Monday Moves

This week's Monday Moves features an ice dance couple I'll get to see compete this week! Lynn Kriengkrairut and Logan Giulietti-Schmitt are one of my absolute favorite teams, and their 2010-2011 free dance to "I Belong To You" by Muse was such a gorgeous program. The two moves from that program that I live for are the straight-line lift and Logan's split-slide move at the end of the program. Check them out below!

This is an exciting week because it brings the first big international skating event of the season. The Olympic season! And I'll be in Salt Lake City later this week to cover all the action at the U.S. International Classic! Look for lots of photos and videos here on the blog. I can't believe another Olympic year is here already. It doesn't feel like it was four years ago that I was planning my trip to Vancouver and freaking out because I was actually going to realize my dream of attending the Olympics. I won't be making the trek to Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Winter Games, but I'll be attending the International Classic this week, Skate America in October, and U.S. Nationals in January, so there will be lots of event coverage coming your way!

Music Monday

It's a happy Monday because it's a short work week! To celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm listening to a couple of bands for whom I'm very thankful. The first is Muse. I didn't discover their music until Sinead and John Kerr skated to "Ruled by Secrecy" in the 2008-2009 season. I loved that song and then soon found another favorite, "I Belong To You (Mon Coeur S'ouvre A Ta Voix)." This song had a couple of special uses - it was on the Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack, and it was also used by Lynn Kriengkrairut and Logan Giulietti-Schmitt for their free dance in the 2010-2011 season. Lynn and Logan are two of my favorite skaters - not just because they're awesome performers but because they're two of the nicest people around. For this Music Monday, you'll get a video with Lynn and Logan's performance of Muse's hit at 2010 Skate America!

"I Belong To You (Mon Coeur S'ouvre A Ta Voix)" by Muse

The second band for whom I'm thankful is Kings of Leon. Their song "Use Somebody" was played quite a bit on the radio, and I've become a big fan of their music since that song debuted. My beloved ice dance team of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto skated to "Use Somebody" a few years ago for a show program, and it's one of my favorite programs they've ever done. I miss Tanith and Ben :( Here's their performance from the Shall We Dance show:

"Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon (with an acoustic version by Tyler Hilton)

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

U.S. International FS Classic-Practice Videos

Here are a couple of videos from Friday morning free dance practice at the 2012 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic.

Madison Chock & Evan Bates - Dr. Zhivago partial run-through

Lynn Kriengkrairut & Logan Giulietti-Schmitt - "Turning Tables" and "Rumour Has It" partial run-through

Music Monday

This week's Music Monday includes two songs I'll be hearing at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic this weekend. The first is "Turning Tables" by Adele, which is part of Lynn Kriengkrairut and Logan Giulietti-Schmitt's free dance, a program I am so excited to see!

"Turning Tables" by Adele

The second song is "Beethoven's 5 Secrets" by The Piano Guys. This piece is being used by Lindsay Davis and Mark Ladwig for their short program. I love the original song "Secrets" by One Republic, and this mixture with Beethoven's 5th Symphony is fantastic!

"Beethoven's 5 Secrets" by The Piano Guys

I'll be in Salt Lake City for the competition starting Thursday with the Senior Short Dance. It's going to be a great field of dancers with Americans Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Schmitt, Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Anastasia Cannuscio/Colin McManus, Canadians Alexandra Paul/Mitch Islam (whose free dance I'm very much looking forward to seeing!), Aussies Danielle O'Brien/Gregory Merriman, and more!