2022 World Junior Champions Oona Brown and Gage Brown have their debut senior season locked away, and as they head into their second year competing in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, the sibling duo hope to bring a higher level of emotional maturity to their skating.
"We want people to be engaged, and we want to leave an impression on the audience so that after we get off the ice, they're having a conversation like, 'Wow the Browns have such a cool program,'" Gage Brown said. "We want to be remembered for how our performance was and how much they loved it."
The Browns have always enjoyed performing for an enamored audience, even skating in multiple holiday shows in the New York City area each year. They've gone viral online several times for their punchy, entertaining programs, most notably when they performed their 2020-21 free dance, "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica, at the December 2020 Bryant Park ice show. Their unique style of combining edgy rock music with the elegance of ice dance turned many heads.
The audience and judges can expect that entertaining show style skating in the Browns' 2023-24 season programs. Skating to "All By Myself" by Eric Carmen and Sergei Rachmaninoff for the free dance, the team's program will be an emotionally moving, powerful performance.
"Some people have said, 'How can it be all by yourself when it's two people?'" Gage Brown said. "But for us, we portray that song differently because we're talking about the two of us away from our family or the two of us by ourselves on the ice."
Meanwhile, the Browns' rhythm dance will have a completely opposite vibe, as the team chose high energy Elton John songs, particularly one they've been hoping to skate to for a while: "I'm Still Standing."
"We were very excited when we heard the theme this year was the 80s, because we both listen to older music a lot," Oona Brown said.
"We want people to be bouncing in their seats and dancing with us," Gage Brown added. "We want people to feel it … to clap along."
The team chose both pieces with the help of both of their coaching teams: their New York-based team led by Inese Bucevica and Joel Dear, and their Montreal team at the Ice Academy of Montreal (I.AM). The Browns began working in tandem with I.AM coaches in February. While New York is still their permanent home, the siblings travel to Montreal together a few times during the year to learn from the I.AM. team.
Their mentors in Montreal include Olympic champion Guillaume Cizeron and Olympic bronze medalist Zachary Donohue, both of whom the Browns said are skaters they've looked up to for a long time.
"To have the people who've inspired you to be coaching you now, it's such a weird feeling," Gage Brown said. "You're starstruck at first, but you're with them all the time. So it's a cool experience and just makes us so much more excited to be a part of this team here."
Since starting their new training regiment, the Browns have noticed more maturity in their skating, improved depth of edges and overall better consistency. Both skaters agreed these improvements have shaped them into a better senior team as they move away from the junior level.
"There are so many coaches here, so a lot of knowledge is being given to us through lessons every single day," Gage Brown said. "So we come home to New York with a lot of new and very valuable information. We find it's definitely helping us as well, because we've never been in this environment before. So to have that switch I think is very good for us.
"There are so many teams in Montreal, and our environment at home is only us - we're the only ice dance team. Sometimes we have sessions that are only to ourselves, which is very nice because you don't have anyone there. But we both like the balance that we have here between having our own, private ice and then going to Montreal and having so many other teams to light a fire under you and push you even further. Because all the teams are training mates, but we compete against all of them. You're already almost in a competition environment."
It's that competitive training environment that has helped motivate the Browns to elevate their skating, making them a team to watch this upcoming season.
"We feel like we've established ourselves as a senior looking team after last year," Gage Brown said. "So we're really going to be working on personal bests for rhythm and free, and I think we have good programs to do that. We're very excited for this season and to show our material."
After competing at 2023 Humana Skate America this past weekend, Oona and Gage Brown travel north to compete at 2023 Skate Canada International this upcoming weekend. To follow along, visit the Grand Prix Competition Central.
