by Maria Bagdasarova | On-Ice Photographs by Yoriko Suzuki
Dupayage and Thomas Nabais, a French ice dance duo competing of their fourth senior season, have captured the eye of audiences all over the world with their distinctive inventive imaginative and prescient and musicality. On December 20-21, 2024, they are going to compete within the French Nationwide Championships making their bid to qualify for the 2025 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, on the finish of January. France has three spots, and the competitors might be fierce as they try to earn their place at this prestigious occasion.
In Angers, the crew brazenly acknowledged the hurdles they confronted navigating the demanding early levels of their season, significantly with preparation and refining their packages. Thomas candidly shared that their preparation was not as well timed as they’d hoped and that the duo had but not mastered their packages sufficient to ship the extent they had been used to.
“We weren’t prepared after we needed to be. This explains the reserved performances in Kazakhstan and at Grand Prix de France,” he admitted.
Marie echoed his sentiments, emphasizing the significance of feeling comfy with their packages: “We have to take possession of our routines to carry out them to their full potential. I’m assured we’ll get there because the season progresses. It’s all a part of the journey.”
For the rhythm dance this season, the duo with their coach Karine Arribert opted for a much less standard strategy, integrating psychedelic parts from the ’60s and ’70s to distinguish themselves from the prevalent disco themes chosen by many groups. Nevertheless, suggestions from early competitions revealed that their inventive intentions weren’t totally resonating with judges or audiences.
“The problem with having such a broad vary of choices is that we tried to create one thing authentic that also mirrored who we’re whereas staying inside the theme proposed by the ISU. Initially of the season, we realized that the primary piece of music in our quick program was maybe too subdued. After our preliminary competitions and discussions with Karine, we determined to alter it for one thing livelier, one thing that will encourage the viewers to clap alongside extra,” Marie explains.
“In Kazakhstan, we realized that the judges didn’t totally perceive the story we had been attempting to inform with our program. We needed to do one thing totally different. Understanding there can be a whole lot of disco, we aimed to face out by going for one thing extra psychedelic. It’s one other facet of the ’60s and ’70s, not simply disco. The actions could also be much less recognizable, however they’re nonetheless rooted in that period. Nevertheless, we understood from the suggestions that the judges weren’t totally aligned with our imaginative and prescient. In comparison with different groups, our program wasn’t colourful or dynamic sufficient. It lacked vitality and vibrancy. So, we determined to make adjustments,” Thomas provides.
They changed the primary piece of music, “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane, which they initially used at the beginning of the season, with “Love Is All” by Roger Glover and Ronnie James Dio for Angers. They stored the second piece, “Transfer Over” by Janis Joplin.
Maybe this modification offers a further clarification of the underwhelming efficiency in Angers. The crew had been working onerous on the brand new music, which required an entire overhaul of this system. Each aspect shifted, and a few had been fully modified. For instance, the elevate wasn’t initially within the place it appeared in Angers, and even within the second piece of music, which remained, many transitions had been reworked.
“We put in a whole lot of effort to make it clean and cohesive, but it surely was nonetheless contemporary for us,” Thomas defined.
Their free dance to ‘Weakend’ and ‘Delighted’ by Benjamin Clementine incorporates spiritually evocative music with lyrics exploring the themes of vulnerability, fragility, reflection and gratitude within the face of life’s challenges. Marie described it as a non secular journey.
“Initially, Karine instructed the music to us, focusing extra on the vitality it introduced reasonably than the lyrics. Over time, as we listened intently to the phrases, we realized their deeper that means. There’s a non secular aspect to them. That’s one thing we’re attempting to convey in sure elements of our program. It’s not overly literal, however we do wish to take the viewers on this journey.”
Thomas acknowledges that this program is a brand new problem for the crew: “We’ve hardly ever skated to music with lyrics. Normally, we select extra classical items with lyrical melodies. This yr, we needed to alter issues up a bit whereas nonetheless staying true to our fashion. The lyrics give us a possibility to lean into the story the artist is telling by means of the music. Karine focuses closely on musicality within the choreography, however deciphering lyrics is a unique dimension. We’re engaged on utilizing the narrative within the music to reinforce our efficiency. The purpose is to realize a seamless mix the place the lyrics and this system really feel like one cohesive piece. After we attain that stage of precision and depth, I consider it’ll elevate not solely the technical points but in addition the storytelling and character projection. It’s all interconnected, and that’s how we’ve approached our skating for years.”
Thomas and Marie’s fashion could possibly be described as a mix of emotional depth and revolutionary artistry. Marie emphasizes the significance of what’s known as in French partage, the act of sharing, by means of their performances, in search of to attach with the viewers and judges by conveying real emotion by means of dance and interpretation. Thomas highlights their deal with musicality, a power formed by their work with Karine Arribert. This musicality brings a novel concord to their skating. Their skill to remain in sync, even when skating aside on the ice, displays a powerful connection and shared imaginative and prescient.
“I really feel that’s one among our strengths. We additionally work very a lot in unison. We intention to distinguish ourselves by means of our fashion, musicality, and motion, striving to carry one thing revolutionary and contemporary to the ice. Whereas I think about many skaters pursue this purpose, it’s the course we’re dedicated to constructing upon,” Thomas explains.
Marie and Thomas attribute a lot of their progress to their supportive setting of their skating membership at Villard-de-Lans. Their main coach, Karine Arribert units the general course for his or her season. She is supported by Mahil Chantelauze, who co-coaches on the ice, and a community of specialists, together with dance teacher Vladimir Pastoukhov, with whom they follow every day, and Cyril Le Goazigo, who oversees their bodily conditioning. Their coaching additionally incorporates beneficial insights from exterior consultants who present an out of doors have a look at their work. Tiffany Zahorski, a not too long ago retired aggressive skater, steadily gives contemporary views, whereas Alexis and Johanna Bergeon, world champions in ballroom dance, contribute to the refinement of the dance strikes. Moreover, Gabriella Papadakis and her mom have supplied technical steerage. Coaching alongside a rising group of junior and senior skaters additionally fosters a collaborative and stimulating environment.
“The environment right here is improbable,” Marie shared. “Excessive-level competitors is hard, however having friends who perceive and assist one another makes it simpler to manage.”
On the 2024 NHK Trophy, Marie Dupayage and Thomas Nabais completed eighth, setting their season-best scores within the free dance and general whole. Additionally they earned an Eleventh-place end on the 2024 ISU CS Warsaw Cup, the place they achieved their season-best rhythm dance rating. Moreover, they secured victory on the Bosphorus Cup in Istanbul.
Their final purpose for the season is to qualify for the European Championships. Lengthy-term, Marie and Thomas aspire to solidify their place as a distinguished senior ice dance crew. “Our purpose is to achieve extra vary, energy, and presence on the ice. Whereas we all know we’re shorter in top, we glance as much as {couples} who usually are not very tall however nonetheless excel and rank extremely. Our focus is on changing into a powerful constant senior pair, not simply by way of competitors outcomes, however by way of the way in which we current ourselves. We’re targeted on stabilizing our parts and performances to be seen as a prime senior pair,” Thomas mentioned.
The duo attracts inspiration from icons of ice dance like Olympic Champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron and a number of World medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.
“One couple I really admire is Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. I actually respect the individuality they bring about, the way in which they stand out. We noticed their rhythm dance this season, and it was unimaginable by way of creativity. That is precisely what I really like about ice dance – the power to create one thing totally different and distinguish your self. Personally, I like them so much because of this,” Thomas shared.
Marie added, “I’ve all the time admired Gabriella and Guillaume for the distinctive contributions they’ve made to our sport. Although many now attempt to comply with their lead, what they dropped at the game by way of unity, exploration of skating high quality, and dance stays very inspiring. Although they’re not competing, I nonetheless deeply admire their work.”
