Dance Queens & Kings--Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA), Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck (Spain), Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (Canada)--Skate America 2023
Pairs Pretty--(L to R) Chelsea Liu and Blazs Nagy (USA), Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (Canada)--Skate America 2023
To cap off my SKATE AMERICA 2023 Figure Skating Costumes Blog, let's end with the ICE DANCE and PAIRS costumes! In case you missed my previous posts, click HERE for the WOMEN and HERE for the Men...
Now...it's time for the ICE DANCE COSTUMES:
Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA) Rhythm Dance--For their Rhythm Dance to
Another One Bites The Dust (from "Bohemian Rhapsody") by Queen, Who Wants To Live Forever (from "Bohemian Rhapsody") by Queen, and I Want It All (from "The Miracle") by Queen, they wore these great costumes above. The designs paid homage to Queen (naturally) and Madison's canary yellow look was all Freddy Mercury and his iconic yellow jacket...As seen above, her costume featured the same epaulets and belted details as Mercury's, with just a little more sparkle to it (Hello! It's ICE DANCE!). Loved the chic one-shoulder silhouette and exposed sides, reminding me of an haute couture number from Balmain or Alexandre Vauthier. Oh, and yes, I also liked Evan's look as well.
Free Dance to Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of The Moon"--Madison, once again, was the STAR with her costume, wearing the above look that featured curved lines and clock details--a definite wink to
Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory" and those iconic melting clocks (above). I thought this was a great fashion and design interpretation of the famous artwork and worked well with the Pink Floyd music. Even though Evan was not the centerpiece of the costume, he still stood out in his sleek black outfit with a bold white stripe running down one side.
Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (Canada) Rhythm Dance--Would it surprise you that Lajoie and Lagha skated to
Michael Jackson? Probably not, from looking at the costumes above. The theme for this season's Rhythm Dance is the 80s and that decade was VERY MUCH on display here. Marjorie and Zachary certainly paid tribute to Jackson and his "Thriller" video with the looks above including her cheetah-printed blue and red ensemble, and his red-and-black jacket look, iconic Michael Jackson. If they are at a loss of what to wear this Halloween, I think they are taken care of!
Free Dance to Roses by Jean-Michel Blais, Roses arranged by Karl Hugo--These were a nice, classical departure from those "Thriller" costumes from their Rhythm Dance. Marjorie wore a strawberry-colored ombre-shaded dress with a long fluttery hem and gorgeous sequin work. Zachary's look featured black pants and an untucked aquamarine shirt with sequined applique.
Evgenia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud (France) Rhythm Dance--Keeping with the 80's Music Theme, the French (naturally) chose an iconic 80's French song and artist: The GREAT Mylene Farmer and Sans Contrefacon. From the screengrab above of Farmer's music video for the song, we can see the inspiration for the costumes, in particular, Evgenia and the muted green-and-white striped top she wears with matching colored shorts and waist corset. I loved the sequin detail in Geoffrey's green sheer top, in that it featured the crystals done in horizontal "stripes".
Free Dance to Elegie in E-Flat Minor, Op. 3, No. 1 by Sergei Rachmaninov and Prélude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 3, No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov--To a classical Free Dance, they, appropriately went classic with their costumes, which were done in blue tones, watercolor-like dyeing and clean-lines silhouettes.
Caroline Green and Michael Parsons (USA) Rhythm Dance--Skating to 80s Rock Anthems Still Loving You by The Scorpions, Rock You Like a Hurricane by The Scorpions, Green and Parsons certainly embraced the 80s AND Metal Rock theme. As someone who actually lived through this decade, I recognize all the fashion tropes: Cropped top, Lycra python print, her "Olivia Newton-John" pants...the MESH (!), the fingerless gloves, as well as his sleeveless Moto Vest/Jacket. Even though it might be argued that these could be the perfect 80s-themed Halloween Party costumes, they worked for The Scorpions music!
Free Skate to Denmark by Portland Cello Project, Gideon Freudmann, Wind and Snow by Annalisa Tornfelt, Gideon Freudmann, Portland Cello Project--Skating to the strings of the cello in this music, these costumes were lyrical, classic and modern at the same time, and quite pretty. While I liked both, her one-shoulder asymmetrical dress with side cut-outs and sparkling sequins looked especially good!
Nathalie Taschlereova and Filip Taschler (Czech Republic) Rhythm Dance--Skating to
The Knowledge by Janet Jackson, James Harris III, Terry Lewis, Juicy Fruit by James Mtume, and Serious Slammin' by The Pointer Sisters, Gregg Crockett, Lenan Zales, this Czech brother and sister team wore these black with silver sequined costumes. They certainly went bold with these designs and those big jeweled crystals, looking very "Rhythm Nation Tour", if it was sponsored by Swarovski!
Free Dance to Bluecobalto by Negramaro, Terra Rosa by Havasi, Son Felice by Giuliano Sangiorgi--These costumes for the Free Dance continued what seems like a trend with the Ice Dance team in wearing something more on the "Classic" costume trend, which makes sense following such a kooky 80's Rhythm Dance theme. These were elegant and nice for the music. I loved both her red look with silver sequins and "open" back/sides, as well as his second-skin-fitting gray/silver top that was solid in front and sheer in the back: Nicely done!
Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck (Spain) Rhythm Dance--Skating to
Call Me and Rapture by Blondie, Olivia, especially gave us strong Debbie Harry vibes with her platinum blond hair and skin-tight acid blue jumpsuit; it was 80s hot, sassy, and impacting. Tim's "Rocker" look of black pants and Moto-inspired top was the right costume partner for her.
PAIRS:
Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel (Germany)--Above were the costumes from the German Pairs team for their Short Program (top) and Free Skate (lower).
For their Short, they skated to I Love Rock n Roll by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and Voulez-Vous by Philip Michael, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters & Stellan Skarsgård in these black costumes featuring silver sequins; they were impacting and had a sparkly rock & roll-ish vibe.
For their Free Skate to Without You (Extended) by Ursine Vulpine & Annaca, they wore these fire red and black looks which were great as well; I loved her draped cross body top, sheer inner panel, as well as how the red color was brought in to his top in the form of the sequins.
Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (Canada) Short Program--Skating to
River by Bishop Briggs, Pereira and Michaud looked great in these looks above. I thought hers was spectacular in its bold royal blue color and paneled detail; she looked like an exotic bird from the Amazon rainforest! (her slicked-back chignon was perfectly elegant with this costume by the way!). I also appreciated how the detail of her costume was brought into Trennt's look, in his top, at the shoulder; a wonderful way to really make them look like...A PAIR!
It probably wouldn't surprise you to find out that Pereira and Michaud skated their
Free Skate to
Gladiator (soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer, from seeing the costumes above. I thought both designs were great in that they stuck to the theme/inspiration yet didn't look cheesy and "Halloween" costume-like. I loved her creme-white dress with heavy golden applique; very "Greco-Roman Goddess"...and his "Gladiator" muscle top with gold sequins and applique was hot! Once again, I appreciated bringing in the same applique she had in her costume.
Chelsea Liu and Balazs Nagy (USA) Short Program--Skating to
Dive by Ed Sheeran, American Pairs Liu and Nagy wore these simple yet pretty costumes above. Hers featured a deep magenta color with starry rhinestones. He wore skin-tight black.
Free Skate to A Thousand Times Good Night (from "Romeo and Juliet") by Abel Korzeniowski--
I also thought these costumes worn for their Free Skate were quite pretty. Balazs wore an aqua-blue sequined top with black pants and Chelsea's white with light pink costume featured the same sequined detail as seen on his top. Not really sure what these had to do with "Romeo & Juliet" but they were pretty. I almost think these would have worked better for their "Dive" Short Program (the blue/water motif) and the Free Skate looks would have worked better with "Romeo & Juliet" (her look had some semblance of a "Juliet"), but that's just me.
