Avonley Nguyen & Vadym Kolesnik | Page 6 | Golden Skate

Avonley Nguyen & Vadym Kolesnik

Colonel Green

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Country
Canada
I had never heard Avonley speak before; her voice is so soft she sounds like she's in elementary school, heh.

Can't wait to see them in Lake Placid in a few days. Particularly with Ushakova/Nekrasov potentially missing the JGP this season, huge opportunity for them.
 

Noxchild

Medalist
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Country
Canada
Very excited to see my fave ice dancers back in action at JGP Placid in a couple of days! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: Good luck!!
 

elbkup

Power without conscience is a savage weapon
Medalist
Joined
Mar 3, 2015
Country
United-States
Avonley & Vadym won both RD and FD at Lake Placid with two amazing programs!! Videos are in the LP Videos thread... Their programs this year really highlight their versatility and speed... RD choreo and music cuts were well thought out but the classical FD was a dream.. very beautiful...

EDT: Videos above too thanks to Doris
 

MGstyle

Crawling around on the ice after chestnuts
Medalist
Joined
Sep 1, 2015
Wonderful kick start of the new season for my baby dancers! Their growth is quite evident, especially I am impressed with the improvement of Avonley. They seemed a little tense during the RD, but FD was purely gorgeous, *swoon*.. to think it's just a start of the season and this will get better and better! :luv17: I am so excited for them, hate to knock on any wood but seeing them in Turin seems quite possible!!!
 

tinlizzie

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
I’d never watched this team before. They’re quite special and that FD was stunning�� I’m excited to have a new team to root for��
 

zebobes

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 29, 2012
When I first saw the video of their RD from a Chicago competition, I was quite worried about their RD, as it seemed to lack spark and didn't seem coherent to me. What an improvement they've made since then! I'm rather amused how they transformed "A Whole New World" into a foxtrot rhythm. It isn't the BEST fit, but I'm impressed at the work that must have gone into getting it to fit the requirements. The magic of digital editing.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Ted Barton's interview with Vadym and Avonley after their JGP Lake Placid win :medal":medal":

https://youtu.be/Ads3P_yMLT4 (2:23; conducted on Aug 31 and published on Sep 1)

The interview video is embedded in the ISU recap of JGP Lake Placid too:

In the USFS recap, the quote from Vadym also is about showing improvement and fighting for higher goals for this season :bow::


Congratulations to Avonley and Vadym :yay:.
For both RD and FD, personal bests for total segment score and for TES:

:bm: 2019 JGP Lake Placid


When I first saw the video of their RD from a Chicago competition, I was quite worried about their RD, as it seemed to lack spark and didn't seem coherent to me. What an improvement they've made since then! ...

To give a different point of view:
I attended Dance-Pairs Chicago, and as someone in the arena, I felt that the RD already had a lot of spark. :)
That said, I too was impressed by the multi-faceted improvement at JGP Lake Placid. :dance2:​


also to me it sounded like W, so I got curious and asked my Ukranian friend, she confirmed he says "V" (as we all know how V sounds), and that's how V is pronounced in Ukraine ;) ...

Thanks, MGstyle. :thank:

Will add that at JGP Lake Placid, I asked the amiable Vadym about the pronunciation. He also said that the "V" sound is correct. He said his name for me at least twice, and I did hear "V."

Avonley and Vadym say their first names at the beginning of this (adorable) post-FD mini-video from Lake Placid:



ETA:

Lynn Rutherford tweeted brief post-RD and post-FD quotes from Vadym and Avonley, along with nice off-ice photos of them:



ETA:

Vadym and Avonley recently joined The Skating Club of New York, which had posted good-luck messages before JGP LP:


A congratulatory message for Avonley and Vadym's win is scrolling on the SCNY home page, and another was posted on Facebook.

 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Catching up with more stuff after JGP Lake Placid:

Recaps:
From ice-dance.com's recap (posted Sep 3), an interesting comment from Vadym about their Aladdin RD: "... seeing it on stage made us totally adjust ourselves to looking more at the audience."
http://iceskatingintnl.com/index.htm has lots of praise for Avonley and Vadym's RD and FD. One of the quotes: Per Vadym, "“Our schedule is more strict and [Igor] is putting extra pressure on us [to help us get better].”"​

RD music details from updated ISU bio:
Music Short Program / Short Dance as of season 2019/2020
Swing: Aladdin (soundtrack) by Alan Menken
Foxtrot: Aladdin (soundtrack) by Alan Menken
Swing: Aladdin (soundtrack) by Alan Menken
Also:
IIRC, I think(?) this sentence in the bio is newly added: "Kolesnik moved from Ukraine as he wanted to be coached by Shpilband."
LOL, Vadym shows his sense of humor in his listing of hobbies: "filling out EX 3, eating cocoa puffs, mangas, anime." (A reference to an Ex3 profile for a USFS sports science database, I believe.)​

Photos:

ice-dance.com's JGP Lake Placid photo galleries (Thursday practice; RD; FD; Awards) have lots of photos of Avonley and Vadym.

figureskatersonline's group of fun off-ice photos includes one of Vadym and Avonley:


USFS tweeted fun off-ice group photos of the Team USA ice dancers after Wed afternoon practice:


Instagrams from Avonley and Vadym are included in USFS fan zone's social media round-up after JGP USA and Champs Camp:


[Speaking of USFS fan zone, it finally has made a long-overdue update to the thumbnail (for lack of a better word) photo in Avonley and Vadym's bio. :)
The new one was taken this summer: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Hy05Xpw5Z/ (posted Aug 13)
The old one was from their first season together-- also used in this recent USFS mini-bio tweet right before JGP LP: https://twitter.com/USFigureSkating/status/1166766836433768448]​


ETA:

Vadym and Avonley are the only ice dancers in the season-to-date highlights at the beginning of Ted Barton's intro to JGP Riga. They are seen at approx. 0:59, after Alysa:

https://youtu.be/RBgFD_wMfvc?t=57 (Sep 4)​
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Well I just watched them in the RD at Gdansk, and honestly, they seem to be the ONLY team there to understand that "Broadway" isn't the same as ballroom, even if you're doing a foxtrot. They really brought that showbiz razzmatazz that is so quintessentially Broadway, Baby. Kudos to them.
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Just watched their FD at Gdansk. It is downright scary how emotionally mature and musical they are already. Much better than the usual Igor FD choreography (I haven't looked but that's probably because it's by Pasquale). And that is one of the finest stationary lifts I've seen period.

But please Novi. Hire someone to expand your musical horizons. It's like you could fit the entire musical library of music you pull from on one shelf of a spice rack.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
^ yes it’s so unfortunate that we have to have recycled Rach when clearly they can do more. It’s teams like them that probably would have benefited from an Igor/Marina reunion.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
It was so lovely that the only time I thought to look at the score box was after the twizzles :eek::

FD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2SLXMDSAvk


Yes, that stationary lift with Vadym going from stand to sit to stand again on one leg, all the while lifting Avonley and spinning, is just :jaw:

And the structure and connection in their twizzles was also wonderful.

So next year, they should get a different choreographer...?

Your suggestions?
 
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ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Congratulations to Vadym and Avonley. :luv17: :bow: :yay: :ghug:

:bm: 2019 JGP Poland


... Much better than the usual Igor FD choreography (I haven't looked but that's probably because it's by Pasquale). ...

My understanding is that Igor was/is mostly responsible for this year's choreo. (In other words: It so happens that Pasquale was less involved in this year's choreo than last year's.)

Don't get me wrong: I am a fan of Pasquale. But I do not want Igor to get short shrift.

(It was not hearsay being passed along to me. I was told a few weeks ago by someone with direct knowledge.)
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Igor is not by any stretch of the imagination a bad choreographer. If you want a first rate tango, I'd head right for him. But too often he has been merely a serviceable or uninspired one. Part of that might be due to the sheer volume of his choreography over a very long career (there's always the temptation to go back to the tried and true). So to hear that this is his choreography is a very pleasant surprise. Thank you for letting us know.

As far as who else I'd like to see choreograph for them? Marina would seem a natural choice, wouldn't she?
 

journalist101

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 22, 2014
Igor is not by any stretch of the imagination a bad choreographer. If you want a first rate tango, I'd head right for him. But too often he has been merely a serviceable or uninspired one. Part of that might be due to the sheer volume of his choreography over a very long career (there's always the temptation to go back to the tried and true). So to hear that this is his choreography is a very pleasant surprise. Thank you for letting us know.

As far as who else I'd like to see choreograph for them? Marina would seem a natural choice, wouldn't she?

If they’re still coached by Igor, chances are they’re not getting choreography from Marina. I actually prefer Igor’s choreography to the stuff from Gadbois. I really love the free dance. The elements are timed wonderfully to the music.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Yes, the timing shown by the best of Igor's teams has always been very, very good...and why I tend to like teams that he has taught. I am a real sucker for dancers who are right on the beat.
 
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