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Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker train with some of the best coaches and ice dancers in the sport at the I.AM skating school in Montreal. But, although they take inspiration from those around them, Hawayek and Baker are determined to be their own team.
Increasingly, it's what comes from within themselves that motivates Hawayek and Baker and helps them stand out. The couple recently won bronze at the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships with an emotional free dance that they helped choreograph themselves. And their goal at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 is to fulfill their potential in a way that they haven't before.
This season, relying on themselves and each other has been more essential than ever. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, the duo left their training base in Montreal to return to the United States.
"We stayed with my parents in Buffalo, New York, for about three and a half months, for personal reasons, and safety," Hawayek explained.
The duo trained on their own at a local rink, keeping in touch with coaches Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon via Zoom. During this period, Hawayek and Baker found the inspiration for their new free dance, set to a Philip Glass interpretation of Blondie's "Heart of Glass." They choreographed the free dance themselves (with help from Dubreuil).
"We try to let these things happen organically for us," Baker said. "We have an idea, between the two of us, and then we let that idea grow."
"Marie-France was in her living room on an exercise ball, watching us on her television, and we were at the actual rink, doing the skating," Hawayek explained. "It was a much more collaborative process than in previous years. We provided this content [choreography] for Marie-France to say: 'Yes, this is the direction we should be going,' or 'I really like this idea, but can we modify it to make it more three-dimensional?' I think it worked out incredibly."
"This free dance is a part of us," Baker said. "We brought so much to this piece that, when we skate this program, it's us."
Paired with their popular
Saturday Night Fever rhythm dance from last year, Hawayek and Baker's free dance has helped propel them to a successful season so far (albeit with a limited number of competitions). The duo placed second in the International Selection Pool (ISP) Points Challenge and won the silver medal at 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America. Next came their bronze medal at the U.S. Championships.
"Both Jean-Luc and I feel really strong about our performances at Nationals [U.S. Championships]," Hawayek said. "It was different from previous years, because there wasn't an audience. But it felt incredibly satisfying to put out strong performances, and we were really happy with the response from the judges, and the scores."
"We missed the audience," Baker noted. "We missed having the connection with them. But we know that they're watching at home. Kaitlin and I are just so connected into one another, that that's all we're really focusing on."
After the U.S. Championships, Hawayek and Baker returned to Montreal and completed a two-week quarantine. Then it was time to start preparations for their third World Championships. This year's Worlds will be unlike any other, due to COVID-19 protocols and a competition bubble. Hawayek and Baker are excited for the event, but mindful of the challenges posed by the pandemic.
"I think it's a great opportunity for us all, but I just hope that it stays as safe as possible, so we have no cases of COVID-19," Baker said.
Once the competition starts, Hawayek and Baker are seeking a breakthrough of sorts. "In previous years, we haven't underperformed--but we've sold ourselves short of what we can accomplish," Hawayek stated. "I think part of our success this season has been getting out of our own way, with the stories we're telling ourselves. And giving ourselves a clean slate for what we can achieve. We're going in with the goal of performing to our utmost potential and trusting the process and that we
can be at the top."
Baker added: "We want to try and put a smile on the judges' faces and make them feel something. That's our goal: To have everyone go on a journey with us, feel different emotions, and take a step away from their lives."
After the World Championships, Hawayek and Baker will turn their attention to creating new programs for the 2021-22 Olympic season. Baker said it's likely that they will again be closely involved in the choreographic process.
"That's something that we're leaning toward," Baker said. "The more we can bring ourselves to the table, the more authentic of a performance."
Next year's rhythm dance will feature two street dance rhythms (such as hip-hop, disco, or swing) and the Midnight Blues pattern. It's a throwback to the 2016-17 short dance, which also featured hip-hop or swing. Hawayek and Baker are practicing street dance styles with dance coach Samuel Chouinard, to see which resonates best with them.
"We're very excited," Hawayek said. "We have a better understanding this time of how to bring our own personalities into the style, instead of just being given choreography."
"We're not given much opportunity to skate hip-hop as part of a requirement," Baker noted. "You can always do it in the free dance. So, being able to do that in the rhythm dance, it'll be a lot of fun."
"I think introducing those styles of dance will be fantastic to grow a bigger audience," Hawayek added. "Which, I think, is probably a main goal for all athletes in figure skating--to connect with more people and share our love for the sport."
Hawayek and Baker feel that their training situation in Montreal, where they skate with many top ice dance teams, helps push their creativity.
"We're surrounded by greatness every minute of the day," Baker said. "So if we don't create something new ourselves, or put a twist on something, we're going to fall into doing programs that someone else has done very similarly. You want to pave your own way of success. It pushes us to strive toward what Kaitlin and I value the most, which is our individuality and our creativity."
Follow Hawayek and Baker and the rest of Team USA at the World Championships from March 22-28, 2021, on NBC, NBCSN, and Peacock Premium.
