by Jacquelyn Thayer In spring 2024, two Canadian skaters were at a crossroads. Junior ice dancer Nicholas Buelow’s partnership with Dana Sabatini-Speciale, with whom he’d competed at three Junior Grand Prix events, had come to an end, while pair skater…
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…
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…
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…
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…
TFTI correspondent Reut Golinsky sat down with Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker after the rhythm dance at 2019 Nebelhorn Trophy. Reut: I wanted to start our talk from two photos you, Kaitlin, posted on your Instagram: the two of you…
by Claire Cloutier, special for Two for the Ice The rhythm dance at Skate Canada featured some great performances from a strong group of ice dancers in Laval, Quebec. There were a few surprises as well, both in the standings…
In addition to our Snapshot Stats on Tumblr, this Olympic season we’ll also be taking a numbers-oriented look right here at the topic of international assignments: who gets them, who doesn’t, and how often does reality reflect promise? Kicking things…
by Jacquelyn Thayer 24 hours. That’s approximately how much time passed, after a troubled free dance performance at the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, before Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker seriously mulled the possibility of bringing back — or, rather,…
With today’s surprise reveal of 2017-18’s Grand Prix assignments, Two for the Ice has compiled the hows, whys — and possible huhs — of who and how many assignments the dance and pair teams in question received. We’ll look first…
