Marie-France Dubreuil, co-head coach and co-founder of the Ice Academy of Montreal (I.AM), coaches many of the top ice dance teams in the world, including reigning World champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates. Dubreuil is also a highly esteemed choreographer–and not only for ice dancers, but other disciplines as well.
Dubreuil had to tackle some new choreographic challenges with this season’s rhythm dance, which is the first to have a “decades” theme–in this case, the 1980s. There’s also a new required element in this season’s rhythm dance: A choreographic rhythm sequence based on the Silver Samba compulsory pattern. Meanwhile, last year’s choreographic rhythm sequence–which crossed the short axis of the rink and resembled the choreographic character step sequence element–is no more.
At Autumn Classic International, we caught up briefly with Dubreuil to get her thoughts on this season’s rhythm dance. The I.AM coach also gave an update on her students Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who will make their season debut this week at Skate America in Allen, Texas.
Q: The ISU gave us a brand-new 1980s theme for the rhythm dance this season. What do you think are the critical aspects of this rhythm dance?
Dubreuil: It’s a theme that was, I think, meant to be large, so there would be a lot of variety. And there were a lot of rules changes. So, not only is it the first time that we are given an era, instead of a rhythm, but we’re also given a choreographic pattern dance [rhythm sequence] that’s brand-new. We fiddled a lot with it during the summer. Because the way the rules were written, they were not very clear. There were some loopholes, or whatever. After a couple of months, we understood better what they were looking for. There were a lot of adjustments to be made, to be familiar with what the ISU wants.
Q: I know this year’s choreographic rhythm sequence is based on the Silver Samba, but there’s a lot of freedom in how you can show it. Is that freedom helpful in terms of choreography, or does it just make for more decisions, etc.?
Dubreuil: Well … It’s okay. It’s an interesting concept. I don’t know if I like that better than the choreo step [i.e., the short-axis choreographic rhythm sequence from last season]. Last year during Worlds, the audience started to recognize the choreo step. And you could see them get excited for it. And I think to take it away, for an element that is quite long … The new choreographic rhythm sequence ends up being a very long element, because the [Silver Samba] pattern by itself is close to 30 seconds. So if you add in time for [an entrance/exit to sequence], because the music requires it, it makes for a long element. The [non-touching step sequence] is also a long element, and then with the choreo rhythm sequence, there’s not a lot of time to actually do choreography or dance. I feel it’s a lot of long elements.
Q: Do you like this 80s theme?
Dubreuil: You know what? Funny story, but all summer I was working on 80s music, and at the end of the day, I had the biggest headache. Because it’s high-pitched music that’s very saturated. And after eight hours of blasting speakers at training, I couldn’t listen to any music after training. It’s high-pitched, high-energy music. And it’s interesting, because there is a lot of variety. My nervous system was tired at the end of the summer. But it’s good. I think everybody has their style with it.
Q: With the 80s theme, there’s an element of camp, or kitsch, that can come into it. Is that a good or bad thing–that it can be a bit over the top?
Dubreuil: Yes, it’s over the top. And actually, the clothing, it’s hard to figure out how to not go into it too much, so it’s not a parody. So that it’s respectful to the era, but not overly done. There’s a fine line, I think, that needs to be well-negotiated. We tried to pick music that becomes a bit of a sing-along. So for people in the stands, they probably all know the music and can sing and have fun with it. Maybe it’ll transform into a huge karaoke by Worlds. [Laughs]
Q: Can you talk about your students Madison Chock and Evan Bates? How has their training gone during the off-season?
Dubreuil: Well, they’ve been touring quite a bit. Of course, they are World champions, and I think they wanted to tour and make money, so they can live [make a living], that’s all. That’s what you get, being the World champions. I think it was important–before they made a decision to compete again–to just take the rest from competition and to work. And when they got back, they were very excited to start fresh new programs. Of course, with Skate America [coming up], it’s a short period of preparation for the new season. But their goal is really to win Worlds again. And they know that it might not be 100% ready for the Grand Prixs, but they’re doing their best. And we’ll keep evolving through this season.
Q: That’s what happened last season with Chock and Bates, right? And it worked out. So does that experience help, because they already did it one time?
Dubreuil: Yes. We’re hoping they don’t make it that hard at the beginning of this season for themselves [i.e., compared to last season, when they had to substantially rework their free dance.] Right now, they’re in shape. They’re not injured. They’re training. So we have a plan to make them as ready as they can be. When they were touring in Japan, they were doing full programs while on tour. They were doing last year’s program, but they were fit and in shape.
Q: Were you thinking about their material–their programs–months ago?
Dubreuil: It’s maybe since June and July that we started to talk about music, concept, and the concept of the rhythm dance. They were clear on what they wanted to do. They wanted to skate to Queen [for rhythm dance]. So we have a pretty good montage edit of Queen, I think, which suits them. For the free dance, we played a little bit more with that concept, because it’s a little bit more abstract [a “time” theme to Pink Floyd]. But now it’s getting clearer and clearer, as they train it.