Born and raised in Montreal, Canada, Roselle Soussana began skating at the tender age of three, but didn't begin lessons
until she was six. She started training out of the Brossard Figure skating Club in Quebec, which has also known skaters
Shae-Lynn Bourne and Sebastien Britten. Coached by Thierry Yvars and later by Paul Wirtz, Roselle became a familiar face on the Quebec
competition circuit throughout most of the 80s, winning several medals and awards and becoming an elite skater at the
novice level.
The unfortunate death of her father in 1988 left Roselle devastated and also caused her to uproot her life in Canada and
move to England. It was in England however, where she honed her now trademark artistic ability - training periodically under
choreographer Lorna Brown, and atttending several training schools held by Russian Olympic level coaches. After winning
the Scottish Junior Championships and the British Junior Championship silver medal, Roselle made the decision to leave
England and return home to her native land.
Landing in Chatham, Ontario, Roselle trained under Coach Chris Bourne until she moved to Barrie, Ontario and became a
member of the prestigious Mariposa Skating Club. Though she was in love with her chosen sport, Roselle had seen the
focus of "competition judging" shift from artistry to technical merit and her flawless presentation ability wasn't taking her
where she needed to go. She then decided to end her amateur career and begin her life as a professional skater.
A film offer from FilmOne Productions in Toronto was Roselle's first chance to showcase her artistry on the ice. A Film entitled Sometimes a Hero
written by Glen Gregory Doyle, Elvis Stojko's martial arts coach, gave Roselle the opportunity
to act, skate, and choreograph her skating routine. Roselle's stellar performance in this film has led her to be cast in two
more skating-related films.
Roselle has done numerous shows in both Europe and North America - showcasing her artistry through emotion, beautiful
lines and breathtaking spins and edges. Although performing for audiences will always be Roselle's true passion, she has embarked upon a coaching career, which brings her great joy, as she is able to pass on her vast knowledge of skating to future generations. Her pure love for teaching, coupled with her desire to greatly improve the artistic side of skating has led her into choreographing programs and working as a refinement specialist. Furthermore, Roselle gives on-ice seminars that encompass all of her teachings.
Roselle's seminars focus on developing a skater's artistry, movement & expression. Her seminars include various improvisation exercises to music, theatrical face & body movement for developing expression, group choreography, exploration of space & levels and many more fun, productive activities. She begins each seminar with warm-up exercises to music, where the skaters learn the importance of projecting their movements upwards and outwards while performing the basics of stroking, field moves, edges & turns. By the end of each seminar, the skaters that she works with gain more confidence, have a better understanding of musical timing, are able to add more emotional content to their performances and have greater fluidity to their movements. Overall, they become more aware of their artistic capabilities, and eliminate their inhibitions as performers, which enables them to really "come out of their shells" and share their true beauty with the audience.
Roselle is currently a choreographer and refinement coach at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club. She works alongside different coaches choreographing new programs for their students, refining already existing programs and fine-tuning all the little details that add to a skater's overall carriage and style. (See the Refinement Specialist page for more information.)
Roselle has choreographed several programs for Brian Orser: "Night and Day" for the Michael Bolton show in Autumn 2006, "Believe" by Josh Groban on "2005 Tribute to the Movies on Ice", "Sing A Song" by Earth, Wind, and Fire on the "Earth, Wind, and Fire: Tribute on Ice" show in 2005, "Mi Mancherai" by Josh Groban on Kurt Browning's "Gotta Skate IV" show in October 2004, and "Cantico" by Andrea Bocelli on "Andrea Bocelli Tribute on Ice" show in December 2004.
Roselle has also choreographed several programs for Elvis Stojko including "The Show Must Go On" by Queen which was his last skating performance before retiring in 2006, "Epilogue" by Triumph for the 2006 Stars On Ice show, "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day, a comedy routine to "Fin Fan" and "Alle Luce Del Sol" by Josh Groban which Elvis skated to in "Ice Wars 2005" and in Kurt Browning's "Gotta Skate V" in 2005.