by Jacquelyn Thayer. Cover photo by Danielle Earl. For many ice dance fans, the Lake Placid Ice Dance competitions in July mark the new season’s start. But with livestreaming unavailable for 2022’s event, those at home resorted to the decade-old days of awaiting written reports, photos, and rogue video of programs of interest—particularly, this year,…
by Jacquelyn Thayer Leonard Cohen, needless to say, was a master. He may have been the kind of singer-songwriter you discovered, like me, as a teen or college-aged indie rock fan, along with acts like Nick Drake and the Velvet Underground. If you’re Canadian — and especially from his native Quebec — he’s a homegrown…
by Jacquelyn Thayer Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue have hit a sort of “Hallelujah” trifecta. Certainly they’re the first team to marry skating’s favorite versions of the Leonard Cohen composition—those of Jeff Buckley and k.d. lang—in a single program, and the first to present two separate programs to the song. And more than this, they…
by Jacquelyn Thayer Adapted and updated from previous posts on Step Sequences. For an erratic and irregular season, marked by intermittent competition and frequent COVID-related event cancellations, the ISU sagely allowed ice dancers to repeat the 2019-20 season’s rhythm dance pattern, the fan favorite Finnstep. The pattern, as its name suggests, takes off from the…
Part 4 of a series on young coaches. Read parts 1, 2, and 3 at the links. by Jacquelyn Thayer Colin McManus: I’ve learned to have a different appreciation for my coaches because coaching is horrible. I’m talking like coaching at a competition. It’s horrible. Horrible. It is the worst nerves that you’ve ever had.…
Part 3 of a series on young coaches. Read parts 1 and 2 at the links. by Jacquelyn Thayer I think one thing that coaching has taught me, and also being a freeskater—try to have an open communication with your athletes, asking them questions, because I think we are so inclined to think we’re just…
Part 2 of a series on young coaches. Read part 1 at the link. by Jacquelyn Thayer Growing up a coach’s son, I definitely gained some insight into the job from my dad. I think my first memory is just how much traveling is involved when you have your own program—competitions, seminars, etc. My dad…
by Jacquelyn Thayer How does the skater become the coach? It was the question that returned to mind with each summer competition circuit; one more retired competitor would take a new seat in the kiss & cry, trading in team jackets and self-critique for business casual and constructive support. From a wave of retirements in…
by Jacquelyn Thayer During a 1920s jazz club-themed group number at the Laval, Quebec, stop of Rock the Rink, the skating show set to wrap its tour of Canada this Saturday, my attention was caught by something out of the spotlight. While world champion Carolina Kostner ably vamps through “Why Don’t You Do Right,” the…
TFTI correspondent Reut Golinsky sat down with Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro after the short program at 2019 Nebelhorn Trophy. Reut: I wanted to start our talk from looking at the previous season and then moving to this one. Last season was your first season as the leaders of Canadian pairs and I understood it…
