This is my third year in a row attending ACI and coming here has genuinely become one of my favorite traditions in my own life as a skating fan, from the sleep-deprived crafting shenanigans to the relaxed vibe, thrilling and deep field debuting their programs, and the chance to see so many beloved friends and make new ones.
Kite: …When I heard he was skating to Andrew Lloyd Webber, I was like oh, here we go again, and then it wasn't Phantom of the Opera. [Evie laughs.] I was so pleasantly surprised. I was like wow I almost forgot he had other music, that wasn't Phantom of the Opera [Hosts laugh.] because that's all that skaters ever skate to.
Evie: Skaters are finally delving into the extended catalog of Andrew Lloyd Webber [Sam laughs.]
Sam: We get Phantom. We get “Memories” from Cats.
Evie: Honestly, where is the Andrew Lloyd Webber School of Rock program already.
Sam: Give us some Jesus Christ Superstar, bring that back.
Kite: Only if there's the bright yellow pants. It has to be skated to in like banana pants.
Sam: Yes. Yellow pants are required.
Come for the children, stay for the sparkles and the top-notch twizzles: The Junior Grand Prix made its second stop in Lake Placid, New York, this past August. Read about our stories while we were there, and, near the end, you can find yourself some tips on how to survive a competition in Lake Placid.
Lae: So, all we've touched on so far have talked about banners that have been professionally printed and designed digitally, but do we have any advice on making handmade banners, such as what materials to use or is printing kind of the go-to?
Gabb: I use printed just because I have a degree for it. It's easier for me, I know how to work with printers. But you can easily just make handheld banners yourself using paper.
Kat: [laughs] Lae sitting outside the rink at ACI drawing Yuzu and Wakaba banners!
Becs: The 4am Wakaba banner sketching session!
Lae: Yeah, from experience, you can just buy an A3 size piece of card and buy some gold stickers and a permanent marker. Honestly, it's just the thinking and it's the design that goes into it.
Kat: It's the thought that counts!
Becs: Good costumes are such a draw in terms of just being like "Yes yes you are worthy!"
Gabb: Especially if they're sparkly!
Becs: Yes sparkles please!
Kat: Aka Ice Dance ladies.[Gabb: Yes!] 90% of the time deliver with their costumes.
Becs: Yes. One thing that is so beautiful about picking who you're going to photograph is ah Ice Dance ladies and ladies in general show up looking usually fabulous most practices even so...
Kat: And then you have the men with like 80% black costumes or monochrome.
Becs: Yeah it's tragic, it's a tragic contrast.
In advance of their upcoming first Challenger event, Great Britain’s ice dance power duo Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson sat down with us for an interview to talk about last year’s fabulous free dance and how they feel going into the new season, as well as their individual interests and hobbies. The team garnered a lot of attention from fans as well as many personal bests last season with their 80’s themed free dance.
Read about that and more in our interview with them here!
Evie: So guys, guess what? The season started properly! Woohoo, children! I'm just so glad we finally have some competitions to watch.
Niamh: Worlds feels like yesterday!
Evie: It really does. This off season, I don't know if it was just that our perception of time has shifted or something weird is going on in the universe, but it just feels like it's breezed by so freaking quickly. It's so weird that we're now two whole competitions into the season.
Niamh: Yeah, there wasn't the same space of time with no content.
Evie: But yes, we've had the start of the Junior Grand Prix and lots of kids have returned to us, and we've got lots of new kids.
Yogeeta: All the kids.