At Skate America, we caught up with a few coaches to get their thoughts about their students’ performances at the first Grand Prix event of the season.

Patrice Lauzon (I.AM)

Ice dancers from the I.AM (Ice Academy of Montreal) school swept the podium at Skate America, with Chock/Bates taking gold, Lajoie/Lagha winning silver, and Lopareva/Brissaud earning a surprise bronze medal. Four other I.AM teams also competed at the event. Lauzon spoke about the medalists.

Q:  Your team Evgenia Lopareva & Geoffrey Brissaud won the bronze, coming ahead of several teams that defeated them at 2023 Worlds. How do you feel about their progress right now?

Lauzon:  They’re improving really, really well. They’ve been full-time in Montreal now for the first season. Last season, they were doing more half-and-half. They still work with their French coach, Roxane Petinin. So it’s still a collaboration. But this happened [training in Montreal] much more time this season. So when you have that stability of training and environment, like we have in Montreal, where they’re training with other teams and being in that environment, it helps a lot to progress and improve. It makes it easier to work. That’s one of the reasons why they made the switch, to have more time. Because in France, they were training more alone, and it’s more difficult. They’re a great team. They train super-hard; they are very motivated. It’s nice to see them do well.

Q:  It seems like North American audiences are just starting to get to know them and their personality.

Lauzon:  They have a very interesting personality and a way of performing that is, for me, typical of French teams. They bring originality and express things in different ways. Throughout the years–I don’t know why, maybe somebody could do research on this–but the French teams have always had something special about them. It’s fun to see.

Q:  Lajoie and Lagha obviously had struggles this summer, with Zak’s injuries. How are they doing coming back from that?

Lauzon:  Very difficult beginning of the season. We call them the Super Kids. They’re a training machine. They like to train; they’re very dedicated. And for them to have to hold back and not train [fully] for a couple of months because of injury was very difficult. But they were able to go back to their full training not that long ago. So to see them make such a big difference already … When they did their first competition [Ondrej Nepela Trophy], they had only been back into [training] the programs like two weeks before. So it was very short. And it was harder for them. But now, we’re in the season and they’re able to do more programs. They’re a team that likes to do a lot of programs and training. So you start to see that coming together for this competition.

Q:  Madison Chock and Evan Bates spoke about their “Time” Pink Floyd program, which is based on a song from the album Dark Side of the Moon (1973). They said their coaches thought last season was maybe not the right time for this program. But this season, you thought it was a good time for it.

Lauzon:  It was mainly that last season, when they brought the concept … Well, first of all, we already had a team that was doing a concept about time. Not exactly like they were doing [proposing], but a little bit similar. And then, I didn’t really get it at that time. I didn’t see the overall picture. And I don’t think, also, that they had their overall picture yet. Then I was in my car, and the announcer started playing music from The Dark Side of the Moon, because it was the 50th anniversary [of the album], with a remastered album and a special edition for the event. And we started listening to that album, which is one of the greatest of all time. And there’s an actual story to the album–which they’re not  [Chock and Bates aren’t] doing–but there’s an actual story to the album and a concept, and I was like, How do we do this? We’ve done Pink Floyd in the past, and I feel like it’s been done [by others] in the past. So that’s why I was a little afraid of it for them, because you want to bring something new. But I don’t think anybody has done this storyline, the way it looks. We could have used “Money”–I’ve used other parts of the same album. But having the concept be around “Time” and as a concept for the whole album–because we tried to put everything from the album in, but we ended up using this song (“Time”) because the album is like an hour long. There’s so many great songs in it. So that’s why we structured it around “Time.” 

Q:  When was it that you had the idea to go forward with this program?

Lauzon:  It was probably spring, yes, before summer. For Madi and Evan, the past couple of years, since the Olympics, have been a little trickier for them, because they do a lot of tours. They’re into their touring season. Which I think they should do–athletes at that level need to make money in the sport. But to fit that, with the professional skating and the schedules, it’s a little trickier. We did a better job this year. Last year was harder. We prepared a little sooner [this year]. So I don’t remember exactly the dates, but it was sooner than last year.

Q:  Chock and Bates do very well performing programs that have a lot of detail, such as their iconic “Snake” and “Astronaut” programs. But the Pink Floyd music is more big and sweeping, maybe not so detailed. How do you see that working for them?

Lauzon:  I think, first of all, this program will be as detailed as any program. It’s just that they’re still pretty fresh [with it] and in the process of it. It will evolve a lot from now until Worlds. But, in this piece, I would like for them to explore more of their power. They’re a very powerful team. It’s not showing as much yet, but it will grow. Especially the first part of the song, which is very powerful, very grounded music, it will show that side of the scale, which I think we want to show as much as we can. 

Jenni Meno  (Great Park Pairs) 

The Great Park Pairs group, headed by Meno and husband Todd Sand, had two teams competing at Skate America. Former U.S. junior pairs medalists Isabelle Martins/Ryan Bedard, who recently re-paired after a break, placed fifth. And Chelsea Liu and Balazs Nagy won a Grand Prix bronze medal just six months after teaming up. Meno talked about the new team.

Q:  Chelsea and Balazs won an unexpected bronze medal here at Skate America. How do you feel about their performances at this event?

Meno:  We had a goal for them to do a little bit better than they did at Autumn Classic [in September]. And I think that we definitely accomplished that. I was very proud of them, especially in the short program yesterday. And in the practices, they skated very well, every practice here. So I think they’re definitely going in the right direction. They train very well, and they do everything we ask of them. And basically, the goal for this season is just to continue to do a little bit better at each event. I don’t feel that they should think about placement at all, for the whole season. Even when we get to U.S. Nationals. It’s just really to skate the best they can and see where they end up.

Q:  You were not able to be present for Liu and Nagy’s first tryout. But you were there for their second tryout. What did you think when you first saw them together? 

Meno:  I think the way they skate together is very natural. The lifts and twists are amazing. And we could see that from the first day.

Q:  Their long program has a bit of an old-school vibe. It’s kind of romantic, and you really notice the lightness and the skating quality. Is that something you were going for? 

Meno:  You know, I really find them to be a little bit different than some of the other teams, because their long program is very seamless. It has a seamless quality to it, from the beginning to the end. There’s a lot of transitions, and one thing leads into the next. And I think that’s something that we can really continue to grow and improve on over the next couple of years.

Q:  Obviously, you and Todd have known Chelsea for so long, and have been her coaches for forever. What was it like to see her come back from the on-ice accident she had in 2021?

Meno:  Well, to be honest with you, we were a little surprised when she came back after a year. She had about a year off, and then said, I really want to do this again. We were like, ‘Wow–really? Yes? Okay.’ Her parents really supported that. And she eased into it. She just skated for six months or so on her own. And even when Balazs came for the tryout, she really wasn’t up to full strength. She was just kind of skating, and then Balazs came along, and it just took off from there. It’s something that she felt very passionate about– continuing to skate. And her family was very supportive. So, we’re obviously very careful, and they’re very smart in the way they train. Yes, it’s good to see her out there, performing like they did here. 

Greg Zuerlein (MIDA)

Zuerlein’s students Green/Parsons placed fourth at Skate America. The MIDA dancers saw improvement in their scores from their first event at Lombardia Trophy, but fell one spot short of the podium placement they were aiming for. Still, Zuerlein feels they’re on the right track.

Q:  Green/Parsons showed a new rhythm dance at Skate America. How do you feel about where they’re at?

Zuerlein:  They’d only been out one other time [this season], at Lombardia Trophy. And we’re changing music, changing programs as well, in the last few weeks. At Skate America, they put the new program out, and I think we’re really happy with how they skated yesterday.

Q:  What was the highlight for you?

Zuerlein:  Well, they did get a Partial Step Level 4 [from the technical panel], which is great, because I think they’re the only ones in the event who did. But it’s just the overall–the whole program, with it being so new. I’m happy with what they did in a short period of time.

Q:  What are your thoughts on their free dance?

Zuerlein:  With the free dance, they’re going back to a style that they had two years ago [2021-22 season]. A similar style of music, but of course still really different pieces. So again, just consistency, working through the program, getting mileage on the program. And showing that style that they really do well.

Q:  What was it like when they had to start the rhythm dance from scratch again after Lombardia? 

Zuerlein:  I mean, we didn’t have a lot of time. We were just like: ‘Okay, let’s pick a different piece of music.’ It was a completely different style than Paula Abdul. We sat down with a bunch of pieces. And we were like, ‘Okay, we think we should go in this direction, or how about this?’ And we finally landed on The Scorpions. So then it was just getting to work, cutting the music, and building the steps. Piece by piece, it came together. But of course, it was still a process. It was just like a setup process of building the program and what we felt was doable here, and what was comfortable. I want to say it’s a rough draft of the program. But of course, the program always changes throughout the season. So we’re going to go back home and rework the program, make it more powerful in certain places. But overall–and I think I can speak for Charlie, Tanith, and myself–we’re really happy with how they performed it, after such a short period of time. 

Feature image by Melanie Heaney/U.S. Figure Skating