‘I play Steven Tyler. It’s a very interesting costume’ Ann Marie Mcqueen talks to the Emirati figure skater Zahra Lari ahead of the Abu Dhabi Figure Skating Team’s show this weekend at Zayed Sports City

We talk to the Emirati figure skater Zahr Lari ahead of her show with the Abu Dhabi Figure Skating Team at Zayed Sports City Ice Rink this weekend.

Zahra Lari. Courtesy Zayed Sports City

Zahra Lari is used to dressing up for her figure-skating performances – but this weekend one of her outfits will be a little more outrageous than normal.

The first Emirati to compete internationally in the sport, Lari will lead 50 skaters of all ages in the Abu Dhabi Figure Skating Team’s annual gala, a reality show parody called The Ice ­Factor this weekend.

“I play Steven Tyler [the Aerosmith frontman],” she says. “It’s a very interesting costume.” Lari will go on to perform in six numbers during the show at Zayed Sports City Ice Rink tomorrow night and Saturday night.

The 18-year-old is a first-year student at Abu Dhabi University, where she is studying environmental health and safety. And although she is still recovering from spraining a ligament in her back over the summer, which meant she had to cancel all competition plans for the rest of the year, she will be back in the new year starting with the New Year’s Cup in Slovakia, from January 3 to 6.

She has a new coach – the Hungarian Zsolt Kerekes, who steered the Dutch skater Manouk Gijsman to her national title in 2009 – and is working on mastering more difficult spins, intricate footwork and her first two triple jumps, the the salchow and toe-loop.

With a more flexible university schedule, it’s been easier to fit in two to four hours of daily training, meaning no more 4.30am rink sessions before classes.

Lari, who began skating when she was 11, believes the attention she’s received in recent years is boosting the sport’s popularity.

“Since I’ve started and more people know about it, we’ve had more locals joining the team,” she says.

• Tickets for The Ice Factor start from Dh50 and can be bought in advance from www.ticketmaster.ae and on the door at Zayed Sports City Ice Rink