Clad in black leggings, white ice skates and identical gray T-shirts, 18 girls glide over the ice. Groups of five hold hands and skate with one leg in the air, while others move in wheel-like motions in perfect unison, all with brilliant smiles.
They seem to form a single unit of undulating lines, twirling elegantly as the orchestral music swells.
It looks like figure skating with the team precision of synchronized swimming thrown in. And in some ways, synchronized skating is a mash-up of the two.
The international sport, in which teams of eight to 16 perform as a unit, has been around since 1956. And while there are more than 600 "synchro" teams in the United States, in Minnesota, where figure skating dominates, synchro teams are uncommon.
In fact, there's only one in the state — the Northernettes Synchronized Skating team — that has junior, novice and juvenile teams competing at the national level.
Founded by competitive skater Alana Christie in 2017, the all-female Northernettes haven't been hampered by a lack of local competition. The junior and novice teams are heading to the U.S. Synchronized Skating National Championships in Rhode Island next week.
"It's been a really crazy experience. Our teams have improved and been competitive much quicker than I would have ever imagined," Christie said.
The sport, which runs from May to February, comes with a major time commitment.