Caroline Green and Michael Parsons are upfront about their goals at this week's 2023 Humana Skate America in Allen, Texas.
"We expect to be fighting for a podium spot," Parsons said. "We have to do our best and perform, and I think we're ready to do that."
Green and Parsons will arrive at Skate America – the kickoff to this year's ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series – with a brand-new rhythm dance. Last month at Lombardia Trophy, in Bergamo, Italy, they skated a dance-pop program set to Paula Abdul. After a sixth-place finish, Green and Parsons decided to go in a different direction.
"We took the feedback from Lombardia, which didn't go as well as we'd hoped, and applied that to the new program we're creating," Parsons said.
The team plan to keep their new music choice under wraps until Skate America. But they did share some teasers. Parsons said the program is set to "very powerful" music.
"It's very different from what we had before," Green added.
For Green and Parsons, there was a bit of a "been there, done that" feeling to this year's 1980s theme. In the 2021-22 season, the duo skated to Janet Jackson's iconic 1989 hit "Rhythm Nation" in their hip-hop rhythm dance, and it became one of their most popular programs. When they considered music for this year's rhythm dance, they struggled to find something that resonated the same way.
"There's a lot of 80s songs that we both love, but we couldn't find ourselves skating to them," Green explained. "Since it's a nontraditional theme, there's not a particular style of dance to go off. There was a big exploratory phase when we said, 'Okay, we love these songs, let's try to skate to them.' And then a lot of figuring out that we couldn't skate to [some of] these songs; we just loved listening to them. So it's been a challenge."
The initial choice of Paula Abdul took them in a stylistic direction similar to the Janet Jackson program. But after Lombardia, they wanted something more unique. Something different from the dance-pop music many other teams are using.
"The program that we have now really showcases our ability as skaters, which I think is a quality that our other program was lacking a bit," Green observed.
One thing Green and Parsons did enjoy? The chance to work with their parents on choosing music. Since both skaters were born after the 1980s, it seemed natural to turn to their parents as their first resource to explore the decade.
"They introduced us to the music. It was really fun to use it as an opportunity to connect with them, and bring them into what we do," Green said.
"I don't think either of us have ever had so many conversations with our parents about music choices before," Parsons said with a chuckle. "My dad's been pulling out all his records."
This year's rhythm dance also features a new element – a choreographic rhythm sequence based on the Silver Samba compulsory. Only one partner at a time needs to perform the steps in the sequence, and can do either the man's or woman's steps.
"There are times when I'm doing Michael's steps, and Michael's doing my steps. Sometimes we're switching," Green said. "We tried to see how different we could make it from both of us just doing the Silver Samba. We would have these moments like, 'Wait, no one's doing the steps here! Okay, backtrack.'"
"It's been a confusing, but liberating, element," Parsons agreed.
In contrast to the rhythm dance, the music for Green and Parsons' free dance came organically. The program is set to the soundtrack from the short film
Denmark, performed by The Portland Cello Project, a modern classical group.
"It happened serendipitously," Green said of the choice. "It was music that Charlie was playing on the ice one day. We listened to it and thought it was cool. We didn't consider it for our program right away. We tried a couple other songs, a couple different ideas, but kept coming back to
Denmark. Then we cut it and started moving to it, skating to it, not fully committing yet. It started to feel right. That's when we decided: This was our program."
Last year, Green and Parsons skated to the jazz-influenced American classic
Rhapsody in Blue. They feel this year's free dance is a bit of a return to their natural style, while still providing opportunities to grow.
"It's such a dynamic piece, and that isn't necessarily one of our inherent strengths," Green noted. "So even though it's a style that's within our movement vocabulary, it gives us a chance to develop qualities that we want later on in our career."
"What makes this piece interesting is that it's very open-ended. It's a great canvas for us to paint exactly what we want on the ice," Parsons said. "It's been fun to go back to what we love to do, in terms of movement, and to make this program genuinely
us."
The duo created several new lifts for the free dance, including an acrobatic handstand-style lift.
"It requires a lot of core strength, a lot of coordination between us. It's definitely challenging," Green said of the handstand lift. "But we always want to push ourselves."
"The free dance is a really big motivating factor for this season, because we feel so passionately about it," Parsons said. "I think we both believe a lot in its potential."
Green and Parsons contributed to their choreography, collaborating on both programs with coaches Charlie White, Tanith White and Greg Zuerlein. Well-known designer Mathieu Caron created their costumes.
The duo want to build on their success last season, when they won silver at the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships and made the U.S. team for the 2023 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan. It was the first trip to senior Worlds for both skaters. Green and Parsons placed a strong sixth in Saitama, finishing just outside the final group of medal contenders.
"To skate our best programs of the year [at Worlds] was definitely one of my favorite skating experiences in my career," Parsons said. "Feeling that triumph of hitting that end pose, and the last echo of music, in Japan, under all the lights. It was something that I will not soon forget."
"Ever since we started together, Worlds was a big goal of ours. And every season, we would come close, but not quite close enough. So to finally realize that goal – especially after a year of a lot of change for us – was really motivating," Green said. "And skating in Japan is such an amazing experience. The fans there, and the way that events are run, is really unparalleled."
Green and Parsons want to take their skating to the next level and join that top group. Although their season debut at Lombardia Trophy didn't go as anticipated, they're looking for more at Skate America.
"We need to be better. I think Lombardia was a really good nudge in the right direction," Parsons said. "We came back from Lombardia a little angry … and I think that's ultimately a good thing. Sometimes you need something to focus you more. For us, that was Lombardia. I think we're going to come back stronger to Skate America because of it."
It's the first time since 2020 that Green and Parsons will compete at their home Grand Prix event. They can't wait to skate in front of a U.S. crowd.
"I think we finally have the roadmap of where we want to go this season," Parsons said. "And we're really excited to show it to everyone."
Catch Caroline Green and Michael Parsons and their new rhythm dance at 2023 Humana Skate America Oct. 20-22 in Allen, Texas. Fans can follow along on the Skate America Competition Central. To purchase tickets, visit 2023skateamerica.org.
