Figure skater Nathan Chen talks staying busy ahead of Stars on Ice at Acrisure Arena

Nathan Chen isn't good at sitting still.

In the past year, the three-time world champion figure skater and defending Olympic champion released a memoir, published a children's book and continued his undergraduate studies at Yale University. He also prepared for a return to Stars on Ice, the touring ice performance that showcases many of North America's top professional figure skaters.

Stars on Ice is making its Coachella Valley debut Friday, and Chen took some time back in March to chat with The Desert Sun about everything from what the show entails to how he manages his busy schedule. The conversation below has been edited for clarity and brevity.

The Desert Sun: You've had quite a busy couple years. Can you walk us through what you've been up to since your decorated performance at the 2022 Beijing Olympics?

Nathan Chen: I was part of Stars on Ice last year, and the majority of the US Olympic team was on that cast. And it was really fun to travel around the U.S. for almost two months with that team. During that time, I started working on more writing. I had another show in Japan, and continued to work on the memoir ("One Jump at a Time: My Story"), and then I went back to school (after a leave of absence from Yale starting in 2020 to focus on training for the 2022 Winter Games). I'm currently a junior in college (majoring in statistics and data science at Yale University) so most of my time has been spent working on the book as well as getting through college.

And did I see that you had a second book published recently as well?

Yeah, so I had a children's book, "Wei Skates On," published as well as my memoir.

That's quite a few things going on. How would you say that you stay organized? Do you like being busy?

I think so. Yeah. I mean, skating takes up a lot of time and is a huge commitment. So having a very consistent daily structure is really important to me. (When I wasn't skating) I was taking time off to sort of relax my body and work on the book and other things.

For sure. So tell me a little bit about the process of preparing for this tour. You're surrounded by a cast of very accomplished skaters who are all busy people, so does that impact the amount of time you have to rehearse?

Yeah, it's a little bit more challenging. I'm not competing at Worlds this year, that's happening right now (in March). So for those athletes that are competing at Worlds, they have to focus on competition, that comes first. And then right after that, a lot of them go to Japan to do another Stars on Ice in Japan, as well as Stars and Ice in Canada. So the turnaround time is pretty quick. So given that, a lot of times, it's just whatever programs are readily available. But I'm certainly in a position where I can spend a little more time to try to think about what the theme is, and try to organize my song choices around that. It's a really fun opportunity to really get to connect with so many skaters that you wouldn't normally otherwise. The shows allow a lot of opportunities to come together as a group, which we don't often get. So that's going to be a lot of fun, too. We have about a week to prepare for that. So that's sort of the timeline in terms of the group members, but for the individual numbers, we have from now until the show to start crafting.

OK cool. And what's your involvement in terms of the creative decisions?

So the individual numbers are mostly crafted by the athlete themselves, so whatever they feel so inclined to do. And then the group numbers and the theme of the show was done by a choreographer, Jeffrey "Jeff" Buttle. He's a world champion ice skater and incredible choreographer. He's worked on Stars and Ice for many years at this point, and does incredible work. So he's the one who sort of guides the flow of the show.

Performing for a crowd and competing for judges are two very different things. What do you enjoy about this chance to showcase the artistic side of your abilities?

Definitely. It's just about having fun and being able to enjoy it, and I think if you are really showing joy out on the ice, the audience will enjoy what you're doing as well. It gives you a little bit more artistic freedom, not having to focus so much on the technical side of things, which is fun. Oftentimes in shows, you still want to do some cool technical things. But all that aside, as you're mentioning, it's a lot more relaxed, a lot more fun, a lot more engaging, compared to being so focused and being so precise for competition.

Absolutely. And what's it like being back with full audiences again post-pandemic?

Last year was so much fun, just being able to travel around and be able to see all the different people that came out to support, it was incredible. It really makes us feel appreciated, like the work that we put in is good, because it goes to good use. It'll be really, really exciting to be able to see people again and to be able to perform in front of a big crowd.

Do you ever get the chance to interact with any fans on a tour like this?

We usually have a meet and greet. So fortunately, we get to meet some of the fans that come to the show. So that's gonna be a lot of fun. (Editor's note: 2023 Meet and Greet passes are available for purchase so fans can collect autographs and bring their cameras for photos and selfies. Only a limited number of passes are available.)

The arena you're performing in here is quite a big deal in the Palm Springs area, because it just opened in December and is the first of its kind in the Coachella Valley. What would be your elevator pitch for desert residents who might not be familiar with skating because they grew up without easy access to a rink? Why should they check out this show?

I think, first of all, the show in itself is a super entertaining, very well put together show. And figure skating live versus seeing it on TV is a very different sort of feeling and excitement. It really comes through when you're able to watch skating live, these athletes are all extraordinarily accomplished. They're either the top of the top of the top currently, or going to the top of top in the next couple years. And so you're gonna be able to see athletes of all different age ranges. I think the main selling point of the show is just the cast of skaters, and all the incredible things that they've personally accomplished. I don't think you're gonna be able to find a better group of athletes who compete for the U.S. Apart from that, if a family comes in, hopefully it becomes something that's interesting to them or looks cool to do. It's a great hobby, at the very least, or a career path that hopefully more people can be exposed to.

What do you get out of those daily interactions with fellow castmates on tour?

I think at the end of the day, we're all humans, and we're all doing our very best in the sport. So regardless of competition, we all want to see each other succeed and be the best selves that we can be. So it's really wholesome and awesome to have a really good cast of skaters who love and respect each other. And being able to spend that much time together, you really get close to these people, they become like your second family. So, when skating is no longer something that we spend every single day doing, we know we have these people that we've shared so many memories with who have our backs and will be with us all the time. I think that's probably the most important thing that comes out of these shows.

If you go

What: Stars on Ice

When: Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 26

Where: Acrisure Arena, 75-702 Varner Road, Palm Desert

Cost: $36-$156

More info: Visit acrisurearena.com. Call 760-835-8778, extension 3 for to inquire about group sales for groups of 10 or more.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Olympic figure skater Nathan Chen talks time management, Stars on Ice