PORTLAND – You need more than the bare necessities to be a principal skater with Disney on Ice.

Gig Siruno knows that it takes a world of experience to play the 10-year-old “man cub” Mowgli in the “Jungle Book” segments of Feld Entertainment’s “Jungle Adventures,” which will be staged 10 times Feb. 19-23 at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland.

Siruno is a two-time men’s U.S. national figure skating champ, and a competitor at nationals for a decade. The Minneapolis native passed the proficiency test from the U.S. Figure Skating Association in free skate, figures and moves in the field and the test from the Canadian Figure Skating Association in figures.

But it takes more than skills to star in a skating show, as the six-year pro has discovered.

“The company really focuses on performance level and characterization,” said Siruno by phone from a tour stop in Nashville, Tenn. “We’re fortunate to get that training, to learn how to portray a character in front of a large audience.”

Siruno was last in Portland as part of the cast of “Starlight Express” in 1997, the year he turned pro at the age of 25. He then spent three years as Johnny Casino and Teen Angel in “Grease on Ice” before joining “Jungle Adventures” in its first season three years ago.

The skater wasn’t even born when the animated “Jungle Book” first was released in 1967. Still, he said it wasn’t hard connecting with his inner child in order to portray Mowgli, who tags along with the bear Baloo on a series of misadventures in the jungle.

“It’s a regression back to my childhood,” Siruno said with a laugh. “Portraying a 10-year-old boy wasn’t that difficult. I learned by doing a character study from the film, and from watching kids in general. My character has a real sense of humor about him.”

Female figure skaters perform in often-scanty costumes. So how did Siruno adjust to skating in just a loincloth?

“At first, I was a little taken back,” he said. “There’s a lot less to my costume than other skaters perform in. I have to let go of myself, and really portray the character when I’m out there.”

Being a professional is a whole new world for skaters.

“It’s not like training the whole year for 41/2 minutes,” Siruno said. “There’s a level of consistency that you have to maintain every time you go out there. To get that, you need to get a lot of rest. Also, we do rehearse quite a bit.”

Siruno enjoys the travel that’s part of his job, and he’s visited every state but Wyoming.

Also, he said, the cast becomes a kind of surrogate family.

“A lot of these people I’ve been with since year one, and we’re really tight,” he said. “That camaraderie pays off when we’re on the ice.”

Playing blocks of shows in city after city can get to be a bit of a grind, but that doesn’t last, Siruno said.

“Sometimes, when you get up in the morning, you can’t believe you have to do three shows that day,” he said. “But when you step on the ice, hear the music, and see those happy faces, it’s like a reality check.”

Disney on Ice’s “Jungle Adventures” will have shows at 7 p.m. Feb. 19, 2 and 7 p.m. Feb. 20-21, 11 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m. Feb. 22 and 1, and 4:30 p.m. Feb. 23, at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland. Tickets are available at the civic center box office and all Ticketmaster locations or by calling 775-3458 or 775-3331.