Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius: “We try to be our best versions every time”.

Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius
Photo from @al_reed15

Lithuania’s ice dancers Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius paired up in 2017. They are the national champions of Lithuania 2017-2018. At the European Championships, which were held in Graz this January, the skaters took 11th place with a total score of 174.24.

Allison and Saulius gave this interview a few weeks before a tragic event in Allison’s family – on March 14 her brother Chris Reed, a 10-time champion of Japan in ice dancing, a talented skater and a very kind and positive person, died suddenly. We offer sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of Chris.

Allison, you’ve had a very interesting career so far – besides Lithuania, you also represented Georgia and Israel at international competitions, while you were born in the USA and you have Japanese roots. Would you please tell a bit about that?

Allison:

Yes, I’m half American, half Japanese. My father is American, and my mother is from Japan. As for my career, my first partner was Georgian (Otar Japaridze – Blossom on Ice), and we skated for Georgia at the Olympics. After we broke up, I teamed up for Israel (with Vasili Rogov – Blossom on Ice) and, after that ended, I took a break for two years. I didn’t skate. Then, I wanted to come back. I met Saul, and we really hit it off. It wasn’t only on the ice, it was off the ice too. We got along really well, and I knew this was going to work. I knew this was going to be it for me, and I really hoped that we could achieve something great together. And I think we really are, and it’s meant the world to me.

Continue reading “Allison Reed/Saulius Ambrulevicius: “We try to be our best versions every time”.”

Oona Brown/Gage Brown: “Our mom is a big inspiration for us.”

Oona Brown/Gage Brown
Photo from @gagebrown_

Oona Brown and Gage Brown are an American sibling ice dancing team that began competing in 2016. Together, they are the 2020 US Junior National bronze medalists.

In an interview with the “Blossom on Ice,” Oona and Gage commented on their performance in Tallinn, their programs, the pros and cons of skating with your sibling, races across New York, switching from pair skating to the ice dance, and more.

How do you feel about your performance in Tallinn?

Gage:

We feel very good. It was our first World Junior Championships, so it was definitely exciting to get through it and to skate our best. We really put on a good show.

Oona:

I think all the elements were strong, and we did all we could. So, yes, it felt very good.

Continue reading “Oona Brown/Gage Brown: “Our mom is a big inspiration for us.””

Starr Andrews: “I want to be different than everyone else.”

Starr Andrews
Photo from @starrandrews2001

At the 2020 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, which took place in Tallinn at the beginning of March, the 2019 International Challenge Cup silver medalist and 2017 U.S. national junior silver medalist, an American figure skater, Starr Andrews, placed eighth with 180.87 points.

In an interview with the “Blossom on Ice”, Starr commented on her performance in Tallinn and told why she wants to be different than everyone else, who brought her to the ice rink when she was a kid and how the video on YouTube that she posted for relatives has gotten 55 million views.

How do you feel about your performance at Junior Worlds in Tallinn?

I feel really good. I definitely tried to put all my energy out in both of my programs, and I’m really proud of myself.

The music for my short program is a song by Christina Aguilera, and it is definitely one of my favorite programs. It has a lot of emotion. Even listening to it, you could tell the emotion in her voice. So, it’s really good to skate to.

My long program is Salome, “Dance of the Seven Veils”. It’s definitely different from any programs I’ve done before, and I really like it, too. I’ve been working really hard on it, and I was excited to show it in Tallinn. 

Continue reading “Starr Andrews: “I want to be different than everyone else.””