Hawayek/ Baker Cheer Thread

I think H/B have a chance to move up in the US rankings next season. I see C/B as very vulnerable and perhaps starting to slip. H/B are younger and more hungry and just need to be consistent to move up nationally and internationally.
 
Last fall, I had the pleasure of speaking with Kaitlin/Jean-Luc when I covered U.S. Classic for Figure Skaters Online. Unfortunately, I never had time to write up anything based on our talks. So I just thought I'd post a few bits here, belatedly.

-- H/B said they wanted to choose modern music for the SD this year because they feel like ice dance needs to engage with popular music in order to stay relevant and reach out to a larger audience. (I personally loved their SD this season and hope they try more things like this in the future!)

-- They made the decision very early in the off-season to keep Liebestraum for a second year. They said it was really a consensus choice between them and their coaches.

-- Once they decided to keep it, they worked with a local dance expert (I think someone who's with a ballet or modern dance company in Detroit) to freshen the piece. The goal was to keep it interesting for them to skate to throughout the second season.

-- Kaitlin/Jean-Luc seemed really passionate about ice dance & engaged with what they're doing. They were very nice to chat with!
 
Thanks, Claire! Their next public performance will be at the Skating Club of Boston's "Ice Chips" show, April 7-8. Link to the event thread in GSD: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/sc-of-bostons-2018-ice-chips-show-april-7-8.103705/

ETA:

It will be interesting to see how their coaching situation changes for next season (with the recent reports of Anjelika Krylova planning to return to Russia to coach).

DreamsofBliss said:
They worked with Ice Dance International for a production in Sun Valley this summer. There will be a special on PBS next spring that they will be featured in! Here's a video about it where you can see some glimpses of them there.
Click to expand...
Just saw @DreamsofBliss' earlier post - here's the thread I started in GSD about the upcoming public TV documentary: "The World of Ice Dance International" film (distributed by American Public Television)/
 
Last edited:
IloveFS said:
I think this team is a perfect blend of VM and DW. Anyone else agree?
Click to expand...

I've said it before on other threads: Jean-Luc is one of the most charismatic male ice dancers. I know he is criticized for his shorter stature, but he skates with such passion, no matter the music genre, and completely disappears into the character of the dance, I don't even notice his size. A born entertainer with an innate sense of movement.
 
suki said:
I've said it before on other threads: Jean-Luc is one of the most charismatic male ice dancers. I know he is criticized for his shorter stature, but he skates with such passion, no matter the music genre, and completely disappears into the character of the dance, I don't even notice his size. A born entertainer with an innate sense of movement.
Click to expand...

I love watching Jean-Luc on the ice. I can't say that I noticed this team much before this season, but the first time I saw Jean-Luc do the Latin dance, I fell in love with his skating and his passion. Haven't been able to take my eyes off of him since.
 
Both Kaitlin and Jean-Luc have posted a video and similar messages on their respective IG accounts:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkIYlx9jr87/?taken-by=kait_hawayek
JL and I are incredibly excited about how things are going at our new training center with the Gadbois team in Montreal! We already feel the improvement in our skating and the growth with our new coaching team.
Click to expand...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkIwTk7jUct/?taken-by=jeanlucbaker
After our first month of training, Kaitlin and I couldn’t be happier with our decision to take the next step in our career by training with the Gadbois team in Montreal! We would love for you all to go check out our Go Fund Me page with the link in my bio! Any bit of support helps!
Click to expand...
Their GFM page for the 2018-19 season: https://www.gofundme.com/hawayek-amp-baker-20182019-season
 
^^^ Thanks Sylvia, for your post about Kaitlin and Jean-Luc. I have a soft spot for these two and would be thrilled if they could improve and advance higher both at Nationals 2019 (maybe top two) and internationally.
 
Why did they leave Camerlengo? They always praised him and their training under him. I hope it works out for them but I was a bit in shock when I heard about a month ago.
 
savchenkoboss said:
Why did they leave Camerlengo? They always praised him and their training under him. I hope it works out for them but I was a bit in shock when I heard about a month ago.
Click to expand...
Perhaps because their main technical coach was Krylova who moved to Russia? It was not just Camerlengo - he was only their "artistic" coach/choreographer. He went to work with Shpilband, though, so they could have gone with him. But probably they did not like what they were seeing of Shpilband's work (in more than one sense) lately and/or thought that Dubreul/Lauzon/Haguenauer were a better fit for them and what they want to achieve - who knows.
 
lauravvv said:
Perhaps because their main technical coach was Krylova who moved to Russia? It was not just Camerlengo - he was only their "artistic" coach/choreographer. He went to work with Shpilband, though, so they could have gone with him. But probably they did not like what they were seeing of Shpilband's work (in more than one sense) lately and/or thought that Dubreul/Lauzon/Haguenauer were a better fit for them and what they want to achieve - who knows.
Click to expand...

Ooops that is right, I forgot Camerlengo went to Shpilband. I would want to steer far away from Shpilband too come to think of it.
 
Thanks a lot, Sylvia. I saw just today that they had withdrawn also from Finlandia Trophy (probably happened already some time ago, but I simply hadn't noticed it), and was starting to worry that perhaps there is some injury after all. But from this blog post it does not seem like there is some serious problem. Kaitlin is very positive in it. We don't know about Jean Luc, of course. It's likely that she would not reveal anything without his permission if it was him who had an injury. Still, seeing as her mood is very positive here, either it's not very serious and they will be okay soon, or it's just that they had a late start in training with the move (and perhaps some injury that is already healed, but delayed them a bit) and don't feel quite competition ready yet.
 
In the latest TSL video, Dave Lease said that they withdrew from Finlandia because they're still "getting over the effects of a concussion".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Similar threads

Sylvia
Hawayek/Baker have withdrawn from 2023 Worlds
2
Replies
38
Views
10K
puglover
puglover
Karen-W
  • Locked
US Ice Dance 2024-25 News & Updates
26 27 28
Replies
834
Views
214K
Karen-W
Karen-W
Sylvia
2023-24 ISU Grand Prix Assignments & projected alternates
10 11 12
Replies
351
Views
88K
Karen-W
Karen-W
Sylvia
Xmas, holiday & end of 2022 figure skating shows worldwide
Replies
19
Views
8K
ice coverage
ice coverage
Sylvia
2022-23 ISU Grand Prix Assignments are published
19 20 21
Replies
605
Views
122K
Theatregirl1122
Theatregirl1122
Back
Top
Do Not Sell My Personal Information