Carreira and Ponomarenko Look to Leave It All on the Ice at Skate America

On their way to Skate America® in Las Vegas this October, ice dancers Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko are leaving little to chance. They have wisely used the extra training time afforded by COVID-19 to polish a new free dance and hope their hard work will propel them into a winning season that leads to the World Team.
 
Last season, the highlight was a pewter medal at the 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the first U.S. medal of their career. Carreira noted that "we learned a lot and I think we improved a lot".
 
Part of that learning centered on last season's free dance, set to Flamenco music, which was a new style for both of them.
 
"I think it's good to kind of go through different styles and experience with different things, and I think it's helping us this year," said Carreira, with Ponomarenko adding that they suffered a bit with consistency because the dance style "was out of their comfort zone" but were "happy overall" with the season.
 
Despite that, they still placed well at the beginning of the season, earning the silver medal at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic, bronze at Nebelhorn Trophy, and gold at Asian Open Trophy, in which they placed first in both programs. Their Grand Prix events, however, were a bit more challenging, with a sixth place finish at both Skate America® and NHK Trophy after errors in the rhythm dance. Still, they medaled at the U.S. Championships in Greensboro North Carolina, despite receiving invalid marks on their choreographic step sequence.
 
"We left 5 points on the table (because of the invalidated step sequence), so we were disappointed with that," said Carreira. "(But) we're really happy with how we skated…we got our first standing ovation."
 
After the unceremonious end of the season in March, they were off the ice for several months when rinks were not allowed to reopen due to COVID-19. Carriera was enjoying her opportunities to work out off the ice until she broke her foot, which sidelined her for the rest of the time until the rink opened again.  Meanwhile, Ponomarenko coped with the break by keeping a daily routine, and said that he enjoyed cooking three meals daily and being at home. Luckily, her foot healed quickly and they were able to go back to training in Novi, Michigan, with coaches Igor Sphilband and Pasquale Camerlango, after the rink reopened this summer, with Carriera adding that it was "nice to be back to training".
 
"What we do on the ice is about the same, we have the same ice times, so we are fortunate to be able to train normally," said Carreira. "The way we are approaching the season is a little different, since the season looks different, we plan to focus on ourselves, improving our skating skills and getting ready for the following season."
 
With the Finn step returning for the 2020-21 season, they chose to keep their rhythm dance , "Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me Kate, while creating a new free dance set to the Dr. Zhivago film score. Part of what makes the team click is how their strengths complement each other: Carreira has a softness and a flow to her skating and Ponomaranko brings a grounded, solid quality to the team, which should shine through with their new program.
 
"It's really nice skating to soft music and it's more relaxed than last year's program, since I felt like we were kind of rushing through the whole program. Here we get to enjoy every part of it and I really like it a lot," said Carreira.
 
"I think this free dance is a little bit more in our comfort zone and we feel much better skating it," clarified Ponomarenko.
 
The team used the time before returning to the ice to their advantage, planning the free dance and ensuring it was as complete as it could be.
 
"We also focused a lot (on the free dance) because we had all this extra time due to COVID; we focused a lot on just working on the details, really making a good free dance that we can use for this season," Ponomarenko explained. "We worked with a composer and started choreographing off the ice, which was great because we really got to map out the elements and make sure that everything is strategically planned. We had all this time to really perfect the free dance."
 
The team just completed U.S. Figure Skating's International Selection Pool (ISP) Points Challenge, where they competed virtually, recording their programs and uploading them for judging.
 
"Opportunity one was pretty good. We were happy with what we did and it was a good way to start the season," said Carreira. "This week the short was not great to say the least, but the free dance was good. I think we improved from last time."
 
They placed third overall.
 
Even though Skate America® won't include spectators, they are still looking forward to skating in a semi-normal competition environment.
 
"We really just want to show up and skate two programs very well. We want to show how much we've improved during this time. And we want to show that we can compete with the rest of the tough American field," said Ponomarenko.

"Top three would be great too!" added Carreira.
 
Although the season will look very different, they are still working towards their future goals and hope to grow throughout the season.
 
"One goal that we didn't accomplish (last season) was making the World Team, and that's still a big goal of ours and we're working on that every day," said Ponomarenko. "Another goal of ours is breaking that 200s barrier in the overall score, and I think that's going to be a big step towards the World Team."