Shiyue: She said "Oh, I have some ideas. Maybe you can do Charlie Chaplin and you can wear exactly the same costumes. That would be fun!" But in the beginning, [Xinyu] didn't really like the funny style.
Xinyu: Yeah, I don't like the funny style. Before in these 12 years that we've skated together, we've never skated in a funny style.
Shiyue: Yeah, because he likes cool [styles].
[All laugh]
In advance of his Senior Grand Prix debut, 2018 US Junior Men’s champion and two-time Junior Grand Prix Final competitor Camden Pulkinen took the time to chat with us after An Evening With Champions, an annual Harvard University-run ice show that benefits The Jimmy Fund. Read all about Camden’s perspective on the upcoming season, what he hopes to convey with his skating, and his friendships with skaters from all over the world in the interview below!
After a season away from competition, 2017 US champion and 2018 Olympian Karen Chen is returning to the international stage with her first Grand Prix assignment, Skate America, in just two weeks. We sat down with her to discuss the changes she’s made in the past year -- including enrolling as a full-time student at Cornell University -- and what she hopes to take from her early-season competition experience heading into the Grand Prix series. Read all about it in the interview below!
Becs: Good costumes are such a draw in terms of just being like "Yes yes you are worthy!"
Gabb: Especially if they're sparkly!
Becs: Yes sparkles please!
Kat: Aka Ice Dance ladies.[Gabb: Yes!] 90% of the time deliver with their costumes.
Becs: Yes. One thing that is so beautiful about picking who you're going to photograph is ah Ice Dance ladies and ladies in general show up looking usually fabulous most practices even so...
Kat: And then you have the men with like 80% black costumes or monochrome.
Becs: Yeah it's tragic, it's a tragic contrast.
In advance of their upcoming first Challenger event, Great Britain’s ice dance power duo Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson sat down with us for an interview to talk about last year’s fabulous free dance and how they feel going into the new season, as well as their individual interests and hobbies. The team garnered a lot of attention from fans as well as many personal bests last season with their 80’s themed free dance.
Read about that and more in our interview with them here!
In The Loop had the opportunity to talk to the promising new U.S. junior ice dance team, Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen, who graciously agreed to speak with us prior to their Junior Grand Prix debut at JGP Courchevel this week. Although they just teamed up earlier this year, Katarina is the 2017 US Intermediate Champion and the 2018 US Novice Champion with her former partner Howard Zhao, while Jeffrey is the 2018 US Novice Silver Medalist with former partner Gianna Buckley, and also the younger brother of 2017 US Champion Karen Chen.
Read about their programs, goals, role models and more in our interview with them here!
Taeri: It seems like in every competition cycle there's a number of skaters, especially those from smaller federations, who talk about their financial struggles. There are just a lot of little things that factor into making the sport burdensome like travel, housing, and accommodation - not just for the skater but for their coaches and their families. We've looked into multiple ways that skaters fund their own careers and it honestly varies based on factors like a skaters federation, their world ranking, even their popularity to get booked for shows.
