Caleb SmithTitle: #SkateSparkleShine

General Information about Item:

• Folklore type: verbal – team motto
• English
• United States

Informant Data:

• Ellen Smalley was born in 1997 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She started to skate when she was around five years old, when her physical therapist recommended the sport to her and her family. She has been an active skater through her childhood and is now a member of Dartmouth’s Class of 2019 as well as a member of the Dartmouth Figure Skating Club.

Social Context/Cultural Context:

• The hash tag phrase #SkateSparkleShine is a team motto that is written to the end of every end-of-the-week email, or blitz, sent out to the Figure Skating Club. At the end of a week’s practice, everyone is tired and exhausted. Hence, the hash tag is included in the email to remind each skater that they literally “skate, sparkle, and shine.” Skate literally means to skate, sparkle refers to the skaters’ dazzling uniform and appearance on ice, and shine refers their each special individuality that “shines” in the dark. This helps to up everyone’s mood.
• This piece of folklore was collected during an interview about Ellen with Caroline at Dartmouth College’s Novack Cafe.

Item:

Informant’s Comments:

• “It’s a sweet way to end an email”

Collector’s Comments: #SkateSparkleShine is seems to be an equivalent to a way of signing off a letter or message, much like how “sincerely” is used. However, this phrase is specific to the Dartmouth Figure Skating Club and wisely used as a way to better a person’s mood and simultaneously to promote a team identity.

Collectors: Yun Yue Chen

Tags/Keywords:

#skatesparkleshine, #skatesparklechipotle, #skatesparklepanera,