New Team Series: Jane Calhoun & Mark Zheltyshev
For the next entry in our New Team Series, we meet Jane Calhoun & Mark Zheltyshev, junior ice dancers who represent the United States. The team won the 2026 U.S. Ice Dance Final in Henderson, Nevada.
Tell us about your individual skating journeys, including any early special memories.
Jane: I started skating when I was 2.5 but started dance when I was 12. As for one of my favorite memories, my first time on a dance session has to be my favorite.
Mark: I started skating when I was 4 years old. A year before my parents sent me to the skating rink, I asked my mother to take me to the ice every day from the age of three) This is probably the brightest memory from childhood!
What drew you to ice dance?
Jane: My mom always loved ice dance so I was very happy when the opportunity to try dance came up. I loved it ever since.
Mark: My first coach invited me to ice dancing! She believed that I have a lot of potential!
Tell us how your partnership started. Describe the tryout.
Jane: The tryout was pretty fast. Our moms knew each other and eventually we decided to have a try out. It went by very fast and we got along instantly!
Mark: Our try out was very quick. We skated together for literally 2 days and decided that we were a good match. We discussed it with the coaches and decided to skate together! It was quite difficult for me, because in Colorado Springs it is high (here is 2000 meters above sea level).
What’s something that surprised you about your partner when you first started training together?
Jane: Something that really surprised me about Mark was that he was very easy to communicate with. This really helped us prepare for competition quickly.
Mark: We have similar lines, similar body structure and even hair color is somewhat similar. When we came to work for Miss Randy on a short one, she asked us this question: “are you guys brother and sister by any chance?”
What experiences do each of you bring to the partnership?
Jane: My coaches worked very long and hard on my skating skills and edges before I started skating with Mark so that helped a bunch.
Mark: Before I paired up with Jane, I skated with 3 different girls and it was very easy for me to understand her.
What has been the biggest adjustment for each of you so far in the partnership?
Jane: Honestly, the partnership came very naturally for especially since I’ve lived in Colorado my whole life.
Mark: It was difficult for me on the first day, because it’s very high here. I literally skated 1 lap and I was short of breath. And the second one, it’s probably a language.
What is it that you already like most about dancing with your new partner?
Jane: I like that Mark is very easy to talk too and we resolve difficulties very quickly.
Mark: I think we understand each other very well. When one of us is not comfortable, we immediately talk about it and solve all the problems together!
Tell us about your training site.
Jane: We train at The World Arena Ice Hall. Some of our training mates are Leah Neset and Artem Markelov we love training with them and they’re such great inspirations
Mark: We’re skating in Colorado Springs at the World Arena. We are skating together with Leah and Artem. We have a very friendly group; we all communicate very well and are friends with each other!
Who are your coaches? Did either or both have to relocate? If so, tell us about the move(s).
Jane: Our coaches are Elena Dostatni, Logan Giulietti-Schmitt, Tatiana Druchinina, Tatiana Nikitenko, Laureano Ibarra, Stephenie Kuban, and Leif Gislason. As well as I have lived in Colorado my whole life.
Mark: We work on the floor with great professionals! Tyrone gives us cardio and work out, Tatiana performed in Cirque du Soleil and with her we work on acrobatics, Tatiana Rudolfovna teaches us stretching, with Miss Stephanie we do spin, and with Mr. Larry we work on lifts!
Yes, I moved! The move was very easy and logical! I like everything here.
Who choreographed your programs. Is someone else arranging your music? If so, please share those experiences.
Jane: We are very fortunate to have worked with Hugo Chouinard on our music! As for picking the music, I had wanted to skate to “Ice Ice Baby” for a few years before hand and we both really like the hunger games story (my favorite book is “Catching Fire”)
Mark: Our programs were set by our coach, Elena Dostatni! Randy Strong choreographed the rhythm dance for us, we went to work for her in Salt Lake City, it was very interesting to work with such a professional! We are working on choreography in free dance with Tatiana Druchinin and Elena Dostatni!
If you could have a lesson with any ice dancer past/present, who would it be? Why?
Jane: I would really like to work with Tessa Virtue! I love her lines and her style of movement. As well as I would like to learn how to do lifts as well as she does!
Mark: I would like to study with Benoît Richaud and Povilas Vanagas. I would like to work on programs with Benoît, I think he has a very interesting point of view on ice dancing. With Povilas, I would like to work on skating skills and partnering!
What have you enjoyed the most this skating season? What have been your biggest challenge(s)?
Jane: For me the most enjoyable and challenging part of this season was the same thing. When we first started skating together, we had a total of 7 weeks to prepare for our first competition (this includes the tryout). Our coaches were extremely helpful during this process and didn’t make the time crunch feel as stressful as it realistically was. The process was very fun and when we finally competed it felt very gratifying!
Mark: I really liked our first Junior Grand Prix! It was very interesting, exciting, large-scale! There was a very good audience that applauded everyone! The most difficult thing was probably to put programs and perform in 7 weeks of preparation! For ice dancing, 7 weeks is very little, because you need to come up with both programs from scratch, but we did it thanks to our coaches, for which I thank them very much!
Tell us about your competitions so far this season.
Mark: The first competition was in Lake Placid. We prepared for it in 7 weeks. After Lake Placid, we worked out the programs and prepared for our first Junior Grand Prix in Baku!
Jane: After the JGP we cleaned or programs and added new things before flying to Henderson, Nevada to compete at the U.S. ice dance final! Later we competed in Budapest at the Santa Claus Cup!
What’s one word that best describes your partnership?
Jane: Wild!
Mark: FUN!
Do you have a Team Instagram page? If not, where can fans follow you?
You can find us on Instagram @Jane_skates, @_zheltyshev.m_, and @calhoun_zheltyshev.team.