‘Disney On Ice: Follow Your Heart’ brings Wenatchee’s Kaela Kapeikis to Spokane Arena

Unbeknownst to many, Cinderella hails not from a kingdom in a faraway land, but from Wenatchee.

OK, not the Cinderella in the Disney movie, but the Cinderella in “Disney On Ice: Follow Your Heart.”

Figure skater Kaela Kapeikis, who portrays Cinderella in the show, grew up in Wenatchee and will return to Washington when she performs as Cinderella in the Disney spectacular at the Spokane Arena this weekend.

“Disney On Ice: Follow Your Heart” features all your favorite Disney characters, including Dory and Hank from “Finding Dory,” Joy, Sadness and the rest of the emotions from “Inside Out,” Olaf, Kristoff, Anna and Elsa from “Frozen,” the Disney Princesses, Buzz Lightyear, Woody and the rest of the “Toy Story” gang, and, of course, Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy.

In her third year with “Disney On Ice,” Kapeikis is going on her second year playing Cinderella in “Follow Your Heart.” She previously played Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” in “Disney On Ice: Let’s Celebrate!”

“The day I found out that I was going to be portraying Cinderella, my dad had sent me a photo from when I was about 6 or 7 years old and I was Cinderella for Halloween,” Kapeikis said before a performance in Portland.

The daughter of two figure skaters who met performing with “Disney On Ice,” Kapeikis has been skating practically her entire life.

Aside from her parents’ influence, Kapeikis was attracted to figure skating because it played to her goal-driven personality.

“You never can be the best there ever was,” she said. “You always will have a goal that you’re looking towards no matter how good you get. There’s something you can do better, and there’s something that you can work on and improve on.”

Kapeikis enjoyed her time competing but really loved performing in Christmas shows and other events at the Wenatchee Figure Skating Club.

With that in mind, trying out for “Disney On Ice” was an easy decision for Kapeikis to make after she graduated from high school.

“Growing up, I knew this is exactly what I wanted to do,” she said. “I knew I wanted to come here and be part of this ‘Disney On Ice’ family.”

Kapeikis sent a video to a casting director, then had a formal audition. A few months later, she received an email asking her to join “Let’s Celebrate!” and she’s been on the road ever since.

“Follow Your Heart” toured the East Coast for 10 months last year and is about two months into its West Coast tour.

Skaters perform one to three shows a day, with one or two days off each week.

Limited to two 50-pounds bags each, travel days can be a struggle for the performers.

“It can definitely be challenging sometimes on those flight days when you put your bag on the scale and you’re hoping it’s under 50 pounds,” Kapeikis said. “It’s definitely different than having a normal job and living in an apartment. It shows you to not live so materialistically.”

The camaraderie built between the cast and crew members makes those challenges worth it though, as does the joy Kapeikis feels when she sees families in the audience.

“You’ve got parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles. Everyone gets together to go see a ‘Disney on Ice’ show,” she said. “It’s not just about the kids loving the characters, which, of course, they do and I love seeing that, but I also love seeing the families, how they get to bond together to watch this magical experience they’re seeing.”

And if she has her way, the 20-year-old Kapeikis sees a lot more of this magical experience in her future.

“Hopefully if my body lets me, I’ll be here for quite a few more years getting to skate and enjoying seeing so many different things and having a lot of fun.