By Matteo Morelli

Jasmine Tessari & Marco Garavaglia have recently joined forces partnering as an acrobatic couple, already performing in various shows around Europe. We talked with the two former competitive ice dancers, who share how they transitioned from competitions to shows, and how you can make a living out of your passion for skating.

Jasmine and Marco, thanks for sharing your experience with us. You officially announced your new collaboration in the summer. How did you end up working together?

Jasmine Tessari (JT): Marco contacted me. We met at a performance in Turin this February (Lights On U), where we were both working with Ghiaccio Spettacolo. I told him that I was interested in this type of activity, and his reply was simply “good to know.” Then, around May, I received a message from him saying he had been contacted by his managers and that he was looking for a partner, asking me if I was still interested.

Marco Garavaglia (MG): Jasmine approached me in Turin because she knew that I have been doing this since 2012. I started specialising in acrobatic pairs since 2017: I was on tour with Holiday On Ice and I started to have someone teaching me some of the acrobatic pair elements, which are not really considered in competitive skating because they are either illegal or too dangerous. Being on tour for many months with couples who were already doing this, I had the opportunity to start learning this different way of skating. I had already embarked on a path that is usually not much taken into consideration, that is skating and performing as a job, rather than just finishing my competitive career and moving into teaching, which is what frequently happens in Italy. It has been a few years now that I have been trying to convey this message to the new generations, also doing specific camps on ice where I show this alternative way of being in the skating as a job.

I wanted to get to this: can you make a full-time job out of your performance skating?

MG: I have been doing this full-time for almost ten years. The problem is that it is not a feasible career, at least in Italy, so I have always been forced to travel. To do this job I had to keep moving, so I worked with the Gandeys Circus, Holiday on Ice, Royal Caribbean Cruise, for example. I would say that if one is willing to travel, to be away, this job can be done full-time. There are companies that offer long term contracts of six to ten months, and then there are those that offer “holiday contracts”, which are short term contracts to take on between big contracts, like Illusion On Ice in Mexico, where I went between long contracts. This job can definitely be done full-time, but it is a job that is more than a full-time because we are forced to travel, so I needed to find a partner that could equally do this full-time.

Is this something new for you, Jasmine?

JT: After leaving my sports career I already started to do some performances, but this type of discipline is completely new to me. I was limiting myself to doing only group shows or duets, but always within the ice dance remit, so high lifts or acrobatics of this type are all new to me. I trust Marco completely because he is the one teaching me everything, he is my partner and my teacher at the same time. My motto lately is “I jump into this”, because I throw myself in and he catches me, literally.

When I took a look at your Instagram account, I could see some videos where you seem to try something new, potentially risky. How do you approach working on these new elements, some of which are considered illegal from a competitive viewpoint?

JT: First of all, we learn them off the ice. There are some that are a bit more difficult to try and you need to be on the ice, but most are tested off the ice. If you are in good physical shape, it is definitely easier. I started after being completely off for two years, so the start was a bit traumatic for me. We were both out for different reasons, so we really started from scratch, without having the right fitness level to help us.

MG: After working with Gandeys Circus in Manchester in 2022, the year after I tried to stay in Italy with Ghiaccio Spettacolo to see if I could maybe continue doing what I love. The partner I had at the time was working in Italy and could never travel, so that winter I tried to work like this, doing shows only on weekends. I realized this wasn’t good for me, because it wouldn’t be enough to survive and because I wanted a more stable commitment, which also helps to maintain my fitness level which I lost by doing what I was doing then. Starting again with Jasmine allowed me to get back in shape and to reactivate our athletic level, supporting each other.

Would you say that, after a few months together, you feel positive about this partnership and that things are going in the right direction?

MG: Yes, I would say so. As I said, in Italy this is not yet seen as a job, it is not possible to do it full-time and make enough money to survive from it. With Jasmine, I am finding this right balance that allows us to be quite consistent in training and thus reach a certain level, especially because in Europe there are very few couples doing what we are doing, I could probably count them on one hand. Opportunities are there: you need to continue training and reach a certain level and then from there it becomes much easier. The hardest part was starting, also because there were completely new elements for Jasmine to learn. It was probably harder for her than for me in the initial phase, having to get used to being grabbed by an ankle and thrown on two feet.

JT: Now I feel like I can talk about something because I have somehow accepted and learned to deal with what I went through. Marco’s proposal came at a very particular moment in my life, in which I had been suffering from several chronic pains for two years. I was eventually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that completely affected my morale. So, when Marco offered the option to try out, I was full of enthusiasm but also of fear. I talked to him about it right away, and I remember I told him, “Look, I want to try, I want to do it, but I have to tell you I don’t know if this new activity can do me good or harm me, I am still waiting for answers from some doctors.” And, as I said before, I jumped in, I tried, and enthusiasm helped me a lot to overcome everything. I always say that this opportunity probably came at the perfect moment, it saved me a bit. I then discovered that I had fibromyalgia, it is nothing too serious and it is at mild to moderate level, but when we started, not being fit and learning new elements, I had pain everywhere and I panicked because I couldn’t tell if it was normal muscular pain or if it could be my condition. The beginning was very challenging, but in the end, doing all this is helping me no to feel pain anymore, both mentally and physically.

Thank you very much for sharing, and I am glad that things are going well. I imagine it is something that can resonate in the lives of many other post-competitive skaters because, for one reason or another, one must understand what the body can do. I am pleased that, in your case, you found the right balance despite the new situation you are in.

JT: Yes, it was a perfect way to cope with my new reality.

MG: If I may add to this quickly, I can tell you that I also experienced something similar. When I stopped competing and I started looking for something else to do, I discovered I had a lumbar hernia that kept me off the ice for more than a year and a half, limping badly, and I thought I would never be able to do anything again. I started to follow a physiotherapy path, and I also reached the same conclusion as Jasmine, which is that if I kept training and continued to skate, I had no pain. To this day, I have never had pain again.

It seems that it was almost destiny for you to meet and start working together! So far, you have already started to work on contracts, including the summer tour of Ghiaccio Spettacolo, which covered four locations, one of which was in Varese with the Japanese Federation.

MG: We rushed to be ready for it because they trusted us to do a solo number, which became our first debut. We struggled to find ice to train on, so we really had a mad rush to be ready, and three days before leaving Jasmine practically broke a bone in her hand, so we did the tour with her hand broken. We were almost about to give up, but in the end, we managed to go through it by adjusting some things. Although it was probably my twelfth edition with Ghiaccio Spettacolo, this summer tour was completely different from the usual, we joined an international cast with artists that we admire. Behind the scenes, we took the opportunity to talk to other experienced skaters on the show. It was also an experience to be able to share the ice with all the athletes of the Japanese national team and to see how they trained. I believe you always have to “steal” with your eyes, that is what I always say to Jasmine: to watch videos, watch other skaters, because there is always something good to draw inspiration from.

JT: It very nice to see how Marco and I responded to this situation together, almost not knowing each other yet as partners and as a new couple on the ice. Despite the various difficulties, including the broken hand, which we didn’t even know was broken at the moment but, with the green light from the doctors, we jumped into the tour, although the pain was really strong for me. We managed to handle the situation as best we could. That is when we really bonded as a team, probably that week brought us closer together.

Thinking about this, did you actually know each other before?

JT: Yes, when I was a little younger he was training in Milan doing ice dance, and I remember seeing him skating at the rink.

MG: We are ten years apart. I knew who she was but I have been away a lot for the last ten years to skate around the world, so we never really had a chance to talk and know each other. It was only in February that we actually properly spoke for the first time.

Do you already have upcoming projects that you are working on?

MG: We want to focus on some of our projects, that could be in the form of videos, photos or things that we want to try to do just to express ourselves artistically. This is the freedom that exists in performing, to do what you want without judges or a regulation to follow. So first of all, we want to be free to express whatever we want and for that, we are working on some small things that maybe will come out on our Instagram page or on social media in general. Then we have a work contract in Belgium in an amusement park for the winter period, where they do shows, up to four a day.

JT: We are also working on inline skating.

MG: I was probably the first in 2011 to open an inline skating school with the idea of bringing ice skating to the inline world. Now, there is also an attempt to inspire inline skating to implement acrobatic ice skating performance style.

What message would you share with current or retired competitors that are not sure how to start a path like the one you took?

MG: With my extensive experience on this, I would tell those that stopped skating that it is not the end. I have seen a lot of people not wanting to put their skates on after they end their very demanding competitive career, however the message to share is: your career doesn’t end with competitions, and teaching or coaching is not the only way to continue skating. Shows can be an opportunity, not only a job opportunity but also a chance to fully express yourself, free to skate for the pure pleasure of skating without the pressures coming with the competitions. There are a lot of companies out there that are putting together shows and recruiting skaters. A career like this can allow one to earn money, travel around the world, mixing in with different cultures. This is also why I am spending so much energy to share this message, especially in Italy where this career is not really valued. I wish everyone to find someone who has the desire to share their experience, as I was lucky to have. I found a Ukrainian couple who, at the end of their show career, had the willingness to teach me without asking for anything in return, they gave me this opportunity that I wouldn’t have otherwise, it opened so many doors for me. So far, I have had many experiences, not only work-related but also life-related, travelling so much, seeing new places, meeting people from other cultures.

JT: I totally agree with Marco. During my competitive career, I dreamed of going to the Olympic Games but, for many different reasons, I couldn’t achieve that. When I ended my career, I went through that sense of not wanting to skate that Marco mentioned, but I first eventually got back to the ice as a choreographer, which is what I am still doing now. While doing this, I realized I missed being the protagonist on the rink and do things at some level, I even considered the option of returning to compete, over a year ago, but I agree with Marco, the shows are an excellent choice. What I would say to any athlete who finish their career is “never say never”: I would never have imagined I would end up doing what I am doing now, given the situation I am in. I recently happened to talk about this with a girl who I used to train with, who was very down because she couldn’t find a partner and so she decided to end her career. I said “never say never”: don’t think about it now, it is not the right time, but you will see that if something is meant to happen, it can come at any moment. When you are done with competitions, there is a whole new world out there: the world of shows is a world of its own and for me, it is fantastic.

er

By Matteo Morelli

Jasmine Tessari and Marco Garavaglia have recently joined forces partnering as an acrobatic couple, already performing in various shows around Europe. We talked with the two former competitive ice dancers, who share how they transitioned from competitions to shows, and how you can make a living out of your passion for skating.

Jasmine and Marco, thanks for sharing your experience with us. You officially announced your new collaboration in the summer. How did you end up working together?

Jasmine Tessari (JT): Marco contacted me. We met at a performance in Turin this February (Lights On U), where we were both working with Ghiaccio Spettacolo. I told him that I was interested in this type of activity, and his reply was simply “good to know.” Then, around May, I received a message from him saying he had been contacted by his managers and that he was looking for a partner, asking me if I was still interested.

Marco Garavaglia (MG): Jasmine approached me in Turin because she knew that I have been doing this since 2012. I started specialising in acrobatic pairs since 2017: I was on tour with Holiday On Ice and I started to have someone teaching me some of the acrobatic pair elements, which are not really considered in competitive skating because they are either illegal or too dangerous. Being on tour for many months with couples who were already doing this, I had the opportunity to start learning this different way of skating. I had already embarked on a path that is usually not much taken into consideration, that is skating and performing as a job, rather than just finishing my competitive career and moving into teaching, which is what frequently happens in Italy. It has been a few years now that I have been trying to convey this message to the new generations, also doing specific camps on ice where I show this alternative way of being in the skating as a job.

I wanted to get to this: can you make a full-time job out of your performance skating?

MG: I have been doing this full-time for almost ten years. The problem is that it is not a feasible career, at least in Italy, so I have always been forced to travel. To do this job I had to keep moving, so I worked with the Gandeys Circus, Holiday on Ice, Royal Caribbean Cruise, for example. I would say that if one is willing to travel, to be away, this job can be done full-time. There are companies that offer long term contracts of six to ten months, and then there are those that offer “holiday contracts”, which are short term contracts to take on between big contracts, like Illusion On Ice in Mexico, where I went between long contracts. This job can definitely be done full-time, but it is a job that is more than a full-time because we are forced to travel, so I needed to find a partner that could equally do this full-time.

Is this something new for you, Jasmine?

JT: After leaving my sports career I already started to do some performances, but this type of discipline is completely new to me. I was limiting myself to doing only group shows or duets, but always within the ice dance remit, so high lifts or acrobatics of this type are all new to me. I trust Marco completely because he is the one teaching me everything, he is my partner and my teacher at the same time. My motto lately is “I jump into this”, because I throw myself in and he catches me, literally.

When I took a look at your Instagram account, I could see some videos where you seem to try something new, potentially risky. How do you approach working on these new elements, some of which are considered illegal from a competitive viewpoint?

JT: First of all, we learn them off the ice. There are some that are a bit more difficult to try and you need to be on the ice, but most are tested off the ice. If you are in good physical shape, it is definitely easier. I started after being completely off for two years, so the start was a bit traumatic for me. We were both out for different reasons, so we really started from scratch, without having the right fitness level to help us.

MG: After working with Gandeys Circus in Manchester in 2022, the year after I tried to stay in Italy with Ghiaccio Spettacolo to see if I could maybe continue doing what I love. The partner I had at the time was working in Italy and could never travel, so that winter I tried to work like this, doing shows only on weekends. I realized this wasn’t good for me, because it wouldn’t be enough to survive and because I wanted a more stable commitment, which also helps to maintain my fitness level which I lost by doing what I was doing then. Starting again with Jasmine allowed me to get back in shape and to reactivate our athletic level, supporting each other.

Would you say that, after a few months together, you feel positive about this partnership and that things are going in the right direction?

MG: Yes, I would say so. As I said, in Italy this is not yet seen as a job, it is not possible to do it full-time and make enough money to survive from it. With Jasmine, I am finding this right balance that allows us to be quite consistent in training and thus reach a certain level, especially because in Europe there are very few couples doing what we are doing, I could probably count them on one hand. Opportunities are there: you need to continue training and reach a certain level and then from there it becomes much easier. The hardest part was starting, also because there were completely new elements for Jasmine to learn. It was probably harder for her than for me in the initial phase, having to get used to being grabbed by an ankle and thrown on two feet.

JT: Now I feel like I can talk about something because I have somehow accepted and learned to deal with what I went through. Marco’s proposal came at a very particular moment in my life, in which I had been suffering from several chronic pains for two years. I was eventually diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that completely affected my morale. So, when Marco offered the option to try out, I was full of enthusiasm but also of fear. I talked to him about it right away, and I remember I told him, “Look, I want to try, I want to do it, but I have to tell you I don’t know if this new activity can do me good or harm me, I am still waiting for answers from some doctors.” And, as I said before, I jumped in, I tried, and enthusiasm helped me a lot to overcome everything. I always say that this opportunity probably came at the perfect moment, it saved me a bit. I then discovered that I had fibromyalgia, it is nothing too serious and it is at mild to moderate level, but when we started, not being fit and learning new elements, I had pain everywhere and I panicked because I couldn’t tell if it was normal muscular pain or if it could be my condition. The beginning was very challenging, but in the end, doing all this is helping me no to feel pain anymore, both mentally and physically.

Thank you very much for sharing, and I am glad that things are going well. I imagine it is something that can resonate in the lives of many other post-competitive skaters because, for one reason or another, one must understand what the body can do. I am pleased that, in your case, you found the right balance despite the new situation you are in.

JT: Yes, it was a perfect way to cope with my new reality.

MG: If I may add to this quickly, I can tell you that I also experienced something similar. When I stopped competing and I started looking for something else to do, I discovered I had a lumbar hernia that kept me off the ice for more than a year and a half, limping badly, and I thought I would never be able to do anything again. I started to follow a physiotherapy path, and I also reached the same conclusion as Jasmine, which is that if I kept training and continued to skate, I had no pain. To this day, I have never had pain again.

It seems that it was almost destiny for you to meet and start working together! So far, you have already started to work on contracts, including the summer tour of Ghiaccio Spettacolo, which covered four locations, one of which was in Varese with the Japanese Federation.

MG: We rushed to be ready for it because they trusted us to do a solo number, which became our first debut. We struggled to find ice to train on, so we really had a mad rush to be ready, and three days before leaving Jasmine practically broke a bone in her hand, so we did the tour with her hand broken. We were almost about to give up, but in the end, we managed to go through it by adjusting some things. Although it was probably my twelfth edition with Ghiaccio Spettacolo, this summer tour was completely different from the usual, we joined an international cast with artists that we admire. Behind the scenes, we took the opportunity to talk to other experienced skaters on the show. It was also an experience to be able to share the ice with all the athletes of the Japanese national team and to see how they trained. I believe you always have to “steal” with your eyes, that is what I always say to Jasmine: to watch videos, watch other skaters, because there is always something good to draw inspiration from.

JT: It very nice to see how Marco and I responded to this situation together, almost not knowing each other yet as partners and as a new couple on the ice. Despite the various difficulties, including the broken hand, which we didn’t even know was broken at the moment but, with the green light from the doctors, we jumped into the tour, although the pain was really strong for me. We managed to handle the situation as best we could. That is when we really bonded as a team, probably that week brought us closer together.

Thinking about this, did you actually know each other before?

JT: Yes, when I was a little younger he was training in Milan doing ice dance, and I remember seeing him skating at the rink.

MG: We are ten years apart. I knew who she was but I have been away a lot for the last ten years to skate around the world, so we never really had a chance to talk and know each other. It was only in February that we actually properly spoke for the first time.

Do you already have upcoming projects that you are working on?

MG: We want to focus on some of our projects, that could be in the form of videos, photos or things that we want to try to do just to express ourselves artistically. This is the freedom that exists in performing, to do what you want without judges or a regulation to follow. So first of all, we want to be free to express whatever we want and for that, we are working on some small things that maybe will come out on our Instagram page or on social media in general. Then we have a work contract in Belgium in an amusement park for the winter period, where they do shows, up to four a day.

JT: We are also working on inline skating.

MG: I was probably the first in 2011 to open an inline skating school with the idea of bringing ice skating to the inline world. Now, there is also an attempt to inspire inline skating to implement acrobatic ice skating performance style.

What message would you share with current or retired competitors that are not sure how to start a path like the one you took?

MG: With my extensive experience on this, I would tell those that stopped skating that it is not the end. I have seen a lot of people not wanting to put their skates on after they end their very demanding competitive career, however the message to share is: your career doesn’t end with competitions, and teaching or coaching is not the only way to continue skating. Shows can be an opportunity, not only a job opportunity but also a chance to fully express yourself, free to skate for the pure pleasure of skating without the pressures coming with the competitions. There are a lot of companies out there that are putting together shows and recruiting skaters. A career like this can allow one to earn money, travel around the world, mixing in with different cultures. This is also why I am spending so much energy to share this message, especially in Italy where this career is not really valued. I wish everyone to find someone who has the desire to share their experience, as I was lucky to have. I found a Ukrainian couple who, at the end of their show career, had the willingness to teach me without asking for anything in return, they gave me this opportunity that I wouldn’t have otherwise, it opened so many doors for me. So far, I have had many experiences, not only work-related but also life-related, travelling so much, seeing new places, meeting people from other cultures.

JT: I totally agree with Marco. During my competitive career, I dreamed of going to the Olympic Games but, for many different reasons, I couldn’t achieve that. When I ended my career, I went through that sense of not wanting to skate that Marco mentioned, but I first eventually got back to the ice as a choreographer, which is what I am still doing now. While doing this, I realized I missed being the protagonist on the rink and do things at some level, I even considered the option of returning to compete, over a year ago, but I agree with Marco, the shows are an excellent choice. What I would say to any athlete who finish their career is “never say never”: I would never have imagined I would end up doing what I am doing now, given the situation I am in. I recently happened to talk about this with a girl who I used to train with, who was very down because she couldn’t find a partner and so she decided to end her career. I said “never say never”: don’t think about it now, it is not the right time, but you will see that if something is meant to happen, it can come at any moment. When you are done with competitions, there is a whole new world out there: the world of shows is a world of its own and for me, it is fantastic.