Last season, U.S. ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker posted the best results of their senior career. They won their first gold medal at a Grand Prix event, qualified for the Grand Prix Final, had their best placement (third) at U.S. Championships and capped the season with a ninth-place finish at World Championships. "It was a big year for us," Hawayek said.
Hawayek and Baker wanted to carry that successful momentum into the 2019-20 season. Hawayek said that a theme of their off-season work was "absorption." This spring and summer was their first full off-season at the Gadbois ice dance school; last year, they had to spend part of their off-season moving to Montreal. This year's off-season gave Hawayek and Baker a chance to delve deeply into the technique taught by coaches Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, and Romain Hagenauer.
"It was nice to be able to absorb all the information and really work on translating the technique and the style in Montreal into our skating more comprehensively and fully," Hawayek said.
The duo said that the Montreal school focuses on forward momentum on the ice. "They really work within the trunk, within the hips, and letting that lead our movement," Hawayek explained.
Baker added that the core-based style of movement in Montreal allows skaters to "have access to your upper body; to move freely."
In addition to learning a new style of movement, Hawayek and Baker were also creatively involved in the development of their programs this season. They wanted programs that were "unique and different," said Baker.
Hagenauer took the lead in choreographing their rhythm dance, while Dubreuil was the principal choreographer for the free dance. Hawayek and Baker and coach Samuel Chouinard also assisted with choreography for both programs.
"Marie-France and Romain are super open to collaborating," Hawayek said. "And Jean-Luc and I are both very passionate, creative people, so we're able to bounce off each other and create a cohesive vision together, versus a choreographer telling you, 'Okay, do a left crossover here, then a right outside mohawk.'"
The reigning U.S. bronze medalists chose Saturday Night Fever for their rhythm dance. Hawayek found the music while looking through lists of Broadway musicals. (Saturday Night Fever premiered on Broadway in 1999.) "It just felt absolutely right to both of us. We really wanted something fun," Baker said. "Something a little bit different, but still along the Broadway theme."
The couple said that this season's Finnstep pattern dance, like most pattern dances, has its challenges. "The overall curve of the dance is generally quite shallow. So it's finding the balance between skating on edges, while maintaining the shape of the dance," Hawayek noted.
"I think the length of the Finnstep this year is good, from an audience perspective," Baker commented. "The Tango Romantica last year was almost too long for an audience to watch. It was almost a third of the short dance, and when you're watching 20 teams, that's long. I think they could have chosen more of an intricate part [of the Finnstep], just to see more change in the compulsory itself."
For their free dance, Hawayek and Baker are skating to music by Beethoven and Paganini, performed by Marcin Patrzalek, a young Polish guitarist. Patrzalek is known for his creative arrangements of classical music, to which he adds an element of flamenco styling. Dubreuil chose the music.
"When Marie-France heard it, and saw the different dynamic qualities to the music, it stood out as something that she felt we would excel with," Hawayek said. Dubreuil's vision was to portray the Victorian era when the music was composed, overlaid with the flamenco influence in Patrzalek's interpretation.
"It seemed like something fresh and new," Hawayek said of the concept. "In previous seasons, we've done more lyrical, beautiful pieces. We wanted something that showcased our personalities a little bit more this year. It fit perfectly."
The team worked with an acting coach to add Victorian details to the program. The opening of the dance "almost mimics if people were at a ball, beginning to dance together," Hawayek explained. They also worked with Chouinard on the flamenco aspect. "We've had fun fusing the two together," Hawayek said. "And our costume designer, Mathieu Caron, enjoyed being able to combine the two concepts in a fusion way."
Baker said that the program is meant to strike different notes: dramatic, fun-filled, comedic. "We want to take people on a journey with our personalities to show that we can be intense and quirky, and passionate and fun, all in one piece and within four minutes," he said.
Hawayek and Baker got early feedback from judges at a monitoring camp in June and at Champs Camp in August. They debuted the programs in competition at Nebelhorn Trophy in late September.
Baker said they made a decision to emphasize performance quality at Nebelhorn. "We really focused on trying to perform our material at an earlier stage, which is very challenging. It allowed us to just let the programs go, and see what was good about them, or what wasn't. And see what's better received, both from a judges' standpoint and an audience perspective."
Baker feels that ice dancers face a dilemma of whether to focus on technique or performance early in the season. "With the sport that we're in now, it's very technique-based and -driven," he remarked. "Which makes it a sport, obviously. But, focusing just on technique, it is hard to then have the program grow throughout the season. Because if you do well with the technique straight out of the gate, you have a tendency to try and stick to that, rather than allowing the performance to really come out."
Hawayek and Baker will utilize feedback from Nebelhorn to fine-tune their programs before Skate Canada International, their first Grand Prix event. "We've made some medium-size changes," Hawayek said. "Nothing drastic or altering to the overall sense of the programs." The team is also sharpening and refining their technical elements.
The couple said their goal for the Grand Prix series is to qualify for the Final again. "We want to go into each competition with a winning mentality. Because we train to win every day in practice," Hawayek declared.
Off the ice, Hawayek is enrolled at Penn State University, via their World Campus online curriculum. "I've been taking classes since 2014, but haven't pushed taking full course loads," she said. Hawayek's younger brother, four years her junior, is an on-campus student at Penn State. "He was joking, and he said, 'Maybe we'll graduate together, Kaitlin,'" Hawayek recounted, laughing. Baker, meanwhile, plans to pursue university studies after the duo finishes their competitive career.
In her free time, Hawayek likes to pursue her hobby of music mixing. She originally got into music mixing because of skating. "At the beginning of the season, when you're creating programs, so many little changes happen, with cutting out a second here, adding a phrase there," she explained. "It's changing on the daily. I wanted to learn how to mix music to make on-the-fly changes like that. So I invested in a mixing board. I've always loved music. Other than skating, it's probably my greatest passion," Hawayek shared. She has a background in piano and music theory. "I love finding upbeat, fun songs to mix together. I started putting them online, on a music platform, and I've gotten a good response."
After five years competing on the senior level, Hawayek and Baker feel that their partnership has grown significantly. "I think we trust one another with everything--with whatever decision either of us make, with how we're feeling," Baker said.
"There's a sense of comfort and maturity that has developed over the past two seasons," Hawayek agreed. "Just understanding the way competitions go, and energy levels, and being able to interact with each other better at competitions."
With the experience and success they've gained, Hawayek and Baker are ready to take the next step in their career. "We have been around enough years to kind of stake our ground in the sport," said Hawayek. "We're really looking to push and continue to grow and improve in the ranks as these seasons progress. And we're ready for it."
