The Future of Figure Skating

• Tarah Kayne

  Episode Notes Tarah Kayne is a retired competitive pair skater and a coach and choreographer. With her former partner Danny O’Shea, Tarah is the 2018 Four Continents champion, and 2016 US national champion. In our conversation, Tarah reflected on the challenges she had to overcome in her career, including financial barriers and several severe injuries. She also shared the importance of mental health and having a support network outside of skating. Tarah is now bringing these lessons to her role as a coach! Youtube: https://youtu.be/0hFapwdGAPU Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12MCq8AJiNxgUbMpAC6bX2ZZ3bq-yX1Yv1xMHzV8Bg9g/edit?usp=sharing You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at [email protected], Instagram at @futurefspodcast, or at futureoffs.bsky.com If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co

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• Gabriella Papadakis & Madison Hubbell

  Episode Notes Madison Hubbell and Gabriella Papadakis debuted their new professional partnership at Art on Ice 2025. I spoke to them backstage in Zurich about providing an example of what open-gender ice dance can look like, and their advocacy for change in the sport. Gabriella Papadakis is the 2022 Olympic Gold Medalist in Ice Dance and a five-time world champion. She was also a guest on the Future of Figure Skating episode 33. Madison Hubbell is the 2022 Olympic Bronze Medalist in Ice Dance and is now a coach at the Ice Academy of Montreal's London, Ontario branch. Gabi and Maddie are long-time friends and former training mates who always dreamed about skating together in shows. Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ZDDaryNEvErb6DSn499IDNomPS87X4jfugQ5S1nErM/edit?tab=t.0 Video interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Qxa0ERLdR4o Gabi's article on substack "The Case for Same-Sex Figure Skating" makes great reading as well! https://substack.com/home/post/p-154177649 The two are skating at Art on Ice to the live performance of Marius Bear's song "Not Loud Enough" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uyMdINdqvI Thank you to the Art on Ice team for facilitating this interview, and to Ivan Daniluk for filming and editing. You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at [email protected], Instagram at @futurefspodcast, or at futureoffs.bsky.com If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

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• Peter Grütter

  Episode Notes Peter Grütter competed representing Switzerland throughout the 1950s and 60s, including at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck. He's now been a coach for more than 60 years and is acknowledged as an expert when it comes to steps and turns and control of the blade. His most famous student is Stéphane Lambiel, who he coached to two world championship titles and the Olympic silver medal in 2006. After the end of compulsory figures, Peter took what he had learned from his coach, the legendary Jack Gershwiler, and created a series of warm-up steps and turns that could be used for his students to maintain their mastery of the blade. These steps and turns are now available as an e-learning course through the ISU's eRink program. Peter still teaches, including coming every Wednesday to the Skating School in Champery to work with young skaters. We were very lucky to be able to watch his master class during the 2024 summer camp in Champery and to get to sit down with this great coach to learn about his ideas for the future of the sport. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EGiyQDfaDiY?feature=shared Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1avXr_BnHlap96sVQrMz0_Mh8Cxq5q4kqdR4QMgkSE3U/edit?tab=t.0 Steps & Turns eRink course: https://elearning.isu.org/course/view.php?id=440 More about Jack Gerschwiler https://www.skateguardblog.com/2020/07/getting-to-know-gersch-jacques.html “The Technique of Skating” 1977 book by Otto Hugin and Jack Gerschwiler 2003 Interview w/ Peter : https://web.archive.org/web/20070928143716/http://www.stephanelambiel.ch/int%26art/interviews/e-gr%C3%BCtter201203.html 2009 Interview: http://www.absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=interviews&id=2009grutter 2013 Interview: http://www.absoluteskating.com/index.php?cat=interviews&id=2013gruetter You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to by email at [email protected] or on Instagram at futurefspodcast and Bluesky at futureoffs. If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with a tip jar at futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co. Remember to subscribe to the Future of Figure Skating on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts and share it with your friends! Support The Future of Figure Skating by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/futureoffigureskating

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  54:03
• Khoudia Touré

  Episode Notes Khoudia Touré is a street dancer, choreographer, and performer from Senegal. In 2018, Khoudia was selected for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative and worked with renowned Canadian choreographer Crystal Pité. Since 2020, she has been a frequent collaborator with Stéphane Lambiel’s Skating School in Champéry, Switzerland. She teaches hip-hop dance and improvisation techniques to the students during the summer camps and has collaborated with Stéphane, Guillaume Cizeron, and Satoko Miyahara on innovative show programs. I was lucky enough to get to speak with Khoudia during the summer camp in Champery, and I hope that you enjoy this conversation and some clips of her work with her students.  Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rKs22nDngaw Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tnj6ZErCx4anE4Uah5SO6Gz9jcGjp4AVWp69OxWGTBE/edit?tab=t.0 You can follow Khoudia's work through https://www.khoudiacreates.com/ and her instagram @ khoudia.roodia You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at [email protected] or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast  If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co Remember to subscribe to The Future of Figure Skating on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts, and share it with your friends! https://olympics.com/en/news/through-dance-khoudia-toure-advances-social-causes-senegal Stéphane Lambiel - This Bitter Earth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2fWwVHtEYU&pp=ygUic3RlcGhhbmUgbGFtYmllbCB0aGlzIGJpdHRlciBlYXJ0aA%3D%3D Stéphane Lambiel & Guillaume Cizeron  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2Xq1AjHg4Y Satoko Miyahara - Minor Blue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-VcP5sbkhY Khoudia Touré, Choreographer of “Óró”  https://vimeo.com/922090769/f7db132ed5

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  34:30
• Drew Meekins

  Episode Notes Drew Meekins is a coach and choreographer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Together with Natalia Mishkuntenok he runs M&M pairs, and coaches US Champions Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, Junior Champions Olivia Flores and Luke Wang, and teams from eight nations. He is also involved in coaching and choreography for singles skaters at the World Arena, most notably Elyce Lin-Gracey. Drew was the 2006 junior world champion with pairs partner Julia Vlassov. We talked about the role of artistry in the sport and the challenges of growing the pairs discipline. Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Cc_GcU9mkuzUaV8fp3GLWfAGtURsiZc0_7mi6oopsc/edit?tab=t.0 Episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/5r17SFFtuRU?feature=shared You can follow Drew on Instagram @Drew_Meekins and on Bluesky at drew-meekins.blsky.social M&M Pairs is on Instagram @mmpairs You can reach me with comments or suggestions for topics and people I should talk to, by email at [email protected] or on Instagram and Twitter @futurefspodcast If you appreciate the podcast, you can also support my work with the Tip Jar at https://futureoffigureskating.pinecast.co Remember to subscribe to The Future of Figure Skating on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts, and share it with your friends! Kam/O’Shea 2024 SP https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=cEJjyKpo40w&pp=ygUfZWxsaWUga2FtIGFuZCBkYW5ueSBvJ3NoZWEgMjAyNA%3D%3D Flores/Wang 2023-24 SP https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=jIT0vpwNMms&pp=ygUQZmxvcmVzIHdhbmcgMjAyNA%3D%3D Elyce Lin Gracey 2024-25 SP https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8yAbFlPpFA&pp=ygUYZWx5Y2UgbGluIGdyYWNleSBzcCAyMDI0

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