by Jacquelyn Thayer
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After a world junior silver medal, Canadian senior bronze and a top eight finish at their first World Championships, how would Julianne Séguin and Charlie Bilodeau best tackle their first full year at seniors? Naturally, by maintaining a successful formula. Given a set of well-received and idiosyncratic programs from ice dance choreographers Shae Zukiwsky and Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon for the 2014-15 season, it was an easy call to return to work with both for this season’s material—this time with Shae-Lynn Bourne joining on the short, set to Cirque du Soleil’s “Monde Inverse.”
“I think it’s bringing us some other quality for skating skills,” said Séguin of working with dance-based choreographers. “I think we’re learning more than the past few years when we were just working at home with some choreographer. Just to go train somewhere else, with other ones that are doing dance. Both are bringing us new things, so I think it’s pretty nice.”
Zukiwsky first joined the pair’s crew when coach Josée Picard approached him to choreograph last season’s short program, a quirky character-heavy piece to the score of Grand Budapest Hotel, which he said allowed the team to “develop a different kind of chemistry and relationship between them.” This year’s selection takes a similar path—though selecting the music was a joint effort.
“We were on our way to Toronto to see Shae-Lynn, and [Picard] was just listening to some music of Cirque du Soleil, and she found the music that we are using now and she was like ‘Oh, listen to this! It’s nice music!’” said Séguin. Bourne and Zukiwsky concurred.
The piece lent itself to a colorful concept. “We went with a gypsy theme, one that would develop a certain style of movement that would highlight the nuances in the music,” said Zukiwsky. “Quirky, playful but exceedingly complex and intricate choreography underlies their short program for this season. It is an ambitious program but one that is performed very well by these two talented young athletes.”
And given the strictures of a senior pairs program—with time consumed by lift, spin, step sequence and more—creativity comes largely through a controlled process.
“Editing the music to reflect the various elements within the program is a crucial step in creating the program,” said Zukiwsky. “First, the structure of the program takes shape with the music edits and the sequence of elements. When we all are satisfied with this structure then the process of creating the movement style, the intricate transitions and character development can be well supported from this solid foundation.”
The collaborative approach has been successful for Zukiwsky and Bourne, who previously worked together on CBC’s Battle of the Blades. Both skaters and Picard also contributed to the program’s development.
Seguin and Bilodeau perform in the short program at 2015 Skate America. Photo by Tasos Katopodis – ISU/Getty Images.
“Once that structure was determined then Shae-Lynn and I really got to work, Shae-Lynn in the role of Julianne and myself in the role of Charlie,” said Zukiwsky. “The two of us improvise together, developing certain ideas, and organically the movement sequences begin to take shape. I teach my steps to Charlie and Shae-Lynn teaches her steps to Julianne. Often I will skate with Julianne and Shae-Lynn will skate with Charlie during the process of teaching the difficult choreography to the team. The process is very intense, yet there is plenty of laughter and smiles.
Once Julianne and Charlie learn the basic choreography then you can really begin to develop stylistic movement nuances and develop their characters. The music itself plays a vital role in this collaboration with both Shae-Lynn and I respecting the role the music plays in what we are trying to achieve.”
Though artistic approach has remained consistent, the pair have naturally worked to upgrade their elements in preparation for the jump in competitive level. Work in the off-season with Florida-based coach Lyndon Johnston, who previously coached Canadian pair Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers, was one tack. “He really helped us for lifts and twists, the technical elements,” said Séguin. “It makes a difference; with him, it’s bringing a sort of new technique that we were not doing.”
In the short, those element upgrades include a throw triple flip and new lift. The pair’s overall strategy, however, is one of holistic growth. “We are really focusing on quality of the elements and even in the skating skills—it’s a step for everything,” said Séguin.
“We would really like to increase our musicality and all about our skating, so it’s really in all those details that we work to be the best,” added Bilodeau.
Both partners highlight the athletic, energetic nature of their style as is, but especially credit a strong bond as providing the guiding light for their growth. “We’ve got a nice chemistry, me and Charlie, so it’s very together,” said Séguin. “We care about each other really a lot, so I think that’s why we can be a good team.”
“We’re really close as a team, so it could help us to be more together, everything like that,” agreed Bilodeau. “More maturity, all of that came from the fact that we’re close.”
And if the pair trust in their foundations, their choreographic and coaching team has full faith in their continuing development.
“Josée Picard has an excellent eye and has very ambitious goals for this team,” said Zukiwsky. “Josée is responsible for training the program throughout the season and her input is crucial. If the three of us, Josée, Shae-Lynn and myself are satisfied at the end of the choreographic process then one can be quite confident that Julianne and Charlie are going to have a great program for their season.”
Though an international debut of both programs at Nebelhorn Trophy was marred by a few uncharacteristic errors, an ISU personal best-scoring performance at Skate America—where the pair also picked up their first Grand Prix medal, bronze—suggests the process is once more paying dividends.
“Josee knows what we can do,” said Séguin. “It’s hard work—it’s a work in progress, for sure. But we’re pushing ourselves to be more like dancers and integrate some of their elements. I can’t say that it’s easy, but we’re working on that. There’s no tricks that I can say for that or anything—it’s just work hard and do it again, again and again.”