Young Santa Barbara Ice Skater Dances her Way to National Competition in Chicago

Maeva Chapman to Compete in “National Solo Dance Final” Sep. 14-17

15-year-old Maeva Chapman will compete in the “National Solo Dance Final” in Chicago this month | Credit: Courtesy

When 15-year-old Maeva Chapman takes the ice to compete in the National Solo Dance Final in Chicago this month, she’ll be excelling at the highest echelon of competition in her sport. Not only that, she’ll be the first athlete from Goleta’s Ice in Paradise to reach this level.

“I’m really proud that all the endless hours of hard work I put into this is paying off,” said Maeva, who began skating at Ice in Paradise when the rink opened in Goleta eight years ago. She first learned how to skate at age 3, when her family lived in France, then at age 6 she began going to the rink in Oxnard, before S.B. County had a rink of its own. Currently ranked second in Juvenile Combined Solo Dance and third in Bronze Solo Dance in the Pacific Division, Maeva — whose father is a third-generation organic farmer and grandson of Fairview Gardens founders — is both a freestyle skater and an ice dancer and will compete September 14-17 to try to bring home some medals home to Santa Barbara.