С пресс-конференции SA
KAITLIN HAWAYEK + JEAN-LUC BAKER, ICE DANCE SILVER MEDALISTS
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker are the 2020 U.S. ice dance bronze medalists, 2018 Four Continents champions, 2014 U.S. junior champions, and 2014 junior world champions. They train at the Ice Academy of Montreal under Patrice Lauzon, Marie-France Dubreuil, and Romain Haguenauer. This is their ninth season together and first Skate America medal.
WHAT IS THE LEGACY YOU HOPE TO LEAVE BEHIND IN THE SPORT OF FIGURE SKATING?
HAWAYEK: [Jean-Luc and I] kind of have a joint legacy we’d like to share, but I just want to say that first of all, Madi, you do inspire other people, and I think that being able to see other skaters like yourself kind of embrace that definitely inspires people like myself and hopefully future generations to do the same, because I do think there’s a lot of challenge in the sport of figure skating in terms of the expectations to meet a certain mold. Being able to accept yourself has been something that our team of coaches has been so gracious to pass on to ourselves - it’s not just a coaching job to them. Improving yourself as a human and that acceptance of yourself on such a deep level is something that I’m continually working on, and I know Jean-Luc is as well, but yeah, you guys do bring that inspiration, so thank you, first of all, but I’ll let Jean-Luc take it from there.
BAKER: Beautifully said. A legacy that Kaitlin and I both really would love to leave is you know, with these times, it even strengthens our intentions behind the why we skate. When we perform, we really want to allow people to take three or four minutes out of whatever it is that they’re dealing with - ‘cause no one really has an easy life, everyone’s battling things internally, externally. So we know how much we love the sport, and the people that are sitting in the stands love it even more than us I’m guessing, so we really want to give people the opportunity to just kind of take a mental break, to go on a journey with us and realize that they can enjoy our performance and experience different emotions, and hopefully [we can] give them an opportunity to breathe. You know, I think when we’re performing, we get extremely nervous, like all the athletes, but it’s the most freeing experience at the same time, ‘cause all you’re thinking about is the next step - you’re not thinking about how you’re going to pay bills or different things like that! So it’s really cool, and we really want to take people on that journey.
WHAT ASPECT OF ICE DANCE AND OF BEING ICE DANCERS BRINGS YOU THE MOST JOY?
HAWAYEK: For me, the beauty of ice dance is to be able to tell a story and share emotions with so many different pieces of music, but having one thing constant being the person next to me. I think it’s so amazing, and it’s pushed us over the years to be able to explore different styles of music, because of the fact that there are so many different avenues that you can take when you’re on the ice with a man and a woman. I think that’s so beautiful, because there’s so many ways to portray that relationship - whether it’s disco or a free dance. I think that’s the beauty of ice dance, the ability to tell a story and really connect on a really deep level with that story.
BAKER: Yeah, I think that there’s something really special with being able to move an audience member, judges, anyone - a spectator realistically - within four minutes, to just have a fluctuation of emotions, not just with athleticism but art as well. I think that there’s something really special with being able to have a conversation with someone without speaking, so I think that having that kind of art form and sport is a really great opportunity for us to share. And it’s super cool to do it with Kaitlin because she makes it a lot of fun!
https://edgesofglory.com/articles/2020- … s-in-depth
