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Elder statesman Abbott wants to look part We fi rst met Jeremy Abbott’s whiskers at


Champs Camp in August, when the four-time U.S. champion told us he had decided to grow a “playoff beard” during what he said would be his fi nal competitive season. Two months later in Chicago, it was still


there, but let’s just say Abbott isn’t going to be mistaken for a “Duck Dynasty” cast member. “I wanted to show that I’m a man and that I’m mature,” Abbott, 29, said.


“I’m al-


most a decade older than a lot of these guys, even though I’m so baby-faced and young-looking. I just wanted to really look mature and kind of stand out a little bit.” Abbott confi rmed he will continue


to cultivate it throughout the season. “I love it,” he said. “It’s a little


patchy. I don’t naturally grow facial hair so it’s been a kind of labor of love.” — Lynn Rutherford


remade in 2014, and focus on the movement and relationship between the characters,” Bates said. And how about Chock’s new, shoul-


der-length bob? “That was just because I wanted to cut


my hair, but it does seem to fi t the program,” she said. “It’s all a fresh look for a new season and new Olympic cycle.”


— Lynn Rutherford


Happy Brown skates the blues For Jason Brown’s short program, coach


Kori Ade and choreographer Rohene Ward chose blues great Little Walter’s “Juke.” It is said Little Walter could make even a


simple harmonica (or “harp”) sing with joy or wail in grief. Born in rural Louisiana, Marion Walter Ja-


cobs settled in Chicago in 1947. His harmonica solos topped the Billboard R&B charts in the early 1950s, and it is his fi rst hit — the swinging, improvisational “Juke” — for which the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is best remembered. Asking the ever-cheerful Brown to skate


to the blues may seem a reach, but “Juke” isn’t a lament; rather, it’s an upbeat interlude in a hard life.


“I didn’t want it to be a sad blues piece, I


wanted it to be an uplifting blues piece, and I didn’t want it to be a bunch of instruments, I wanted it to be one instrument,” Ward said. “I watched the (2008) movie Cadillac Records, and I saw Little Walter’s record label Chess was based in Chicago. I thought, ‘Jason is from Chi- cago, he is going to love this.’” Little Walter died at age 37 in 1968. His


Doing Paris their own way Madison Chock and Evan


Bates set their free dance to music from An American in Paris, the icon- ic 1951 MGM musical about a struggling New York painter making his way in the City of Lights, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. So when the U.S. ice dance silver medal-


ists hit the ice in sophisticated black attire, in- stead of a circle skirt for Chock and crewneck sweater for Bates, many did double takes. According to Chock, who designs the


team’s costumes, it’s all part of larger plan. “We’re doing our own rendition,” Chock


said. “We decided to go with sleeker cos- tumes, keep it simple, so the attention is on the skating and the program has a more mod- ern feel. We wanted something you might just wear out for a date.” “The idea for us is do it as if the movie was


daughter, Marion Diaz Reacco, established the Little Walter Foundation to preserve her father’s legacy as a major infl uence on the Chicago blues scene. She attended Skate America at Hoff man Estates’ Sears Centre to watch Brown interpret her father’s biggest hit. “It’s very touching and very emo- tional for me,” Diaz Reacco said.


“I cried through the whole thing, tears of happiness. I was think- ing, if my dad was still alive, how would he feel? Probably he would have come down to the ice and grabbed Jason and just hugged him.” Brown met Diaz


Reacco at Skate America and took a harmonica les- son from three-time Emmy nominee Billy Branch, who later pre-


sented the skater with a harmonica.


SKATING 19


“It is so cool they came out to support


me,” Brown said. “I feel so lucky I got to per- form it in front of [Diaz Reacco]. I’m so happy she enjoyed it.” “Jason skates from his heart and Rohene


choreographs from his heart,” Diaz Reacco said. “That’s what the blues is all about. I’m glad Jason chose ‘Juke,’ because we need to keep the blues alive. We need to let young people know the blues is where it all began.” — Lynn Rutherford


Aaron pumped to wear a tutu When Canadian choreographer Julie Mar-


cotte presented the pairs team of Madeline Aaron and Max Settlage with their short pro- gram to selections from the comic French ballet Coppélia, Aaron had only one thing on her mind.


“I always wanted to skate in a tutu, so


when she said Coppélia, I immediately said, ‘I’m wearing a tutu,’ ” Aaron said. “She was all for it.” Aaron and Settlage, who fi nished fi fth at


Skate America and fourth at Skate Canada, have embraced both of their Marcotte-designed pro- grams — their free skate is to the musical The King and I — this season and relish in the oppor- tunity to perform the famous ballet. They both have extensive ballet experi-


ence. Aaron started when she was 3, and she and Settlage took the same ballet class from the same instructor as youngsters. “A lot of our technique is similar,” Settlage


said. “I love classical music, too, so I was really excited to skate to this as well. It’s a little faster than what we are used to, but I think we really felt the music.” The ballet is about a life-sized doll that


comes to life. The pairs team performed to The Nut-


cracker in 2011 to claim the novice title. “I love to perform and that’s what I love


about ballet; you get to become a character and express yourself through your move- ments,” Aaron said.


— Troy Schwindt


JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING


JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING


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