{"id":28826,"date":"2022-07-23T11:36:33","date_gmt":"2022-07-23T15:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=28826"},"modified":"2022-07-23T11:37:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T15:37:08","slug":"new-team-series-emilea-zingas-vadym-kolesnik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/new-team-series-emilea-zingas-vadym-kolesnik\/","title":{"rendered":"New Team Series: Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

by Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Emilea Zingas & 2020 World Junior Champion, Vadym Kolesnik officially announced their Senior Ice Dance partnership on May 15, 2022. The duo is training in Novi, Michigan with Igor Shpilband\u2019s group.<\/p>\n

The Grosse Point Farms, Michigan native spent 13 years honing her skills in singles prior to making the move to ice dance. Brooke Castile O\u2019Keefe, 2007 Pairs US National and Nebelhorn Trophy gold medalist with Benjamin Okolski was one of her coaches.<\/p>\n

The youngest of four siblings, Zingas was the 2018 U.S. National Novice silver medalist in San Jose, California. Since she has dual citizenship with Cyprus, a decision was then made to represent that country.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince they have a Federation, my parents, coaching team at the time, and I decided it would be a good idea to represent Cyprus because it was a fairly easy transition,\u201d Zingas explained. \u201cI competed internationally for them for two seasons attending four Challenger Series competitions and the 2021 World Championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany was the final qualifying event for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Igor Shpilband was there with a team and so was Emilea Zingas hoping to earn a spot for Cyprus.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter my skate, Igor asked me about trying out with Vadym,\u201d Zingas said. \u201cThe idea of ice dance was a little bit shocking at first because I\u2019d never really considered it at all. I later agreed to a tryout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Kolesnik had been searching for a partner while still training at Novi. One day he received a call from Shpilband. \u201cI found this amazing girl at this competition,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll try to arrange a tryout. You\u2019re going to love her, but she\u2019s still competing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kolesnik, who had been in Ukraine for his birthday, Zingas, and Shpilband eventually met at the Novi Ice Arena for what the coach said was for just an introduction. Since she had a competition in a week, there would be no tryout. Shpilband then suggested Kolesnik just take her hand and try skating.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe skated around and it felt good,\u201d Kolesnik said. \u201cIt was a bit awkward at first, because Igor didn\u2019t tell me we were actually going to skate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know we were going to skate together either,\u201d Zingas confessed. \u201cI had never skated with anyone at all on the ice. Even holding his hand felt really weird at first. I got used to it pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their adjustment was something good from the first try – their personalities and all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy working with this girl,\u201d Kolesnik said. \u201dI felt some kind of understanding from the first time we skated, which I didn\u2019t feel for a while. I missed it. It had been a long time. I\u2019m still adjusting – coming back to competitions – it\u2019s like baby steps again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re both very dedicated people,\u201d Zingas added. \u201cWe both love to skate, and the passion comes from there. That\u2019s why we clicked right away. The transition to dance was difficult – I think I\u2019m still transitioning – there\u2019s so much to learn. Learning all that and adjusting my skating style and being mindful that I\u2019m skating with someone else was a challenging transition for sure, but I\u2019ve enjoyed every second of it.\u201d

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kolesnik thinks skating close in position has been the most challenging. Elements are something you just practice. They\u2019re repetition and repetition.<\/p>\n

Zingas added, \u201cActually, I had never taken even a pattern dance. I never did any dances before this. The past months, I\u2019ve had to test all my dances, which I found to be challenging.<\/p>\n

The team drives forty-five minutes to an hour each morning to practice at the Novi Ice Arena. At the Chesapeake Open in June, they performed only the Rhythm Dance. The Free Dance made its debut at the recent Dallas Classic where the rookie team attempted the new Choreographic jump and earned a 1.68 GOE.<\/p>\n

The Free Dance is a Philip Glass medley, which includes \u201cMetamorphosis\u201d, Violin Concerto No.1, \u201cTruman Sleeps\u201d (The Truman Show) and \u201cEscape!\u201d (The Hours).<\/p>\n

With the difficult situation in Ukraine,\u201d Kolesnik explained. \u201cWe were thinking about what kind of program we would like to do. We had many options with some modern pieces, but in the end we decided to do something dramatic by Philip Glass. It is something I could relate to very closely. It\u2019s my interpretation of what is happening right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of mixed emotions, so it\u2019s good to be able to express them when you skate,\u201d Zingas said.<\/p>\n

Kolesnik\u2019s mother is now in Michigan, but his dad, aunt and grandmas are still in Ukraine. His brother serves in the military. His neighborhood in Kharkiv was recently bombed.<\/p>\n

The team intends to compete at Lake Placid. \u2028\u2028\u201cWe\u2019ll skate there, then after that we\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d Zingas said. \u201dI can\u2019t compete internationally until late November because I competed for another Federation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll try to do as many domestic competitions as we can,\u201d Kolesnik added.<\/p>\n

In addition to learning new ice dance skills, Zingas is working toward her neuroscience degree at Wayne State University in Detroit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a little bit of a challenge to balance all the skating and school, but I really enjoy both,\u201d Zingas said.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, Kolesnik received his Bachelor in Sports Psychology from Ukraine.. Fortunately, it was online since parts of the University have been destroyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow it works in Ukraine is my parents sent me to school at age five,\u201d Kolesnik explained. \u201cWe have eleven years plus four more for my degree. My brother is a lawyer in Ukraine. I was tempted to do that, but it\u2019s kind of difficult with skating.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February 2017, sixteen year old Vadym Kolesnik moved to the U.S. to skate with Avonley Nguyen. The team achieved great success in three years, including numerous international medals and gold at the 2020 World Junior Championships. Two years ago he got his green card and is anticipating receiving his passport.<\/p>\n

Zingas & Kolesnik will next compete in Lake Placid, NY at the 2022 Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships from July 27-29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman Emilea Zingas & 2020 World Junior Champion, Vadym Kolesnik officially announced their Senior Ice Dance partnership on May 15, 2022. 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