East Greenbush native's Elsa in Disney on Ice

Julianne DiMura was 4 or 5 when the mystical powers of Disney first cast their spell upon her. The enchanted force in question: "Beauty and the Beast." She watched it, oh, 20 times — "hard to say" — from a cozy encampment at her home in East Greenbush. "It was a 'Beauty and the Beast' tent," she recalled, "and I would sit inside the tent and watch the movie. I know that sounds strange, but I really loved the Belle character." Plus the story, the music, the anthropomorphic household objects — and so much else. Little did that wee girl know, but Disney's rarefied sorcery would reach into her life and influence her career.