Your eyes, they shine so bright
I want to save their light
I can't escape this now
Unless you show me how
- "Demons," Imagine Dragons
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When
Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik take the ice for their free dance this season, their eyes shine bright, ready to show their audiences one of the proudest points of their partnership.
The junior ice dancers are ready for their chance at the U.S. junior title at the 2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships, thanks to a free dance that they are proud to call their own for the first time in their young careers.
"This is the first season that we got to choose our music," Nguyen said. "We chose our free dance music, all three of us - me, Vadym and Igor (Shpilband, their primary coach)."
For their free dance, the Novi, Michigan-based trio picked two covers of "Demons," the popular hit by Imagine Dragons. Kolesnik, 17 and a devoted fan of the band, had been looking for a way to skate to their music. Nguyen, 16, wasn't as convinced. Last summer, Nguyen found herself at an Imagine Dragons concert at Little Caesars Arena, the
very site of this year's U.S. Championships, Jan. 18-27. Â
"Seeing them live really changed my opinion of them," Nguyen said.
And then, fate stepped in even further. As they were exploring their music options, they found a cover of "Demons" by an artist Nguyen had been longing to skate to.
"The first part of our program is this cover by Jasmine Thompson, and I've always wanted to skate to her," Nguyen said.
It was truly meant to be. They found another version of the song by Boyce Avenue to round out that section of the program, and then Shpilband added a piece entitled "Experience" by Ludovico Einaudi. Once edited together, it created a perfect canvas for a free dance that Nguyen and Kolesnik hoped would take them to the top of the podium.
It did just that, winning them
their first international gold medal at October's Junior Grand Prix Series of Figure Skating event in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
 "I chose this program because I believed that we could win with this kind of program, and we did it," Kolesnik said. "I'm glad we did it."
The couple doesn't even think Slovenia was their best performance of the program. They were particularly proud of their performance during
their second-place finish at the JGP Series stop in Kaunas, Lithuania, in September.
"I think in Lithuania, that is when our emotions just poured out of us so freely," Nguyen said. "I think the audience agreed, because it went very quiet. We got so much positive feedback from it. Everyone said it made them feel something, which is exactly what we hope to do."
But their outing in Slovenia was also special, if not for the free dance performance, but for the result. It wasn't just their first international gold medal, but it qualified them for their first Junior Grand Prix Final,
where they finished fifth. Â
"Winning [in Slovenia] was really emotional for us because it was our goal to get to the Final," Nguyen said. "Hearing the national anthem play as we stood on the podium was probably one of the most emotional moments for us."
Emotion and passion are two words both the Ohio-born Nguyen and Kolesnik, originally from Ukraine, use often. They stand out on the junior circuit because they bring a senior-level performance quality to their skating, even though they have only been together for two seasons. It is evident not just in their beloved free dance, but in this year's rhythm dance.
"I think it is a really passionate dance between us, and I think that's what separates our rhythm dance from other people's," Nguyen said.
"We have the best coach of tango, you know," Kolesnik said of their coach Shpilband.
Shpilband has given the couple a mature routine to "Vuelvo al Sur" performed by Amelita Baltar and "Building the Bullet" by Luis Bacalov. They are constantly working on it, and are excited to show it off at the U.S. Championships.
"We hope you can see not a final version at nationals, but how far it's come," Kolesnik said.
Why don't they want their U.S. Championships rhythm dance to be the final version? Because one of their goals this season is not just to get to the 2019 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, but to win it.
"Our goal is winning Junior Worlds," Kolesnik said. "Yes. And winning nationals. There's no point of going anywhere if you don't try to get first place."
For a team just in their second competitive season, they have big goals. But in addition to the podium placements they are working towards, they want to leave a mark on the audience.
"We want our skating to make people feel something," Nguyen said. "We want it to move them because I think that is the difference between us and other teams."
"That's our goal, in addition to doing great," Kolesnik added. "Everybody can do a good job, but not everybody can be remembered by that."
