When skaters understand the blend of the two, this is the perfect recipe for gold,” he says.Olympic Flame Extinguished in Beijing, Italy Waves in Milano Cortina 2026 I tried to see if he can dance and perform when he is getting ready to jump, so it would be easier to tell the story and easier to keep the audience involved in what he was trying to do on the ice. But that artistic side is a little left behind. “When you’re doing solo skating, there is so much focus on the athletic side of it. “I thought he really needed to push his artistic side,” he says. He admits that he had to Google Chen’s name at first, since, as a hip hop dancer, he wasn’t as familiar with the headliners in the skating world. The fast and boisterous dance sequence at the end-the audience and judge-pleaser- was largely Chouinard’s effort to show a different side of Chen, since he knew Chen’s athletic prowess would already be evident. Sam Chouinard worked with Chen while he was in Montreal to bring out the performer in him. That didn’t happen, but Chen had his moment with the program in Beijing, instead. I thought right away that this is going to be a magical moment at World in Montreal.” When she saw him perform the program in the 2019-2020 season, “I was blown away by his performance. “He knows what he needs, so the programs design themselves quite easily with him,” she says. When he called me, I said ‘Why?’ He insisted so I said, ‘Let’s play and see what happens.’”ĭubreuil was impressed with Chen’s focus and self confidence. “Normally my head likes to create for four legs, four arms, two heads and four eyes. ![]() “I was very puzzled when he called,” says Dubreiul. “One of my best friends, Jean-Luc was telling me what it’s like there, and I definitely wanted to try it out.”Ĭhen was attending Yale University at the time, so was able to make the trip up to Montreal-and he ended up spending several weeks in the city to work on the program. “I was looking to change up the choreography, and had seen the amazing work that Marie-France was doing,” Chen told TIME before the Games. ice dance teams in Montreal, including Jean-Luc Baker, with whom Chen is friends. For this one, he approached noted ice dance coach and choreographer Marie-France Dubreuil, who coaches the top three U.S. The program represents a bit of a departure for Chen, who normally skates to more abstract music selections. It wasn’t perfect - Chen singled last jump in a combination toward the end of the program - but it was still enough to hold on to the lead. ![]() Bringing the routine back ended up being a golden decision, as his comfort with the choreography and his experience having skated it at several competitions all helped to refine and polish all of its elements to near perfection. His program is one that he skated in the 2019-2020 season, but was unable to perform at the World championships after they were canceled due to COVID-19. Wearing a shirt with a galactic theme emblazoned with exploding stars appropriate for his music, Chen took a deep breath and looked almost satisfied to finally have the chance to bring his Olympic story full circle. The last to skate, since the athletes compete in reverse order of the short program finish, and Chen was the leader entering the free program.
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