If American ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker know their stylistic strengths, they know even better how they aim to expand them — beginning with a season’s debut at this week’s Finlandia Trophy.
Their new short dance, featuring “Waltz of the Flowers” and “Dance of the Parents” from The Nutcracker, came through collaboration between the team and coach Anjelika Krylova as a vehicle to convey pure skating skills in a more classical manner.
“It’s definitely a little harder because we’re very flowy skaters — we still have that flow within our music and in our skating, but rather than blending movements [in a contemporary way] as we have in the past, especially with our free dances, we have to really hit and finish our lines as you would in a ballet,” said Baker, who also highlighted the importance of performance quality to the program’s success.
“Ballets are so intricate with their choreography, but sometimes they can get boring as it’s hard to see the expression and whatnot,” he continued. “So we’re trying to draw out different expressions throughout the program as well.”
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