Madison Chock & Evan Bates

Maia & Alex Shibutani

Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue

All Photos © 2015 George Rossano

(10 February 2015)  Madison Chock & Evan Bates entered the free dance with the scantest of leads, 0.11 points, over the second place team, Alex Shibutani & Maia Shibutani, but pulled ahead to win by over four points with a personal best free dance score of 111.11 and a personal best total score of 185.06, to claim the 2015 Ice Dance Championship finally left vacant by Meryl Davis & Charlie White. The couple had heavily revised their short dance, and had perhaps skated it a bit carefully, but in their “An American in Paris” free dance, the team went full out and earned thirty-eight +3 Grades of Execution for an exemplary performance of their elements without a single visible misstep, while handling the packed, intricate choreography of their coach, Igor Shpilband, with ease.

Chock commented on the team’s win, “Tonight felt so great. The crowd was amazing. We could really feel the energy in the rink, and I think we used that really well. This was one of our best performances of the season, I would say. So it's just really exciting to have done that at the U.S. Championships.”

The team has only been competing together for three years. Chock reflected on the team’s quick rise, “Well, we’ve definitely come a long way from when we first started skating together. That was a tough year. We just kind of threw everything together, and it was such a whirlwind that I don't even remember it. But we've definitely grown a lot …”

Bates does not think past the current competition and refused to talk about possible legacies of the team. As he says, “We're Maddy and Evan. We've won one national championship, and we're very thankful for it, and ecstatic about it, and that's no legacy, that's just one national championship. I think it's a great start. … I think now you see like it's like ice dance is these days, it's whoever skates well on that day can win, based on so many factors, levels ... so I think we're just happy to have one.”

The team’s smallest GOE was +2, and they earned level 4 for all their lifts, their twizzles, and spins, and level 3 for their diagonal and circular steps

Their spectacular opening straight line lift, with Madison lifted high above the ice surface, like the Statue of Liberty on its pedestal, was made even more impressive by Evan’s six foot one inch height, and covered most of the length of the rink. The couple showed much improved crossing level 4 twizzles, which covered a long distance, and a level 3 circular sequence, showing their playful connection as they told the story of a couple falling in love in modern Paris. Their spin included a transitional kick by Chock over Evan’s head during the change of foot, and a dance lift exit.

The pair’s diagonal step sequence showed the syncopation of movement that is the hallmark of a jazz program. By the end of the program, the judges gave all +3 GOEs for their last two elements, a rotational lift and a choreographic spin, and the audience gave the team a partial standing ovation.

Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani, the silver medalists, earned 107.47 points for their free dance and 181.31 points overall, also personal bests for the team, which is coached by Marina Zoueva, Massimo Scali, Johnny Johns, and Oleg Epstein. The Shibutanis made a huge effort this year to improve their skills and develop more attack in their skating. They have significantly closed the gap between them and Chock & Bates.

Alex Shibutani discussed how the team’s season has gone so far, “This season has been kind of a different one for us. We've competed so many times already.” He added later, “And we've really made a lot of changes and a lot of improvements from the Grand Prix Final in December. Today was definitely our best performance of the season, and we're really looking forward to competing at Four Continents and the World Championships later on this year.”

Just as Chock & Bates’ short dance performance may have suffered from the unfamiliarity of the revised sections of the program, the Shibutanis had made significant changes to their waltz free dance to “Rosen aus dem Süden" and "The Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss, choreographed by Marina Zoueva and Massimo Scali to gain higher levels for their elements, and did not skate their free dance with quite the level of speed and attack they showed in their short dance. Like Chock & Bates, the brother and sister earned level 4 for all their elements, other than the circular and diagonal step sequences, and all positive grades of execution. However, the Shibutanis only earned twenty-one +3’s, and had 4 +1’s. The difference was particularly clear in the lifts, in which Chock & Bates excel, and in the spin, where the gold medalists showed more speed and transitions.

Becoming philosophical, Alex Shibutani commented, “I think the best teams, the best partnerships, are never truly satisfied. We're always looking to continue to develop and to top our last achievement. …. This year, after an Olympic season, we really took a lot of dramatic steps with our skating with our coaches to make the push forward into 2018 a very successful one. So we're very happy with this first year so far, and we’re looking forward to what we can accomplish at the Four Continents and the World Championships.”

The bronze medal was won by Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue with a total score of 164.74 points. Prior to the competition, Hubbell & Donohue had declared that the pair’s goal was to be named to compete at the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships, but worried that their more modern look and inclusion of hiphop movements in their program to music from the 2013 version of “The Great Gatsby” soundtrack, choreographed by Pasquale Camerlengo, might not be appreciated by the judges.

However, as Madison Hubbell spoke ruefully about the team’s performance in the free dance, where the team scored 99.31 points, that wasn’t the problem, “Well, for Zack and I, this wasn't quite the dream we had. I mean skating really well and skating your strongest, but we can only be thankful to our coaches and the last four weeks of really hard training, because even on a very off day, and struggling through every element, we were able to make our goal. So we're just going to keep going home and working harder, and looking forward to the next competitions.”

The students of Pasquale Camerlengo, Anjelika Krylova, & Natalia Annenko-Deller earned level 4 for all lifts, spins, and twizzles, and level 3 for the diagonal and circular step sequences, just as the silver and gold medalists did. Their scorecard did not include any negative grades of execution. However, the couple made small bobbles that kept some of their elements from receiving a grade of execution of +3.

The team’s circular step had some lovely deep edges, but their leg lines did not always match perfectly. During the curve lift, Madison missed her footing on Donohue’s foot when she was supposed to be in a vertical split, while Donohue was having trouble balancing on one foot. And, finally, Donohue was slightly off-axis during the second set of twizzles, which offset the nice arm movements in character with the music.

Hubbell & Donohue’s missteps were Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker’s gain. The 2014 Junior World Champions earned 162.45 points in their senior debut, only 2.29 points behind the bronze medalists, and were named to the 2015 Four Continents Championship team. When Hawayek & Baker were interviewed before the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships about their goals for the season, Hawayek said, "We want to maximize flow and our ability to tell stories and bring character to the programs.”

"And, of course, levels are very important," Baker added. "Since coming back from our last Grand Prix in Japan, we've spent five weeks drilling elements. We want to go to nationals and give it our best shot." And the young team, aged 18 and 22, did indeed do that, earning all level 4’s for their elements, except for level 3 for their step sequences, with all positive GOE’s.

The training mates of Hubbell & Donohue skated to the “Romeo and Juliet” soundtrack by Abel Korzeniowski, with choreography by their coach Pasquale Camerlengo. Their program was not as densely packed with transitions as the higher placing teams, and the team does not have quite the speed yet that the higher placed couples do, but what the duo does have are wonderful deep knees, a sweep and commitment to their movements, and precise phrasing to the music, producing step sequences where every step was precisely on a beat.

Particularly stunning was their trademark curved, made striking by the extreme lean that Baker achieves in his spread eagle, and the position that Hawayek is able to achieve, cantilevered straight out, nearly parallel to the ice. The couple also showed nice unison and matching lines, but not the greatest speed in the twizzles.

The fifth place team, Stasia Cannuscio & Colin McManus, earned a personal best score in the free dance, and a total of 156.48 points, also a personal best. Unlike Hawayek & Baker, whose pre-championship efforts at improving their programs centered on perfecting their elements, the team sought the help of Johnny Weir to make their Zombie-themed free dance, choreographed by two of their coaches, K. Ludington, A. Kirsanov, and which they perform to Camille Saint-Saëns' "Danse Macabre," and "A Transylvanian Lullaby" by Gil Shaham, more eerie.

McManus described their process this way, “He [Weir] said he would, and we spent about an hour working on the free dance. It was character work -- he wanted to give us star quality, and from someone who's such a star, we were happy to take whatever advice he wanted to give us! ...He helped us to be more creepy."

The couple, who are coached by K. Ludington, A. Kirsanov, and C. Moxley-Hutson earned level 4 for all lifts and twizzles, level 3 for a serpentine step sequence, but only level 2 for their diagonal sequence. All their GOE’s were positive, too.

The highlights of their unconventional routine were mirror twizzles with their free legs extended perpendicularly, in stunning unison, following a crossing pass so closely that the partners seem to nearly collide and a one-arm rotation lift with extreme up and down motion, which looked as though McManus were about to hurl Cannuscio off into space. The crowd were engaged throughout gave the team a partial standing ovation.

The sixth place team, Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton, made significant errors, and finished well back, over twelve points behind Cannuscio & McManus, with 140.11 points. The couple, who are coached by Marina Zoueva, Oleg Epstein, and Massimo Scali, skated to the “Gone With the Wind” soundtrack by Max Steiner. The pair earned level 4 for their lifts and twizzles, but only level 2 for both step sequences. Although the 2014 Four Continents bronze medalists showed lovely positions in their opening dance spin and had nice unison in the twizzles, by the end of the program, they seemed to tire and had significant problems, missing holds in the straight line lift, and earning negative GOE, and executing a rotational lift and choreographic spin that were not at the level of the earlier elements.

The team has decided to split up and to seek new partners.

Danielle Gamelin & Alexander Gamelin earned 131.28 points overall to finish in seventh place, four spots up from their last U.S. Nationals appearance in 2014. In May 2014, the twins had determined to really commit to their ice dance career and moved to Novi, Michigan, to train with Igor Shpilband, Adrienne Lenda, Greg Zuerlein, and Fabian Bourzat, and have made significant progress. The 2015 Eastern Sectional Champions skated to the soundtrack of Fellini’s movie "The Nights of Cabiria" by Nino Rota. The team has made significant progress, and achieved level 4 for two of their lifts, their pair spin, and their sequential twizzles. They earned level 3 for their diagonal step sequence and for their rotational lift, which did not have a large enough change of hold, and level 2 for their serpentine step sequence. All their GOE’s were positive.

The eighth place team, Anastasia Olson & Ian Lorello, earned a total of 129.20 points. The 2015 Midwestern Sectional champions skated to selections from the soundtrack of “Anna Karenina,” to choreography by their coach, Anjelika Krylova. The pair earned level four for their spin, twizzles, and lifts, but only level 2 for their diagonal and circular step sequences. The highlight of the routine was their opening curve lift, which had Lorello in a spread eagle with Olson in a platter position at his shoulder level. The team had a slight problem with the change of position in their final straight line lift, which finished with Lorello in a lunge position while he set Olson down, and were given a one point deduction for the extended lift.

Charlotte Maxwell & Ryan Devereaux made their debut as a team at the 2015 U.S. National Championships with an overall score of 122.50 points, in ninth place, with a tenth place position in the free dance. Maxwell last qualified for Nationals in 2009, when she was skating with Nick Traxler, while Devereaux last appeared when he skated with Shannon Wingle in 2008. The pair, who is currently coached by Marina Zoueva, Oleg Epstein, and Massimo Scali, seemed to truly enjoy skating their free dance to "Tango de Roxanne", "Your Song", and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the “Moulin Rouge!” soundtrack, and kept good speed and energy throughout.

The couple showed good level 4 twizzles in a crossing pattern, but only earned level 2 for their combination spin, and level 1 for their diagonal step sequence near the end of the program.

In ninth place in the free dance, but in tenth place overall, were Ginna Hoptman & Pavel Filchenkov, who are coached by Natalia Linichuk and Ilya Reyzin, with a score 72.66 for the free dance and 120.53 points overall. The highlight of their routine to a medley of Edith Piaf songs was a long lift composed of two curved lifts in opposite directions, with four different changes of position well synchronized with the music. The element received +1 due to musicality of the changes. Hoptmann & Filchenkov also showed a nice, lilting knee action during the song "La Foule."

The team earned negative GOE’s for their choreographic spin, which was not at all in time with the music, a requirement for the element.