An individual poured an unknown substance onto a temporary outdoor ice rink at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts late Thursday night, leading to the cancellation of a performance by a Canadian ice-skating troupe, the venue said in a statement.
The U.S. Park Police, which has special jurisdiction over the Kennedy Center, said that it had responded to a call for assistance from the center just after noon on Friday. The center’s special police, a separate entity, reported that an individual had entered the property just before midnight on Thursday and damaged the ice by strewing a dark liquid across it.
The park police said that an investigation was continuing and that it was reviewing security footage from the venue. No arrest has been made.
Roma Daravi, a spokeswoman for the Kennedy Center, said on social media on Saturday that a container that had been left on the ice was being tested for DNA evidence.
The canceled performance by the troupe, Le Patin Libre, was to be a part of a seven-show run at the Kennedy Center that began on Feb. 17. According to the troupe, the rink was repaired in time for the two shows it had scheduled for Saturday.
Ever since President Trump began an aggressive overhaul of the Kennedy Center last year, artists have faced pressure to boycott the institution. More than two dozen performers have canceled appearances, though Le Patin Libre kept its dates.
Alexandre Hamel, the troupe’s founder and one of its choreographers, said in an interview this month that canceling the performances in Washington had not been an option for the small company, which had structured its season around the Kennedy Center shows. The performances were two years in the making, and Le Patin Libre had designed and built the temporary ice rink, first testing it in Montreal.
Daravi called Thursday’s incident a “calculated, malicious attack,” saying in her statement that the venue would “hold those responsible accountable.”
Le Patin Libre said in a statement on Saturday that the damage done to its rink had not yet been claimed as an act of protest, adding that it supported “nonviolent protest” as well as “responsible and clear civil disobedience.”
Before Le Patin Libre began its run at the Kennedy Center, it released a statement reiterating its values of “artistic independence” and “resilience in the face of adversity.” The troupe said its show at the center, “Murmuration,” was designed to explore “the fragile dynamics of collective behavior.”
The company and individual skaters said they had committed to donating a portion of their proceeds to U.S. organizations that were “dedicated to education and social justice.”
“We are here to do our work as artists under the constraints of the current circumstances,” the statement said.
Michaela Towfighi is a Times arts and culture reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early career journalists.
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