{"id":35911,"date":"2024-08-06T16:25:35","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T20:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=35911"},"modified":"2024-08-06T16:25:35","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T20:25:35","slug":"recap-2024-lake-placid-idc-junior-senior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/recap-2024-lake-placid-idc-junior-senior\/","title":{"rendered":"Recap: 2024 Lake Placid IDC (Junior & Senior)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Anne Calder<\/em><\/p>\n

The 2024 Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships was held July 27-31 as part of the U.S. Figure Skating National Qualifying Series (NQS). Competitors ranged from pre-juvenile through seniors. The Lake Placid Ice Dance International (LPIDI) for juniors and seniors was held simultaneously at the same venue.<\/p>\n

The NQS awarded medals for the top four scores (gold, silver, bronze, pewter) in each level. The International top three junior and senior scores (gold, silver, bronze) received medals.<\/p>\n

The Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships is the oldest ice dance event in world. The 2024 competitions were held at the newly renovated Herb Brooks Arena (1980 Olympic rink).<\/p>\n

JUNIOR COMBINED DANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The teams began the competition with their Rhythm Dance on Tuesday, July 30.<\/p>\n

The theme and music selected for the Rhythm Dances for both Junior and Senior for the season 2024\/25 is \u201cSocial Dances and Styles of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.<\/p>\n

The Rhythm Dance for the 2024\/2025 season takes inspiration from the high energy and entertaining dance styles from these decades. These dance styles originated as a couple dance and due to their contagious, up beat rhythms, they became an invitation for others to join along in social settings and mass gatherings, becoming crowd pleaser favorites. (ISU Communication 2630)<\/p>\n

The Free Dances were performed on July 31.<\/p>\n

The following Junior Championship teams were awarded medals after the Free Dance: Michelle Deych & Ryan Hu (gold), Emily Renzi & William Lissauer (silver), Annelise Stapert & Maxim Korotcov (bronze), Effie Chen & Kenny Eckert (pewter).<\/p>\n

IDC spoke with each of the dance teams following the Free Dance performance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Michelle Deych & Ryan Hu (133.69), who train at the Novi Ice Arena in Michigan with Igor Sphilband\u2019s group, made their Junior debut. The 2023 Lake Placid Novice Combined was their first event after the partnership was formed fourteen months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was a great skate, beyond what we could imagine,\u201d Deych said. \u201cThe score was great. We are so happy. It was so much fun.\u201d Hu added, \u201cWe came here not thinking about the scores; we just love to skate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deych & Hu have been assigned to the first Junior Grand Prix in Riga, LAT, August 28-31.<\/p>\n

Emily Renzi & William Lissauer (133.45) are in their third season as a team and second in Juniors. The team trains with Kristen Fraser Lukanin and Igor Lukanin in Montclair, NJ.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the best score we\u2019ve done so far,\u201d Renzi said.

\u201cThere\u2019s room to grow, but we definitely did the best we could.\u201d Lissauer added, \u201cThis is way better than Chesapeake and Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renzi & Lissauer have been assigned to the second Junior Grand Prix in Ostrava, CZE, September 4-7.<\/p>\n

Annelise Stapert & Maxim Korotcov (127.51) train at the ION International Training Center in Leesburg, VA with Elena Novak and Alexei Kiliakov. The team made it\u2019s Junior Lake Placid debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really really happy about our skating this week\u201d Stapert said. \u201cWe feel we\u2019ve grown a lot since last season. We definitely have to work on our speed, but I think we did very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Korotcov added, \u201cWe\u2019ve been practicing a lot and starting to get even better. We want to keep working as hard as we can. There were definitely a few mistakes, but I\u2019m happy with it overall. I feel we\u2019re doing our best to just perform and give a good show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Effie Chen & Kenny Eckert (113.48) train in Novi, MI with Igor Sphilband\u2019s group. The partnership is only about six weeks old.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had our program only a short while,\u201d Eckert said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to get it out there to see where it\u2019s at, but we know there\u2019s a lot more we can do for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team withdrew from the Dallas Classic in mid-July due to Eckert\u2019s donation to his dad\u2019s successful stem cell transplant. His father was recently released from the hospital and is doing well.<\/p>\n

Anaelle Kouevi & Yonn Homawoo (111.49) are the third team in the group to make their Junior LP Championships debut. The cousins train at the ION International Training Center with Elena Novak and Alexei Kiliakov.<\/p>\n

Kouevi described her dance. \u201cIt was a bit terrifying, but honestly a really good learning experience for me. It helped me grow with my skating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homawoo added, \u201cIt was pretty nerve wracking. It\u2019s our first season in juniors. We\u2019re also some of the youngest junior skaters. It was a very good experience. It showed me what we could skate as a team together.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if both felt comfortable with their skate, the unison response was an emphatic, \u201cYES!\u201d<\/p>\n

FREE DANCE PROGRAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Deych & Hu:\u00a0 <\/span>Romeo & Juliet 2013 <\/i>soundtrack<\/li>\n
  • Renzi & Lissauer: \u201cWarriors\u201d by League of Legends Music, 2WEI and Eddie Hayes and\u00a0<\/span>\u201cAttack on Titan-Warriors\u201d and \u201cThe Call\u201d<\/li>\n
  • Stapert & Korotcov: \u201c<\/i>We Will Rock You\u201d and \u201cUnder the Same Sun\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Chen & Eckert: Music from the motion picture Moulin Rouge<\/i><\/li>\n
  • Kouevi & Homawoo: Faolan – \u201cPrincess of Persia\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>[Middle Eastern Music]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    SENIOR COMBINED DANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The following Senior Championship teams were awarded medals after the Free Dance: Rafaella Koncius & Alexey Shchepetov (gold), Amy Cui & Jonathan Rogers (silver), Grace Yi & Danila Savelev (bronze) and Emilia Ziobrowska & Shiloh Judd (pewter).<\/p>\n

    IDC spoke with each of the dance teams following the Free Dance performance.<\/p>\n

    Rafaella Koncius & Alexey Shchepetov (159.60) train with MIDA in Canton, MI. The team spoke about the program and working with choreographer Jean-Luc Baker.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe\u2019re really happy,” Koncius said. “We really connect with this program. It\u2019s a lot of fun skating it.”<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe just trusted the training and trusted ourselves,\u201d Shchepetov added. \u201cWorking with Jean-Luc was very special because of his style.\u00a0 <\/span>Before choreographing the program, he asked what we wanted to get from it. We told him, and what he did was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe have very similar skating styles. The way he choreographed the program is the way we would want to skate it,\u201d added Koncius. \u201cWe picked the program and the coaches picked the music. I heard the music a few years ago and now that we\u2019ve had a full season with our new coaches, I wanted to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Shchepetov previously used hockey skates with ice dance blades due to the irritation caused by a dance boot. He now uses special dance skates. \u201cThey\u2019re not skin tight to cause the problems, but offer a lot of support. It was an adjustment the first month or two getting into regular figure skates again. I\u2019d been in the hockey skates since 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Amy Cui & Jonathan Rogers (158.70) who formed their partnership in March 2024, train in Novi, MI with Igor Shpilband\u2019s group. The team skated only the Rhythm Dance at the Dallas Classic.<\/p>\n

    \u201cFirst time out, so not bad,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been making some small changes up to leaving Novi, so it\u2019s been nice to get out there and see especially how the costumes feel,\u201d noted Cui. \u201cWe just got them the day before we left. We hadn\u2019t done anything (with them) until we just skated.\u201d<\/p>\n

    [We\u2019ll be working on] making improvements,\u201d Rogers explained. \u201cWe had such a big jump from Dallas in the Rhythm Dance\u2026(61.58\u2014>67.05),\u00a0 <\/span>so just getting more comfortable with everything. One thing at a time\u2026day by day.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Grace Yi & Danila Savelev: (143.14) train in Colorado Springs, CO with Elena Dotstatni. The partnership is one year old. Yi spoke about the performance.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe program is a work in progress,\u201d Yi said. \u201cWe\u2019re pretty happy about how it went. Obviously it\u2019s the beginning of the season. We made some mistakes here and there that we need to clean things up, maybe our lifts. We\u2019re trying something new this season, so we\u2019re trying to make sure we\u2019re really good and consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Yi spoke about the Rhythm Dance. \u201cWith the RD, there are a lot of things we want to work on choreography wise. We\u2019re on the right track and need to work on our stamina.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The team trains a mile high in the Rocky Mountains, so it\u2019s usually easier when competing at the lower altitude. However, in Lake Placid the team had difficulty with the temperature inside the rink.<\/p>\n

    [The altitude change] \u201cprobably does help,\u201d Yi explained, \u201cbut the problem here is this rink is a lot hotter than the one where we train, so we\u2019re really sweating. We like warm rinks, but we\u2019re just not used to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Emilia Ziobrowska & Shiloh Judd (125.53) represent Romania. The team has been skating together since October 2023. The Lake Placid Championships is their first event together. They train at the ION International Skating Center in Leesburg, VA with Alexei Kiliakov. Judd has previously competed at Lake Placid, but this is the first time together. They began training their program in January.<\/p>\n

    Judd discussed their performance. \u201cI feel like we haven\u2019t been skating together for a long time, so this kind of just shows where we need to improve in that area – getting to know exactly where we\u2019re going to go and track each other at an event like this. Over all, I\u2019m really proud of what we could do.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing our Rhythm Dance to Donna Summer – \u201cWalk Away\u201d and \u201cLast Dance for three months.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Michela Melillo & Karl Schapfel (109.06) is a ten month old partnership who train in Connecticut with Svetlana Kiliakov. Schapfel, who is from Lexington, MA, described his prior ice dancing experience.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI\u2019ve been ice dancing about 6 years. I started getting into Ice Dance in High School. I had a slew of partners who I would skate with for about three months or so, but then when it came time to dig in and get some work done, they couldn\u2019t commit the time that I wanted. Then the Pandemic hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Melillo continued. \u201cWe\u2019re introducing us as a new team. We came to perform the best we can. I feel we\u2019re definitely making a lot of improvements in both programs. I\u2019m very excited to be skating with Karl.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Marin Hessel & Daniel Klaber (68.53) finished in sixth place. Klaber is the 2012 U.S. novice dance champion and three-time U.S. junior pewter medalist (2013-15) with Holly Moore.<\/p>\n

    \u201cMarin is my student,” Klaber said. “In March 2024, Marin\u2019s parents came to me and asked if we could do competitive ice dance. That was short notice. I said that If I was not able to find her a partner, I\u2019d take her out myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cI am also an ex-synchro skater on the senior and junior level,” Hessell added. “I\u2019m relearning a lot of things. I love the process of it. I feel I fit in even though this is my first time being here. It\u2019s an honor to be here. I\u2019m very thankful to be afforded these opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Hessel spoke about the performance. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t really our best. We\u2019ve only had the program together for about three weeks. I\u2019m still proud of being out there as is. I\u2019m excited for what we have more in store for the future for sure, but to be able to perform a Free Dance and the Rhythm Dance before it, it\u2019s like my dream. I just want to get all the feedback to see what we can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Hessel & Klaber’s partnership is unique as it is a coach skating with a student.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s a very different experience,\u201d Hessel explained. \u201cHaving your partner choreograph and coach you at the same time is a lot, but you definitely get to know each other well. I get a completely different view than most people get, and I\u2019m very thankful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

    This is Hessel’s first ice dance competitive experience and introduction to the ice dance community.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAt first it was definitely a little rough for me,\u201d explained Hessel. \u201cI felt a little bit out of place. It\u2019s like, ok, do I really belong here? I said, \u201cYes, I do.\u201d I really belong here. I know who I am. I know what I want to do. I kind of turned it into this, I\u2019m thankful to be here. As long as I just breathe and I don\u2019t think and I skate with a blank slate, no negative thoughts come in, and I\u2019m able to be me and do what I want to do. That\u2019s when I started fitting in a little bit more. Also it was so cool to just see everybody else skate.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    FREE DANCE PROGRAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Koncius & Shchepetov: Romeo and Juliet<\/i> (1996 movie dramatic score soundtrack) and \u201cKissing You\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n
    • Cui & Rogers: Swan Lake Suite, Op. 20: I. Scene 1 by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Yu Simonov<\/li>\n
    • Yi & Savelev: \u201cJe Te Laisserai Des Mots\u201d Patrick Watson; \u201cWild Side\u201d Roberto Cacciapaglia\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span><\/li>\n
    • Ziobrowska & Judd: \u201cThe Most Beautiful Boy\u201d (Felsmann & Tiley Reinterpretation) and \u201cIn this Shirt\u201d by The Irrepressibles<\/li>\n
    • Melillo & Schapfel: \u00a0<\/span>\u201dEl Mariachi\u201d, \u201cSiente Mi Amor\u201d, \u201cMalaguena Salerosa\u201d<\/li>\n
    • Hessel & Klaber: Frank Sinatra medley: \u201cRing A Ding Ding\u201d, \u201cYoung At Heart\u201d and \u201cWhen You\u2019re\u00a0<\/span>Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      by Anne Calder The 2024 Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships was held July 27-31 as part of the U.S. Figure Skating National Qualifying Series (NQS). Competitors ranged from pre-juvenile through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_gspb_post_css":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[543,142],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2024-2025-event-recaps","category-featured"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?fit=1080%2C639&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?fit=1080%2C639&ssl=1",1080,639,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?fit=254%2C150&ssl=1",254,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?fit=300%2C178&ssl=1",300,178,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?fit=768%2C454&ssl=1",768,454,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?fit=1024%2C606&ssl=1",1024,606,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?fit=1080%2C639&ssl=1",1080,639,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?fit=1080%2C639&ssl=1",1080,639,true],"et-pb-post-main-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1",400,250,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?resize=1080%2C639&ssl=1",1080,639,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?resize=400%2C284&ssl=1",400,284,true],"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?resize=510%2C382&ssl=1",510,382,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image-single":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?fit=1080%2C639&ssl=1",1080,639,true],"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?resize=400%2C516&ssl=1",400,516,true],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/24LPIDC.jpg?resize=45%2C45&ssl=1",45,45,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Team IDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/author\/idcadmin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"by Anne Calder The 2024 Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships was held July 27-31 as part of the U.S. Figure Skating National Qualifying Series (NQS). Competitors ranged from pre-juvenile through […]","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7GOSM-9ld","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35911"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35924,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35911\/revisions\/35924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}