The Future of Figure Skating

Cover image for episode 54 featuring Robin Cousins, a smiling white man with grey hair and a black coat, in front of a purple background

Robin Cousins (1980 Olympic champion, president of British Ice Skating) has lots of ideas for how to make skating popular youtu.be/jHgI5n_wdDw

YouTube video by The Future of Figure Skating Episode 50: Gary Beacom

A very fun interview for our 50th episode! Gary Beacom is one of the most creative skaters ever - and he is still driven by a passion for performing, experimenting and sharing his skills around the world.

youtu.be/1pUho2J5z80

YouTube video by Anything GOEs GOEing into Detail with Emma Aalto and Millie Colling

GOEing Into Detail: 🇫🇮 Emma Aalto & Millie Colling

@choreosequence.bsky.social talked to Finland's first same-gendered ice dance team about how their partnership came to be and the start of their competitive journey together

youtu.be/soW97T8jNk0

An article about the ISU's Worlds changes & other initiatives. "Next on the agenda: a pivotal ISU Extraordinary Congress on July 3, 2025, which will focus on the further modernization and a full revision of the ISU Constitution, aimed at accelerating the sport’s growth." www.isu.org/news/a-bold-...

Filip reflects on his mental health practices, balancing support and self-reliance. I have so much respect for the Taschlers’ approach to mental health and sharing the lessons they are each learning! Full interview: youtu.be/pW-BS2_gj7I?...

Finland has a competitive junior ice dance team with two women!! So thrilled for Millie and Emma and major kudos to Neil Brown and Finnish Skating for making this possible!

www.instagram.com/p/DKkOgA6IUG...

Natálie Tascherlová is sharing her story and helping to show young skaters they can be themselves on the ice 👏👏👏 full episode: youtu.be/pW-BS2_gj7I

YouTube video by The Future of Figure Skating Episode 49: Natalie Taschlerova & Filip Taschler

New interview with the Taschlers out today! 🎉Fan favorites, advocates for mental health, and all-around awesome people: youtu.be/pW-BS2_gj7I

Young coaches can help change the culture of the sport, and make rinks the safe spaces they should be.

Hear more from Olivia Oliver and Solène Mazingue in episode 48 youtu.be/grACfoFD0Sk

Two women are shattering a figure skating taboo by dancing, together With male participation dwindling amid colliding stereotypes and traditions, Gabriella Papadakis and Madison Hubbell offer bold statement on the sport’s future.

An in-depth look at Gabriella Papadakis & Madison Hubbell's decision to skate together for Art on Ice, and how it fits into the evolution of their sport: www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olymp...

Solène Mazingue and Olivia Oliver are ice dancers who have become fierce advocates for their fellow survivors of sexual assault. youtu.be/grACfoFD0Sk

What was helpful for me when I was skating, was that I lived with a host family...l would come home and they would be like, we're doing family board game night, if you want to play games with us... they knew about my skating but they weren't going to not allow me to play the board game because l fell on my throw. If had a bad day at skating today and I fell on everything, my home life was still the same. People still cared about me.

I remember l would text some of my friends that I knew outside of skating. And I was like, 'would you still be my friend if I did bad at competition?' And they were like, 'we literally don't care about your competition. Yes.' I think a lot of it's just knowing that nothing changes for you in your life if ice skating doesn't go well.

I don't think it's like that for some kids. I think if they don't do well at skating, their parents are mad at them or their home life changes and they're not given the same love and support. I think that's what where things get really tough, if you feel like your worth off the ice is directly related to your worth on the ice.

That's something I try to tell my skaters as well, that it's okay [to make mistakes]. 'You fell, it's fine. You're going to go to school tomorrow. You're still going to have to take the same test. Nothing changes. I still like you. I'll still teach you.' So l try to just make sure they understand that.

Pairs champion-turned-coach Tarah Kayne discussed mental health and the importance of connections and validation outside of skating.

Family, friends, coaches can all help ensure that self-worth doesn’t depend on what happens on the ice.

Full episode: youtu.be/0hFapwdGAPU?...

YouTube video by The Future of Figure Skating Episode 47: Tarah Kayne

New episode with Tarah Kayne, talking pair skating, injury recovery and mental health.

Tarah is a great example of a skater using their experiences to make things better for the next generation! youtu.be/0hFapwdGAPU?...

Support Open-Gender Pairs and Ice Dance The sport of figure skating should allow teams of any gender composition to compete in pairs and ice dance. Allowing teams of any gender composition would have numerous benefits: Increase opportuniti...

Here it is, that is odd:

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A new campaign is aimed at allowing teams of any gender composition to compete in pairs and ice dance:

Sign the petition here: bit.ly/4hlayOZ

Thank you Randy, that means a lot!

Madison Hubbell calls for the ISU to allow teams of any gender, notes that Skate Canada has made a great first step but without the ability to aspire for world and Olympic competition, it won’t be enough.

Full interview: youtu.be/Qxa0ERLdR4o?...

Madison Hubbell and Gabriella Papadakis debuted their new professional partnership at Art on Ice 2025. I spoke to them backstage in Zurich about their advocacy for change in the sport, and providing an example of what open-gender ice dance could look like.

youtu.be/Qxa0ERLdR4o?...

A little clip of Madison Hubbell and Gabriella Papadakis talking about lifts - the full interview from Art on Ice will be out this week!

The Future of Pairs, Part III: Making pairs skating safe and healthy requires tackling the misogyny and homophobia that lies at the root of the gender imbalance in the sport.

cw: discussion of sexual abuse, abuse, and eating disorders

Part 3 of @choreosequence.bsky.social’s The Future of Pairs series considers the culture surrounding the discipline in regards to gender power imbalances

anythinggoe.com/the-future-o...

YouTube video by The Future of Figure Skating Episode 45: Peter Grütter

Peter Grütter talks about the past and future of the sport with so much wisdom and love. 60 years of coaching experience and yet his approach to building autonomous students feels so needed today!

youtu.be/EGiyQDfaDiY?...

As a nonbinary pair skater in a team with a woman, I’d like to suggest that our rallying cry be for “teams of any gender” - this includes same-sex teams as well as people like me (and Timothy LeDuc). It could also include f/m pairings where the male skater is lifted by the woman. 🙋🏻

Gabriella Papadakis, who will soon publicly debut
her new partnership with Madison Hubbell, publishes an essay that not only discusses their new artistic project, but is effectively a manifesto for change in this sport. A must-read, in our opinion: gabriellapapadakis.substack.com?r=btww&utm_c...

Gabriella Papadakis. | Substack

Gabriella Papadakis just posted a concise, personal, persuasive argument for same-sex couples in figure skating:

gabriellapapadakis.substack.com?utm_campaign...

Khoudia Touré talks about the value of collaboration between figure skating and hip hop 🤝

Check out the full episode:
youtu.be/rKs22nDngaw?...

Watching Khoudia work with the young skaters and speaking with her was one of my highlights of visiting Champéry last summer. She has a beautiful approach to collaboration and exploring movement.

EXCITED to listen to this over the holidays!! there's such a different energy with her choreo, usually in the translation to ice there's a.. stiffness, or a lack of cohesion, but the fluidity and ORGANICS of the choreo for Symphony No.3 is electric. Much like the gumption & FORCE behind Bitter Earth

Khoudia is the choreographer behind Stéphane & Guillaume’s amazing duet, as well as Stéphane’s “This Bitter Earth” and Satoko Miyahara’s “Minor Blue” exhibition. She has a beautiful perspective on dance and skating. youtu.be/rKs22nDngaw?...

New episode! Hip hop dancer Khoudia Touré discusses her work with Stéphane Lambiel and Guillaume Cizeron, and the creative exchange between dance and skating youtu.be/rKs22nDngaw?...

Everybody go read this now! @izyone.bsky.social wrote an amazing nuanced article, with quotes from Elladj Baldé, Phil Chan, Lukas Britschgi and more