BSN at Liberty in May 2021. “I am extremely blessed to live out this dream and make the incredible connections that I have so far with other skaters and each of the shows’ producers.”

On Jan. 16, Bryant will fly to Denmark to begin skating in the “Disney on Ice” production of “Dream Big,” which will tour through Europe, including stops in Norway and Finland before venturing onto Southeast Asia in March, starting in Singapore. The show, which just closed in London, interweaves several Disney princess storylines from “Frozen,” “Aladdin,” “Moana,” and “Coco.”

“It’s a huge production, with an ice skating cast of up to 50, and a huge crew to make the show happen as well as several performance directors,” said Bryant, who will be replacing a principal skater in the show, meaning she will have a solo. “Because I’m doing a fill contract, I won’t have much rehearsal time and I will have to learn really quickly to be thrown into the show as soon as possible.”

Learning from the skaters around her, many of whom have performed in professional shows for 10 years or more, Bryant has progressed rapidly in show skating, fulfilling her childhood dreams.

“I tried to come into the show world as humble as I absolutely could,” she said. “Though I have been skating since I was 8 years old, I knew I had so much to learn. My skating skills have improved a lot and my performance skills have improved even more.”

She impressed the Disney on Ice producers enough with her skating resumé, video reels, and photos to land the opportunity before working at Busch Gardens Williamsburg this past Christmas.

“I knew I wanted to have a longer contract, and thankfully, the casting directors enjoyed what I sent in and gave me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Bryant said.

She went from a smaller role at SeaWorld’s “Winter Wonderland on Ice” to a starring role at Busch Gardens this past Christmas, performing 50 shows in Williamsburg. In between, she performed in more than 150 shows over eight months while touring the Caribbean.

“That was a high-paced, high-intensity show,” she said of “Ice Games,” which was produced by Willy Bietak Productions and inspired by the game “Monopoly,” with a roll of the dice moving the ice stage set from one of the restaurants on the ship onto the casino or the boardwalk section, where Bryant had a solo. “It was a super fun show.”

She said the rink aboard the ship was only about a quarter of the size of an Olympic sheet of ice, and being at sea sometimes affected the performance.

“When we went over more significant waves, traveling through a storm or if it was really windy, you would feel the motion while skating, but being on the ship for as long a period of time as we were, we noticed it less than a guest would,” she said.

Professionally, Bryant has received guidance from Sammie Veloso, a professional show skater from Bedford, Va., who has also worked with Royal Caribbean and put on skating clinics at Liberty, where the two met. Veloso encouraged her to apply to shows after graduation.

“She was on the ship that I signed on to, so that was a really unique overlap,” Bryant said, noting that when Veloso’s cast of “Ice Games” was leaving the ship, hers was embarking. “She has been a really great resource and friend and encouragement to me. I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to apply to cruise ship shows if it hadn’t been for her.”

Bryant’s development of new skating skills has not been impeded by a serious injury to her right ankle that sidelined her for most of her senior season. She had surgery in October 2020 that left her in a boot and on crutches until January 2021.

“Thankfully, because I had amazing surgeons and doctors and the support system that I did, I was able to make a full recovery by the time of Liberty’s PraiseFest in May of 2021, right before I graduated,” Bryant said. “My injury prevented me from skating as much as I would have liked, but I was able to gain closure and some sense of accomplishment and reward for continuing to push through physically. Now, I feel that I am physically and mentally the strongest I have ever been in my life.”

Her success in show skating has left her amazed at God’s work in her life, even through the storms.

“I feel in awe even now, thinking back at what my body went through physically and mentally while still sustaining my schoolwork,” Bryant said. “It definitely encourages me to continue to push myself now and shows how incredible the human body is and how when you have the right support system around you, you are able to push through. At those low times, I didn’t believe in myself. I doubted myself (but) … Dr. (Deidra) Simpson, along with others in the Nursing Department were extremely understanding and were there for me above and beyond what a student could expect. They were personally invested, and were cheering me on, and (Simpson) was a constant in my life. She was a mother figure to me, a friend, an inspiration, and someone I looked up to academically as well.”

Simpson, an associate professor in the School of Nursing, recently traveled to Williamsburg to see Bryant perform.

“I’m incredibly proud of Carley,” Simpson said. “She overcame so much her last two years at Liberty, and it is such a blessing to watch her soar.”

Former Lady Flames figure skating and synchronized skating Head Coach Tatiana Payne, who now serves as Club Sports Associate Athletic Director and Senior Women’s Administrator at Liberty, witnessed Bryant bloom on the ice in her first three seasons as a member of the synchro team.

“Carley is a beautiful skater,” Payne said. “I’m happy for her to have found a way to continue skating since graduating from Liberty.”

Bryant said Liberty does an excellent job of admonishing its student-athletes to prioritize academics while excelling in their respective sports, noting that Payne and figure skating Head Coach Dawn Harter were also sources of inspiration.

She plans to apply her nursing degree after concluding her skating career, possibly as a midwife or labor and delivery nurse.

“I am really passionate about women’s health, being there for women in their most vulnerable moments and being able to support them medically and emotionally as well,” she said.

She said she has been able to inspire other skaters through her testimony and to witness to them about the source of her joy and peace, which derives from her faith.

“They know that the God that I believe in does not place judgement on them,” Bryant said. “I am able to bring a new understanding of Christianity to them by showing them that He is a God of love and forgiveness and second chances.”

She considers her skating career venture a blessing from the Lord, who gave her the gift.

“God is a very personal God,” Bryant said. “He cares that I love ice skating. He cares that I wanted my nursing degree so badly. He cares about personal lives, and He made us all unique and different. That comforts me, and I can see that looking back. I wouldn’t at first think of ice skating as a ministry, but He has allowed it to be that for me because that is my passion.”

“No one is one-dimensional,” she added. “We’re all so unique, and skating is what makes me who I am. What I get to experience is really unique. Now, I’m a show skater who can claim to also be a registered nurse. One day, I’ll say I’m a nurse first and that I used to be a professional ice skater.”