U.S. Ice Dance 2026-27 Discussion - Changing of the (Skate) Guard

I think N/M need a new coach. Something is missing there.

Pate/Bye are a beatable team who I think will move down the ranks this quad. USFS has too many younger teams with better long-term potential. They’re relied on incredible consistency, but when more talented teams also perform consistently, I don’t see USFS holding them up.

Cui/Rogers had the disadvantage of starting seniors with no rep (one JGP medal between them from prior partnerships) and had to spend their first couple seasons paying their dues. But their quality is undeniable. They should be in the tussle for top 4-8 and maybe eventually for the podium.
If consistency was Pate/Bye's strength, I'm afraid they lost it after the twizzles falls at nationals and in this competition 😬 Unfortunately they are pretty big errors.

Cui/Rogers are looking so good! They come from the same school as P/B and Z/K too, so USFS will be smart to pay more attention to them.
 
just saw cui/rogers sinners fd.

LOVE IT.

the video is from pretty far away and not super quality but i can see the potential already. i love that he's a zombie vampire by the end (they're portraying bo & grace from the film). fs doesn't have enough zombie vampire programs for my liking.
 
Amy Cui/Jonathan Rogers' Sinners FD closeup! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao3OAh_NufM (this account has synched the professional video with audio)
Oh my gosh! I have a really hard time imagining anyone coming up with something this season I am going to enjoy more. That was SOOOO creative! I love it.

PLEASE reward these two this year. I agree with so many others they should have been higher last year at US Nationals, I found myself rewatching their performances there a number of times. Huge score over P&B and N&M, which is a good sign! And I am sure I will watch this one over and over.

Thank you for posting, @coralline
 
Here's hoping Cui/Rogers get sent to a high-profile ISU Challenger, like Nebelhorn Trophy.

Is there any chance that there could be changes like last year in pairs? They won by 15 points, that’s a large margin. I guess it ultimately depends on if they’re invited to champs camp.

This is a little disappointing from USFS, it’s only the first week of August.
 
Someone in Lake Placid passed along the info that Aboian/Veselukhin's Junior RD music includes Doga's My Sweet and Tender Beast waltz with a tango.
A/V's RD & FD photos:
 
Grimm & Rodin are the ones to watch now. They are more mature in this junior field. But we have to wait and see what material Zanni have given them.
I’d also keep my eye on France’s PG/BK. While finishing second to A/V at both JGP Final and Jr. Worlds, they closed the gap in the margin of victory from 7 to 2 points.

In general, I’d say USA politiks are stronger than France and Germany, and A/V have the best reputation on the junior circuit so they’re favorites. But these other teams could beat them.
 
From the JGP general discussion thread:
... Kouevi/Homawoo are no longer in WISA. After Pierre Souquet-Basiege and Lorraine got married they started their own business. Kouevi/Homawoo are with them now.
Kouevi/Homawoo have confirmed their coaching change to Pierre Souquet-Basiège and Lorraine McNamara:
Their ISU profile also is updated: https://isu-skating.com/figure-skating/skaters/pairs/anaelle-kouevi-yann-homawoo/

U.S. entries for the ISU Challenger Series Kinoshita Group Cup in Tokyo, Sept. 4-6:
Leah NESET / Artem MARKELOV
Katarina WOLFKOSTIN / Dimitry TSAREVSKI
Sub: Eva PATE / Logan BYE
 
Here's hoping Cui/Rogers get sent to a high-profile ISU Challenger, like Nebelhorn Trophy.
Here’s hoping indeed!🤞🏻 I already think of C/R as Igor’s number 2 team, although they lack PB’s experience and international ranking. I don’t see a high ceiling for P&B - they don’t improve much year to year . And I liked CR’s White Crow better than LaLa’s last season.

They’re good friends with Zingnik - Amy shares an apartment with Emi and dog sits Chapa. May CR capture some of Zingnik’s magic fairy dust.
 
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Novi [Michigan] Ice Arena to remain city-owned (August 12, 2026): https://www.candgnews.com/articles/government-news/novi-ice-arena-to-remain-city-owned/
The building opened to the public in September 1998. Since then, the building has helped develop the figure skating talents of several national, world and Olympic champion figure skaters; hockey players; and more. It is also a popular place for fundraisers, and it offers a place for the community to have fun. According to the rink manager, Jeff Mitchell, approximately 700,000 people come to the rink each year.
The Novi Ice Arena was originally funded with bond funds, but it is now operated through an enterprise fund. Enterprise funds are funds set up for government facilities or services where user fees are supposed to make the facility or service self-sustaining.
“One of the things that I really think that is important is that we formalize some of the relationships with the school district users. Currently they each have a locker room — kind of run down in my mind. But I think that if we’re going to continue with this, that we need to go beyond potentially the revenue generated by the ice arena and start looking at this as a city asset that might be of value from the capital improvement program and take it the next step,” Councilman Dave Staudt said.
Staudt said he agreed with Fischer that the facility should be world-class and said that right now it looks outdated.
He said they have a capital improvement program millage coming up and that would be where the revenue to improve the ice rink would come from.
“I support exactly what the mayor said and I support expansion beyond that. But I may come back with a change of mindset if this capital improvement program millage doesn’t pass in November, because we have a responsibility to look at all the potential sources of revenue if that doesn’t pass, because we’re going to be in a very difficult position,” Staudt said.
“I’m looking forward to moving forward and seeing what happens with this,” Councilman Brian Smith said.
The item was only a discussion; there was no vote on the topic.
 
I had posted this is the Lake Placid Dance competition thread on August 2, 2026 (K/P finished 4th in Junior at LPIDC, their 2nd season together) and meant to cross-post here:
Nicole Kirsanov posted yesterday that her partnership with Ethan (Kejin) Peng has ended and she is looking for a new partner:
Nicole's IPS profile: https://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=8151

The Peals will compete next at the Skate Detroit NQS (Wed. & Thu., Aug. 19-20) in Bloomfield Hills, MI):
 
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