"On Edge" - Olympic Channel's docuseries featuring 6 teams from Ice Academy of Montreal

[Sylvia]

Episode 1 premiered today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PncCw1Ax3s

Meet the six teams training together at the Ice Academy of Montreal in Canada for the Olympic Games Beijing 2022. Gabriella and Guillaume reflect on their PyeongChang experience. Madison and Zach have some on-ice tension and speak about their emotional connection and Scott Moir tells us what it takes to be an Olympic champion.
Filmed in the last six months leading up to Beijing 2022, On Edge is the Olympic Channel’s first weekly figure skating reality docuseries chronicling the day-to-day lives of six teams from five countries training at the Ice Academy of Montreal.

Featuring athletes Madison Chock and Evan Bates (USA), Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron (FRA), Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue (USA), Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz (ESP), Laurence Fournier-Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen (CAN), Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (GBR), and coaches Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer and three time Olympic Gold medallist Scott Moir.

Follow the personal and emotional journeys of the world’s best ice dancing teams, both on ice and off ice, as they train for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 [2nd episode is available to watch here]: https://olympics.com/en/original-series/on-edge/

 

[Frau Muller]

Where can one see the full episodes? I checked various streaming services for a full one-hr episode…
Or is each one 14 minutes or so?

 

[Karen-W]

Where can one see the full episodes? I checked various streaming services for a full one-hr episode…
Or is each one 14 minutes or so?

Olympics.com - and it looks like the episodes are only approximately 15 min long.

 

[Frau Muller]

Olympics.com - and it looks like the episodes are only approximately 15 min long.

Oh, rats. This seems more like quick promo pieces than a full old-fashioned series, like the Johnny Weir reality documentary series or Ice Diaries, which followed Czisny and others ca 2005/06.

 

[AJ Skatefan]

I’m thoroughly enjoying this show! Too bad the episodes aren’t longer!

 

[Sylvia]

Madison Hubbell posted this yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/p/CWozOacJuYr/

Zach and I will be going live tomorrow on the @olympics account, to chat about the new series, On Edge. Come hang out with us to hear about the season so far, behind the scenes info, and to ask any questions you may have after watching the first two episodes.

The IG Live with Papadakis/Cizeron and Hubbell/Donohue will be at 6 pm Eastern time here: https://www.instagram.com/olympics/

 

[viennese]

There's footage of Papadakis/Cizeron when they were kids. Very cute.

 

[viennese]

Early favorite: Henry the little grey dog

 

[Andora]

I am 100% skating reality series trash at the worst of times. This series so far is exceptionally entertaining. But I'm completely biased.

LOVE Romain. More from/of him, please.

 

[honey]

Loving this so far! Very high quality and not coming off as cheesy or cringy (yet! ). The All Around series from The Olympic Channel was well done, so I’m happy to see the quality has extended to this.

 

[PRlady]

I was stupidly surprised Nik’s and Laurence’s English was so good. I assumed she was Francophone and he would have a Danish accent but they’re native-sounding. Also still pretty damn good looking without the makeup and costumes!

 

[kalamalka]

I was stupidly surprised Nik’s and Laurence’s English was so good. I assumed she was Francophone and he would have a Danish accent but they’re native-sounding. Also still pretty damn good looking without the makeup and costumes!

I'm pretty sure Laurence is Francophone, given her name - but she's from Montreal so may very well have grown up bilingual. And Nikolaj's been training in NA for since at least 2009 - and since he's Danish, probably spoke pretty good English when he came. (All the Scandinavian 17 year olds I've hosted have had excellent English. Unfortunately for the kids, I host more Latino students, and they tend to have the weakest English skills at our local United World College)

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I met Lolo and Nik at the Shall We Dance show in 2016 and was also surprised how easily they spoke in English. They were so fun to talk to. One of my best memories from that night.

 

[manhn]

Even in small towns across Quebec, their English is pretty good. I always try to speak French. But as soon as I say "Bonjour:, they switch to English. I don't know how people learn French while in Montreal, because they don't ever want to engage with people in French unless they're already 100% fluent.

 

[goldberry99]

Is anyone who understands French able to give us a brief summary of what the coaching team was saying after Smart/Diaz’s simulation in episode 2? I think I got the idea from the tone and body language, but…

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

Is anyone who understands French able to give us a brief summary of what the coaching team was saying after Smart/Diaz’s simulation in episode 2? I think I got the idea from the tone and body language, but…

I don't speak French but I turned the subtitles on and they translated it into English. If I remember correctly, they basically discussed the run through being sloppy and the fact he didn't make enough rotations in the lift.

 

[skategal]

Laurence is Francophone and speaks excellent English with a small French accent.

Nik is Danish and speaks better English than Laurence.

They were interviewed on Trennnnnt Michaud’s podcast and there were a few phrases “ie. throwing a fit” that Nik had to explain to Laurence.

They are so cute and funny together.

Love them.

 

[mtnskater]

I loved learning that Chock & Bates are really close friends with Fournier-Beaudry & Soerensen. They hang out together, eat dinners together and FB/S dog sit for C&B when they travel.

Also the series reminds me how difficult the sport of Ice dance really is and how much work, thought and effort goes into every move in the program, let alone getting the partners to synchronize the moves and make it all seamlessly flow. Fans are often so quick to dismiss programs.

 

[maatTheViking]

Does anyone have a clue who was watching Smart/Diaz and blurred out? I wonder if it could be Baker?

I'm trying to remember which teams train there who are not features and probably didn't sign release - Hawayek/Baker are one team, Reed/A. is another (it makes sense they are not featured as they are not that high level and their olympic spots are not certain), Canadian L/L and Kol/Kom. I'm not sure if Wang/Liu are coached remotely?

I'm enjoying the series so far, only seen the first two episodes. I think it's interesting to get a glimpse into how the training is with so many couples.

 

[RoseRed]

Does anyone have a clue who was watching Smart/Diaz and blurred out? I wonder if it could be Baker?

I'm trying to remember which teams train there who are not features and probably didn't sign release - Hawayek/Baker are one team, Reed/A. is another (it makes sense they are not featured as they are not that high level and their olympic spots are not certain), Canadian L/L and Kol/Kom. I'm not sure if Wang/Liu are coached remotely?

I'm enjoying the series so far, only seen the first two episodes. I think it's interesting to get a glimpse into how the training is with so many couples.

I don't think Komatsubara/Koleto would have been in Montreal at the time, from what I remember (not sure though). And yes, I believe Wang/Liu and Chen/Sun remained in China (and Italy when team China went there).

Besides Hawayek/Baker, Lajoie/Lagha and Reed/Ambrulevicius, other IAM teams include: Fabbri/Ayer, Lauriault/Le Gac, Fukase/Zhang, Fear/Waddell, Garabedian/Proulx-Senecal, Harris/Chan and Lafound/Fournier/Kam. Plus in junior they have Lim/Quan and Gauthier/Thierin. I think that's all the teams I know of, but I might have missed a couple/

I don't know if Scott's teams come with him when he's in Montreal, but they might also.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I saw Ambrulevicius on the ice during the third episode so he must have signed a release.

 

[GreenGan]

Is anyone who understands French able to give us a brief summary of what the coaching team was saying after Smart/Diaz’s simulation in episode 2? I think I got the idea from the tone and body language, but…

They noted the technical difficulties (not enough turns) and the fact that what they said to them earlier in the day was not implemented in this program. You saw Romain being the harshest but they all agreed : they don't skate between the element, so all the momentum (maybe they talked about speed ? I don't remember) they gain goes for nothing.

 

[pointbleu]

I met Lolo and Nik at the Shall We Dance show in 2016 and was also surprised how easily they spoke in English. They were so fun to talk to. One of my best memories from that night.

And Nick speaks an excellent French too without much of an accent. The Scandinavians are really good at languages!

 

[Mayra]

I have no clue how this group of skaters co-exist but clearly I'm petty and have no sportsmanship. If I was P&C I would have been pissed to see V&M join this team, and H&D are now having to watch their direct competition show up with their best material to date and scoring very well because their coaching team decided to take them on. It's insane.

Mind you, I think they are all extremely well packaged and have quality content. That is not in doubt. What would bother me however, would be the clear lack of loyalty. If they were all homegrown and rose together, I'd get it.

As it is, kudos to all these teams who are better athletes and human beings than I.

 

[dancing_on_ice]

I have no clue how this group of skaters co-exist but clearly I'm petty and have no sportsmanship. If I was P&C I would have been pissed to see V&M join this team, and H&D are now having to watch their direct competition show up with their best material to date and scoring very well because their coaching team decided to take them on. It's insane.

Mind you, I think they are all extremely well packaged and have quality content. That is not in doubt. What would bother me however, would be the clear lack of loyalty. If they were all homegrown and rose together, I'd get it.

As it is, kudos to all these teams who are better athletes and human beings than I.

I think about this a lot, but I feel it might also be because elite ice dance is such a small world, and training with your direct competition is not all that uncommon. There aren't that many high-level ice dance coaches, and Montreal is not the first mass training complex with dozens of teams. Less than a decade ago, Canton Michigan was the center of the ice dance world. Some of the older skaters at Montreal trained in Canton. So Montreal's dominance, and having top teams train with their direct competitors, is not new.

Also, I speculate that this may just be something that the skaters are somewhat used to. When they first put on skates as kids, their very first competitions are against other kids in their area, many of whom probably train at the same rink. Obviously, rivalries are not as intense at the pre-juvenile level as they are at the senior level, but many of these trends continue as they progress through the ranks, as skaters rarely stay at the same rink their whole lives. As they become more advanced, they grow out of their old coaches and seek better coaches. The better coaches often coach multiple high-level skaters (as they would by definition), so to some extent, the skaters are always training with their direct competition and end up all getting funneled to the same few facilities.

Furthermore, the majority of teams in Montreal are not direct competitors, which probably also helps to alleviate the competition pressure. Some of the rivalries are very obvious, like C/B and H/D, who are constantly fighting to be the top US team, but it's difficult to argue that, say, FBS and KoKo are direct rivals, when they compete for different countries, and have totally different goals at Worlds. FBS are a solid top ten team and KoKo are hoping to qualify for the free dance. There's little reason for resentment between most of the teams in Montreal. Ultimately, these skaters have a lot more in common with each other than they do differences. They've all dedicated their lives to pursuing elite ice dance, and there are so few people in the world who can relate to them on that level.

 

[RoseRed]

I have no clue how this group of skaters co-exist but clearly I'm petty and have no sportsmanship. If I was P&C I would have been pissed to see V&M join this team, and H&D are now having to watch their direct competition show up with their best material to date and scoring very well because their coaching team decided to take them on. It's insane.

Mind you, I think they are all extremely well packaged and have quality content. That is not in doubt. What would bother me however, would be the clear lack of loyalty. If they were all homegrown and rose together, I'd get it.

As it is, kudos to all these teams who are better athletes and human beings than I.

I mean, they probably were annoyed. Or at least not too happy about it. I really think they all got along fine in general. There were a few cute videos of Tessa and Guillaume dancing together with Sam, and her cuddling up to him during gala practice, and Scott and Gabby joking around waiting to go on the ice for the warm up. But I also think it was probably quite tense particularly in that Olympic season with all of that pressure, especially for P/C since V/M had been in the same situation before, so they would be more used to it. I think Gabby and Guillaume even spoke about how Tessa and Scott coming changed the dynamic of their training, and it felt more intense/competitive and less relaxed. All of which is understandable.

I do think it helps that they have teams from lots of different countries and at different levels to each other, who aren't in direct competition.

 

[Judy]

I loved seeing Sam Chouinard again! He makes me even want to get up and dance (not very well mind you).

 

[Mayra]

There's little reason for resentment between most of the teams in Montreal. Ultimately, these skaters have a lot more in common with each other than they do differences. They've all dedicated their lives to pursuing elite ice dance, and there are so few people in the world who can relate to them on that level.

True. I think I'm more amazed that nobody has kicked up a fuss, but as has been stated above, there isn't a whole lot to choose from and Marie-France and Patrice etc have found a great formula that works.

I mean Pasha would never but...

Love the show either way. I selfishly wish these episodes were longer. Where else am I going to watch two ice dance teams split a white claw between the four of them and act like it's a crazy indulgence?

 

[allezfred]

I selfishly wish these episodes were longer.

This. The episodes are way too short.

 

[barbarafan]

I have no clue how this group of skaters co-exist but clearly I'm petty and have no sportsmanship. If I was P&C I would have been pissed to see V&M join this team, and H&D are now having to watch their direct competition show up with their best material to date and scoring very well because their coaching team decided to take them on. It's insane.

Mind you, I think they are all extremely well packaged and have quality content. That is not in doubt. What would bother me however, would be the clear lack of loyalty. If they were all homegrown and rose together, I'd get it.

As it is, kudos to all these teams who are better athletes and human beings than I.

Kudo's to them...They have specific actual
coaches but the school has a hive brain where input to boost each teams program potential. Programs are tweaked and added to during the whole season. If a team is capable of doing an element, learning an element, polishing the element to be performed cleanly and consistantly they will be taught it...whatever it takes. There are always other pairs of eyes there to get opinions on. They are all given fabulous tools to train, compete and perform.....but when u step on the ice it is up to you, the judges and the audience reaction to you.