Scott Smith is pretty decent at figure skating.
After all the 36-year-old from Baltimore has been doing it for most of his life. And it's taken him all over the world.
"I did competing for over 20 years," he said. "Then I was skating on cruise ships for about seven years before coming here."
'Here' is Cirque du Soleil.
Scott is part of its first touring ice show 'Crystal', which comes to Royal Farms Arena this week.
"It's really exciting. I've always been a fan of Cirque du Soleil," said Smith. "I never thought I'd have the opportunity to work for the company, being an ice skater. But last summer they started creating this show on ice and a dream came true and I'm a part of it."
And he gets to come home for the first time in 14 years.
"It feels amazing. I just ran into one of the coaches that knew me when I was this big, getting started," Smith said.
"From the moment he stepped on the ice it was quite obvious that he was a natural to the sport and that he was going to have success as well," said Smith's old figure skating coach, Brienne Firske.
Before 'Crystal' gets its start in Baltimore Scott decided to give back to where he got his start.
He hosted a skating clinic Tuesday morning, at Mount Pleasant Ice Arena, with some skaters from the Baltimore Figure Skating Club.
"It's awesome and it's showing kids what they can really do with the sport of skating," said figure skater Lauren Carrig. "That you're not just stuck in a certain box. That you can really go out there and you can do something as crazy as Cirque du Soleil."
And get paid to perform your passion in your hometown.
"When I was first given this opportunity I was kind of looking through all of the cities to see where I was going and it was like: 'Oh my god, Baltimore! I haven't been there in so long'. So it is definitely going to be the highlight for me," said Smith.
Scott and Cirque du Soleil are in town until Sunday.
'Crystal' runs July 5-8 at Royal Farms Arena.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
