Interview Anthony Paradis: A peek behind the glam

[gsk8]

Anthony Paradis: A peek behind the glam

Anthony Paradis burst onto the scene at the 2024 Canadian National Championships where he unexpectedly came in third with two exquisite performances. Unlike ...

youtu.be

We caught up with the teenager from Quebec in Taipei to learn more about the person behind the creative performer on the ice. Interestingly, Paradis' on and off-ice personas differentiate quite a bit. He explains this phenomenon while sharing some insight on how he matured earlier than many of his peers.

 

[RatedPG]

Loved how he is working on the triple axel, but is also working on the harder triple triple combos (3Lz/3F-3T)

Glad the next Jason Brown is featured and garnering attention

 

[ladyjane]

A lovely interview with a lovely young man. You don't hear that many young people being inspired by Julia Lipniskaya any more. Very creative person, and that at that age. And playing an extravagant character on the ice while being more quiet off it.

 

[Magill]

With Julia Lipnitskaya, Zhenya Medvedeva, Jason Brown and Yuzuru Hanyu as his fave skaters he's looking up to he surely has chosen some really great skating style models for himself and it certainly shows in his presence on the ice already. He also seems to share the unique natural flexibility with them. As these are also those I adore the most, my heart additionally warmed up to him. Wishing him all the luck for his future career!

 

[el henry]

He does feel he is extravagant, but the ice is where he expresses it.

Such maturity at young age. To be so involved in choreo and costumes at an age where many skaters seem to be "just tell me what to do and what jumps I need to win and give me any choreo and I'll skate it". To hear him say at 16, at the end of the day, I'm out there on the ice, I have to be true to myself, the program has to reflect me.

No wonder he is such a breath of fresh air.

 

[4everchan]

I am pretty sure he sounds more exuberant in French. His English is fine but I can tell he was thinking and translating rather than being spontaneous.... So there's that.

Why do people focus on Jason when he did mention Julia and Nic Nadeau right away... The others were mentioned as coming in later in his skating career.

Also, that may be just me but I don't think he is related that much to Jason Brown skating wise. I see him much closer to a guy like Shawn Sawyer.

To me, Jason is about refined and pure skating. Not so much about creative and extravagant skating.

In any case, thanks for the interview. It is refreshing to see a young junior with so much presence both on the ice and off the ice.

I liked that when he was asked about his future he didn't mention results but choreo, coaching and shows. This to me means he will be a skater no matter what.. while sometimes, I feel young athletes define themselves through their results.

 

[el henry]

I am pretty sure he sounds more exuberant in French. His English is fine but I can tell he was thinking and translating rather than being spontaneous.... So there's that.

Why do people focus on Jason when he did mention Julia and Nic Nadeau right away... The others were mentioned as coming in later in his skating career.

Also, that may be just me but I don't think he is related that much to Jason Brown skating wise. I see him much closer to a guy like Shawn Sawyer.

To me, Jason is about refined and pure skating. Not so much about creative and extravagant skating.

In any case, thanks for the interview. It is refreshing to see a young junior with so much presence both on the ice and off the ice.

I liked that when he was asked about his future he didn't mention results but choreo, coaching and shows. This to me means he will be a skater no matter what.. while sometimes, I feel young athletes define themselves through their results.

I listened to hear if the "skater at his rink" that he looked up to was Nic, but I didn't hear a name. Did he say Nic? That would be cool. His English is amazing for a 16 year old Francophone, but you are right, he was translating in his head.

I also don't think that Anthony's skating is that similar to Jason's, other than an emphasis on artistry. To be fair, however, I first started following Anthony in 2022 because he said Jason was the skater he admired most, and I thought who is this 14 year old with great taste? (sadly with IFS magazine folding, the article is no longer available, just the tweet. Also that is not Jason's social media handle )

I posted a quote from the article in Jason's FF at the time. Again, sadly, since it was Jason's FF, that was the focus of my quote and not the rest of the article:

Jason Brown

Apparently there was a mechanical failure at the rink in Sun Valley and the show last night with Jason and Alysa was canceled. There were clips of Jason practicing earlier, but according to what I read, no show. I was a very sad turn of events for me. We picked Sun Valley for our vacation...

www.goldenskate.com

Although I loved Toller, Jason does not remind me of Toller. Anthony does.

 

[4everchan]

I listened to hear if the "skater at his rink" that he looked up to was Nic, but I didn't hear a name. Did he say Nic?

He did say Nicolas Nadeau.

That would be cool. His English is amazing for a 16 year old Francophone, but you are right, he was translating in his head.

Yup.. I know the type Most francophone kids in Montreal nowadays speak English that well... .but it is only until later, if they get a chance to be immersed in an anglophone environment, that they lose the processing/translating/ time. What I found most impressive was the variety of his vocabulary for an ESL teen.

I also don't think that Anthony's skating is that similar to Jason's, other than an emphasis on artistry. To be fair, however, I first started following Anthony in 2022 because he said Jason was the skater he admired most, and I thought who is this 14 year old with great taste? (sadly with IFS magazine folding, the article is no longer available, just the tweet. Also that is not Jason's social media handle )



Although I loved Toller, Jason does not remind me of Toller. Anthony does.

Anthony is in the Sawyer/Cranston/Beacom lineage. It doesn't mean he cannot admire other skaters like Jason. He could also admire Samarin for his crazy shirts you know HA

 

[saine]

I also don't think that Anthony's skating is that similar to Jason's, other than an emphasis on artistry. To be fair, however, I first started following Anthony in 2022 because he said Jason was the skater he admired most, and I thought who is this 14 year old with great taste? (sadly with IFS magazine folding, the article is no longer available, just the tweet. Also that is not Jason's social media handle )

The IFS article is still available through archive.org here

 

[4everchan]

The IFS article is still available through archive.org here

thanks for sharing it . I recall having read it before, now that I reread it
With kids, each interview will provide different insight So at 14-15, he credits JB... now, he talks about Nic... maybe in a few years, he will mention his biggest inspiration is someone else. To me, that simply equates to passion about the sport... It's sort of the same with my kids... they go through a Chopin phase, then they go through a Rachmaninoff phase... then a Schumann or a Beethoven phase etc

PS : he should be grateful to his parents for sending him right away to Yvan, who is to me, one of the most under-rated coach right now in Canada.

 

[TallyT]

I also don't think that Anthony's skating is that similar to Jason's, other than an emphasis on artistry. To be fair, however, I first started following Anthony in 2022 because he said Jason was the skater he admired most...

To be fair, even if a youngster looks up to and tries to emulate a star, the results when filtered through their own talents and abilities can end up very very different. The current top men have said at various times who they admire, but without knowing the answers, looking at them in ice you'd sometimes be hard-pressed to guess who said what Anthony seems to be one of those whose own personality and artistic colours comes through very strongly even at this age, which is nice. He's promising to be a real original.

 

[ladyjane]

The IFS article is still available through archive.org here

Thank you! I remembered it as well, but it was nice to read it again.

 

[Weathergal]

The IFS article is still available through archive.org here

Thanks so much for that link!