Hawayek and Baker Tap into Strengths

Over the summer, Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker celebrated a decade together as an ice dance team.
 
During that time, the duo has amassed a resume that includes the 2014 World Junior title, a Four Continents title in 2018 and four consecutive U.S. Championships bronze medals.
 
With 10 seasons under their belts, Hawayek and Baker are tapping into what makes their partnership special and are approaching this year with a newly discovered self-confidence that they hope will propel their career to the next level.
 
"Early in our training for this season, our coach Marie France (Dubreuil) said that we are at the place in our career where we need to stop searching for the style that works the best for us and begin to own what we know works the best for us," Hawayek shared. "This season we've tried to push ourselves into our strengths. We know who we are, and we are putting emphasis into trusting that what we bring to the ice is enough."
 
The challenge, as Hawayek and Baker saw it, was to find a way to take their classical style to the next level without falling into the trap of creating programs that look repetitive or even worse, like recycled versions of previous routines. The pair knew that they wanted something that would combine the beauty of their past contemporary programs with the refinement and regal qualities of their more classical routines.
 
So, when they discovered the music of Norwegian songwriter Askjell, Hawayek and Baker realized that they had found what they were looking for.
 
"It's a very modern day take on the essence of classical music," Baker explained. "It has the essential piano and violin instrumentation that a lot of the really iconic pieces of classical music have, but it has a modern twist."
 
Dubreuil suggested a second piece by Askjell to balance the program, which spurred a further exploration of the composer's music. With their coach, Hawayek and Baker combined to create a free dance that feels authentic to them.
 
"What she found really spoke to us in a hauntingly beautiful way," Baker continued. "We started researching (Askjell) a bit more and found that he had a really great repertoire of music. We feel like it really tied together to create a four-minute program that constantly builds and ebbs and flows so that it doesn't get monotonous."
 
For the rhythm dance, the duo decided to enlist the choreographic hand of 2010 World Championship bronze medalist Massimo Scali. Hawayek and Baker worked with Scali early in their partnership and floated the idea of rekindling their partnership with him in the new season past their coaching team.
 
"Marie France thought it was a great idea and suggested that we work with him on the rhythm dance," Hawayek said. "With so many teams in our training center and the style this season being Latin, she thought it would be a good way to have a fresh perspective for our program."
 
Shortly after the Olympic Games, Hawayek and Baker reached out to Scali to gauge his interest in working with them once again, and he enthusiastically agreed. With the World Championships on the horizon, however, they tabled the specifics until the season was over. When Hawayek and Baker reached out to start planning, Scali revealed that he already had a concept for their program in mind.
 
"He had an idea and said that it might seem a little outside of the box for a Latin rhythm," Hawayek recalled. "He said that he sees our strength is our ability to bring a lightness and character to our skating like in our comedic show programs. He acknowledged that approach might be a bit extreme but wanted us to tap into the essence of that comedy for our rhythm dance."
 
What Scali came up with was a 1950s sitcom-inspired program set to the music of Desi Arnaz of I Love Lucy fame. The Cuban-inspired samba-rhumba routine pokes fun at the seriousness of the Latin rhythms while respecting the integrity of the steps.
 
"We aren't portraying Lucy and Desi," Baker noted. "We draw inspiration from their interactions and their playfulness with each other to create our own characters within the program. We're very confident in our material; we've received great feedback. It always seems to elicit a really positive reaction from people."
 
Hawayek and Baker kicked off their season at the Finlandia Trophy earlier this month where they finished with the silver medal.
 
"We were very happy with the initial reaction to our programs on an international stage. Most of the areas for improvement came from footwork cleanliness and overall projection and performance of the programs," Hawayek said of their debut in Espoo. "This gives us very tangible, clear goals to have heading into our Grand Prix assignments. We are very pleased with the reaction to the overall content of the programs and the music selection. We're excited to see how these programs can grow throughout the season."
 
This week the duo will compete at Skate America in Norwood, Mass., for the fourth time in their career. Hawayek and Baker hope to earn a spot on the podium so that they are in the hunt for a berth at December's Grand Prix Final in Torino, Italy.
 
"Last year we got a late start because of injuries and debuted at the final Grand Prix in Russia," Baker said. "We do like to take our time and not rush our training. We feel we are fully in control of what it is we want to go out and do and we are proud of what we have produced.
 
"We competed in the Grand Prix Final back in 2018 and felt like it was a very exclusive event that encapsulates what the essence of what it means to be at the top of figure skating. I remember feeling like it was a very special event and I know that both of us are hungry to experience that again. With that said, we will do what we can control, and that is how we perform. The rest is out of our hands."
 
Hawayek and Baker will close out the Grand Prix season at the Grand Prix of Espoo in Finland over Thanksgiving, making the trip back to Scandinavia for the second time on the span of two months.
 
"We had the intention of competing at Finlandia before the Grand Prix assignments were announced," Baker recalled. "We thought the timing of the event felt right for us in terms of the growth of our season. Our plan remained the same once we learned that we were assigned to the Grand Prix in Finland. We're excited to have the opportunity to visit twice in one season."
 
Looking forward to 2023, Hawayek and Baker want to challenge for the top spot at the U.S. Championships in San Jose, California, in January. They know it will be a tall mountain to scale, but they believe that they are up to the challenge.
 
"We know that (Madison) Chock and (Evan) Bates are a very established team, but we have to believe that we can step into the place where we can be national champions," Baker said. "If we don't have that belief, then we won't do it. It's absolutely something that we are striving towards."