Welcome to IDC’s New Team Series! For this series, we interview athletes who will enter the upcoming 2024-25 season in a new partnership, or debuted last season. In our fifth interview, we meet Italy’s Giulia Paolino & Andrea Tuba. They debuted at the junior level last season and finished third at Mezzaluna Cup and fourth at the JGP in Turkey. This year, they tackle the senior ranks. Photos by Harumi Akabane.

Tell us about your individual skating journeys, including any early special memories.
Giulia Paolino (GP): I started skating around the age of three and a half after going to a friend’s birthday party. I fell in love right away! I began by doing freestyle and continued skating in several disciplines until I graduated high school. I also competed in Solo Dance for many years while searching for a partner. I focused a lot on my USFS tests because I knew one day I wanted to become a coach and choreographer. Some special memories include landing my first axel at 8 years old, spending time with my American Ice Theatre Family, and becoming a six-time USFS gold medalist.

Andrea Tuba (AT): I started skating because I would go watch my older sister skate after I finished soccer practice. Stefania (the coach) asked my parents for me to try skating. I started as a single skater but after a few years, I began doing ice dance. Two of my most special memories include participating in the Youth Olympic Games with my sister as well as competing at the JGP in Chelyabinsk because there were so many people, and it was such an incredible feeling.

What drew you to ice dance?
GP: Although freestyle came pretty naturally to me, I hated competing jumps because I always felt so nervous. When I first started doing solo dance competitions, I felt so much more free and like I could actually perform like I always wanted to. I also specifically remember watching the 2014 Olympics and falling in love with ice dance for the first time and telling my mom that I wanted to be like them. An ice dance couple can create so many movements and tell a story which I love.

AT: I was put into ice dance from a very young age by my coaches. My sister and I were put together, and I began doing ice dance with her. We were the only couple training in Rome at the beginning but after some time more couples began training there, and I made some of my best friends and childhood memories from it.

Tell us how your partnership started.
GP: My coaches knew that I had been in contact with Andrea for some time but it was very on and off. Our first tryout fell through and then he contacted me again that same year. I took a chance to go to Italy for a tryout, and after skating just a few minutes, I felt really good. In previous tryouts on the first day, I would feel really stiff, but I felt so comfortable skating with Andrea right away. The first thing I did after I met Andrea was text my American coaches a picture of him and say “he’s real” haha! After our week-ish tryout, everything was settled that we would skate together. I didn’t even go back home to the USA after the tryout! Most of my things were either shipped or brought over by my parents when they visited. It wasn’t until a whole year after I had gone to Italy for the tryout that I came back and visited home.

AT: After my sister stopped skating, I did for a period too. Then I reached out to Giulia and our first tryout fell through. Later that year, I asked Giulia if she could come to Italy for anothe tryout. After skating the first session with Giulia, I already knew she was the right person to skate with.

What is it that you already like most about dancing with your new partner?
GP: What I appreciate most about Andrea is that he always checks on me to make sure everything is okay and that he has very good communication. He also never fails to make me laugh but also knows how to work hard. I feel very secure skating with him.

AT: My favorite thing about Giulia is that she always pushes to work on things until they are perfect. She always finds things we can fix and works hard to get better every day. She is also strong technically and in dance both on and off the ice.

What experiences did each of you bring to the partnership? 
GP: I have a lot of different experiences skating with different partners because I mostly trained ice dance with coaches, a partner, or in tryouts. With this, I am able to adapt very quickly. I also trained competitively in dance on the floor for many years which allows me to bring a different level of movement and performance to the couple. Finally, I have a passion for choreography and I love being able to give ideas to the partnership.

AT: I have many years of couples skating as well as international competition experience that I bring into the partnership. I also feel very solid skating in a couple.

What has been the biggest adjustment for each of you so far in the partnership?
GP: The biggest adjustment I had would be the different technique and training style here in Italy vs the USA as well as the language barrier at the beginning.

AT: My biggest adjustment with skating with Giulia would be that she is taller than my sister and anyone I had ever skated with. Also, the language barrier made it hard at first, but now my English has improved and she understands Italian very well now, so we have made it work.

Tell us about your training site. 
We skate between Rome and Milan. In Rome, we skate at Palaghiaccio Mezzaluna with our coach Stefania DeLuca. We do dance and choreo work with Claudio Yurman. When we are in Milan, we train at IceLab with our coaches Valter Rizzo and Brunilde Bianchi. Valter also comes down to train us in Rome as well. We work with Stefano Atti on choreography in Milan. During the summer we train in different places because our rinks are closed. This July, we had the opportunity to train with the Ice Dance Elite coaches in Toronto, Canada as well as Massimo Scali in the Czech Republic. In the month of August we spent our time with our coaches training in northern Italy.

Who are your coaches? Did either or both have to relocate? If so, tell us about the move(s).
Our coaches are Valter Rizzo, Brunilde Bianchi, and Stefania Deluca. Giulia relocated from Ohio in the United States to now train full-time in Italy. For Giulia she says, “The move wasn’t too difficult because I was in a place in my life after I graduated high school where I wanted to move and explore somewhere else. All of my friends had also started their new lives at college, so I was excited to go somewhere new as well. I grew up with Italian culture on my dad’s side, so some things didn’t catch me by too much surprise in Italy. Learning the language took a little at first, but I picked up the comprehension part fast. Overall, I am really happy here now in Italy and everyone has really treated me better than I could’ve imagined. Of course, it is hard only getting to see my family a few times a year for short amounts of time, and I miss them a lot, but their support really keeps me going.

Who is choreographing your programs?
Massimo Scali choreographed both of our programs this season. When he came to Rome to choreograph our programs, we still couldn’t decide on music for our free dance. We were in between so many different styles and songs, but one day when we were sitting outside of the rink, he proposed our current music and we decided to go for it! We are really happy with how it is coming together because it has pushed us to feel and skate more at the Senior level. Our rhythm dance music was more of a collaborative decision, and Valter proposed disco because we tried it, and he liked how we moved to it. Working with Massimo has been really great, and we are also so lucky to be able to work with him multiple times throughout the season as well. This summer when we were in Toronto, Canada, we also worked a lot on our partner connection with the Ice Dance Elite coaches, and we can’t wait to show our new programs!

If you could have a lesson with any ice dancer past/present, who would it be? Why?
GP: I would love to have a lesson with Tessa Virtue but more for her performance side. She brought an intensity as well as softness to her skating that I have always admired.

AT: I would love to have a lesson with Scott Moir because I look up to his style and way of skating.

What is each of you looking forward to most this skating season? What will be your biggest challenge(s)?
GP: I’m really excited to start competing again. I feel much more confident going into this season because we have a year together under our belt, and I am really happy with the improvements we have made. I am also excited to travel to new places and meet new people! It is a surreal feeling to be a Senior this season and compete against people I used to watch on the television!

AT: I am most excited to dance in my programs this season. I also want to push myself to skate like I do in training at competition. Last season, in December, I broke my foot so we were not able to finish out the season. Because of this, I am excited to get back out there. Our biggest challenge this season will be the move from Junior to Senior. We really want to take this year as a learning year and push ourselves as much as we can!

What is your debut competition this season?
Our first competition of this season will be the Lombardia Trophy.

Please share anything you would like our readers to know about you as a team?
We hope to bring you joy and emotions when you watch us skate. We love to skate and we want to show you that. You can follow our journey @paolino_tuba_team.