It began the same way that most interactions between discerning parents start out: the movie Frozen was involved.
Susan Lepin, professional elf and Christmas lover, was performing as one of Santa’s helpers up at Grouse Mountain ski resort a few seasons ago when a sudden burst of encouragement from a parent connected her with the individual who would become her partner in providing topsy-turvy children’s entertainment.
“I was working as an elf up at Grouse three Christmases ago and kept singing ‘Let It Go’ to the kids – because that was the hot song at the time from Frozen – and so one of the moms came up to me and said, ‘Would you come do my daughter’s birthday party?’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’ve never thought of that but that sounds like a lot of fun,” Lepin explained.
“I contacted Katie because people kept telling us that we needed to meet because we were both goofy 40-year-old women and the rest is history.”
Katie Brock and Lepin have only known each other for a few years but the camaraderie displayed between the pair – they go by the performing moniker Ginger and Snap – would suggest they’re long-lost friends, the only people capable of matching the other’s eccentricities, infectious energy and overall verve when it comes to performing.
Brock (who goes by Ginger) and Lepin (Snap) look forward to December ever year.
The duo is part of this year’s Breakfast with Santa event at Grouse, where they’ll be helping to provide people of all ages with a chance to enjoy breakfast on top of the mountain alongside Father Christmas and some sprightly elves.
The duo has also been given their own spot in Grouse’s Peak of Christmas lineup of live entertainers.
They’ll be performing on a stage in the main Grouse lodge for an hour every weekend and then every single day in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
“A Ginger and Snap project is about having an amazing time, having fun, but one of the things that we feel very proud about is that the adults generally like our shows too. We’re gearing it towards little ones but generally we keep the adults interested, which is great,” Lepin said.
Lepin and Brock aren’t exaggerating when they say they keep audiences interested.
Even though the duo spoke to the North Shore News on the phone, they informed the newspaper that they were sitting side-by-side, wearing fake reindeer antlers as a means of getting into character during the interview.
A sense of fun seems to follow them wherever they go – or more likely they bring it with them.
“It’s pretty full-on, it takes a lot of energy, but being up there is totally magical, it puts us right into the Christmas spirit and it’s just so pretty,” Brock said. “We really love doing it. It always puts us in a good mood.”
Both Lepin and Brock come from musical backgrounds.
Lepin did some music training at Capilano University’s esteemed jazz program and also performs with a jazz blues trio.
Brock has been a singer and musician for more than 10 years and is especially adept when it comes to songwriting.
She also performs with the acclaimed Pandora's Vox and Espiritu Vocal Ensemble and teaches a program called Music Together for tots at the Gleneagles Community Centre.
After forming Ginger and Snap, the duo quickly decided it was time to move on from singing songs from Frozen and “write our own stuff,” they said.
What’s a Ginger and Snap performance like? It’ll involve a lot of fun, a lot of singing, a lot of banter, and hopefully a lot of laughs.
“It’s basically just fun, upbeat kids music that parents will enjoy,” Brock said. And then she belted out a note: “‘I had a hippopotamus his name is Fred.…’”
Lepin and Brock banter with the kids, feed off their energy, and generally try to expose everyone in attendance to a good time.
They’ll hand out jingle bells, reindeer antlers, get kids on stage, play the hokey pokey – fun kids stuff.
Underneath the layers though, there’s humour for mom and dad, they insisted.
“Katie will say, ‘All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth,’ and I’ll say, ‘Oh really, all I want for Christmas is two bottles of Chardonnay,’” Lepin explained.
When they’re not performing as part of Grouse’s Christmas festivities, Ginger and Snap do birthday parties, community events and even singing telegrams – they’ll show up at an event and sing songs or messages – for those that want their high-octane energy.
But they look forward to being Christmas elves most of all.
“Truly, going up to Grouse for a lot of families at Christmas is a tradition. For a lot of families too, it’s their big splurge – if they’re not going away for vacation or what-not, going up to Grouse for the day is their big holiday.
It’s really, really rewarding to be part of that and making it a great day for people,” Lepin said.
Brock described a memory from last year that she found particularly meaningful.
She said that after they finished their shows they would typically go out into the audience for a bit of “elf mingling,” as they call it.
The pair was walking around interacting with people, taking photos with kiddos and chatting with families.
All of sudden they encountered a family who had watched the performance who also happened to be refugees from Syria who had recently arrived in Canada.
“They had just arrived two months before, this was their first … everything – their first snow, first Christmas, first everything. We went over, took some pictures with them and just talked with them. They were absolutely so appreciative,” Brock said.
“Both of us are emotional. We teared up.”
Looking beyond the holiday season, Ginger and Snap are readying their debut album for release in January.
More information about the duo can be found on their Facebook page at facebook.com/gingerandsnapmusic.
Information on Grouse Mountain’s Peak of Christmas programming can be found at grousemountain.com/peak-of-christmas.
Asked if Lepin and Brock have become best friends during the brief course of their Ginger and Snap relationship they both answer in the affirmative.
“In life it has been amazing to just find another human that is as weird, if not weirder, than I am,” Lepin said.
