I’m not yet ready to write exactly what I want to in more depth about Alexandra Paul and her skating legacy. But this collection of past interviews with, and observations about from others, may be a helpful resource for some. If you’re able, please consider donating to this GoFundMe to support baby Charlie and Mitch.…
Feature, Ice Dance, Interview
Hensen and Lickers Working to Make Their Move
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,…
Feature, Ice Dance, Pairs
A Hallelujah Chorus
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…
Feature, Ice Dance, Interview
Hubbell and Donohue Compose a Hallelujah
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…
Feature, Ice Dance
From the Vault: Finnstep and Theatrical Dance
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…