Photos by Yoriko Suzuki

Welcome to IDC’s New Team Series! For this series, we interview athletes who entered the 2024-25 season in a new partnership, or debuted last season. In this interview, we meet Daniela Ivanitskiy & Matthew Sperry, senior ice dancers who represent Finland.

Tell us about your individual skating journeys, including any early special memories.
Daniela Ivanitskiy (DI): I started skating at age 5, if I remember correctly. My first discipline was single skating, and I switched to dance at around age 10. My parents suggested I would give ballroom dancing a shot and I decided I wanted ballroom dancing, but on the ice, so that’s how I ended up in ice dance. I trained in my hometown of Helsinki and competed for Finland with my previous partners. After COVID in spring of 2021 I came to Novi for a tryout and just ended up staying here. I don’t think my parents were expecting that the tryout would result in me moving across the world, but I’m glad everything worked out.

Some of my favorite memories as a young skater are from attending training seminars such as Oberstdorf. Travelling to these camps gave me the opportunity to meet new people and make friends that I am still close with to this day. 

Matthew Sperry (MS): My skating journey started when I was five and attended a friend’s ice skating birthday party. On that first day I discovered the wonder of moving on ice and adamantly refused to leave the rink until my parents signed me up for lessons. I went on to play hockey for eight years and towards the end of that I also picked up freestyle and theatre on ice. Theatre is what really drew me into figure skating after hockey. I loved the acting and being part of a team. I performed with Virginia Ice Theatre for eight years, helping my team to win 3 National medals, 1 National Championship, and compete at the World Championships. I began ice dance when I was 12 years old. I trained in Maryland and Virginia for many years and then moved to Novi, Michigan after high school. I have been training in Michigan ever since and love it here!

What drew you to ice dance?
DI: I really love how I can explore all different styles of dancing and performing. That is what originally drew me to ballroom dancing, but I didn’t want to only be limited to Latin or standard styles. With ice dancing I can explore anything from ballet, hip-hop and Latin to musical theater and disco dancing. My second favorite thing is working and interacting with a partner, I feel that it opens so many more possibilities of interacting and storytelling compared to just skating alone.  (Also, I’m a yapper so this sport has a built-in person to talk and joke around with)

MS: I was drawn to ice dance over freestyle by the emphasis on footwork and the technical detail of the turns. I love figuring out the best technique for each turn or twizzle. I also really liked that ice dance has a theatrical component to it which lets me use the skills I learned from theatre on ice. Ice dance is also a partnered sport that necessitates teamwork. This appeals to me as I’ve found skating by myself isn’t as much fun. 

Tell us how your partnership started. Describe the tryout.
DI: Funnily enough, Matthew was the person I originally came to Novi to have a tryout with three years ago. My partner in Finland quit skating right around the time of the first COVID lockdown, so I was looking around on PartnerSearch for a new partner and I ended up getting contacted by Matthew.  After our first tryout, we didn’t end up skating together and found different partners. However, both of our partners eventually decided to stop skating to pursue education and Igor suggested we have a tryout.  I think Novi tryouts are kind of unique as Igor has skaters improvise with each other, and surprisingly it was really good. From there things moved quite quickly and we went from tryout to new team within the span of a week. Things have a funny way of working out and I guess we really came full circle.

MS: We actually first tried out three years ago in Michigan with our coach Igor. We ended up skating with different partners after that for a few years but when our partners both stopped skating, we tried out again and it clicked right away. Having both been coached by Igor for three years before we teamed up meant our techniques were very similar and we matched well. When skating with a new partner who’s a good fit, there’s a certain easy flow that happens which I really enjoy. 

What is it that you already like most about dancing with your new partner?
DI: Matthew really fully commits to performing whatever style or character he wants to portray, and I think that openness and willingness to perform stands out the most to me. Seeing that makes me really excited for all the programs and styles we could skate in the future. He is also the more level-headed and calm out of the two of us, so I think he really balances out my more temperamental personality. Lastly (I think this might come from his engineer side) Matthew is a hard worker and always has a plan or a step-by-step process. I think his way of working and thinking is a great way to keep learning and progressing, and his calculated style of training has helped us prepare for competition.

MS: What I like most about dancing with Daniela is her energy on the ice. It’s a happy contagious energy that helps makes the most grueling practice days enjoyable. I also really appreciate how driven she is. She has lots of initiative and brings a sense of purpose to what she does. I’m looking forward to the continued growth of our connection as we keep dancing together. 

What experiences do each of you bring to the partnership? 
DI: Since Finland doesn’t have a lot of teams, I have been competing internationally for quite some time, including at four JGP events. I think I’ve learned about teamwork and communication from my past partnerships, and I hope I can use those experiences to continue to make us a stronger and more efficient team.

MS: I competed for Team USA for two years on the JGP circuit which has given me some international competition experience. My theatre experience adds another level to our dancing. Dani has had more international exposure in terms of training and competitions which I appreciate a lot since she knows what to expect. She also speaks several languages and often can help translate when we go to new places.

What has been the biggest adjustment for each of you so far in the partnership?
DI: I think the biggest adjustment when forming a new team is learning a whole new person. Seeing how the other person trains, what kind of coaching methods they respond to, what kind of communication works the best, how much physical contact they are okay with, etc. It’s all a learning process and it takes time. Luckily, we have both been at the same training location for some time, so at least the technique and style are not too different.

MS: I would say the biggest adjustment for me has been changing countries from the USA to Finland. It’s meant a lot more traveling to places I never thought I’d go, which has been amazing!

Tell us about your training site. 
DI: We train in Novi, Michigan at the Novi Ice Arena. In addition to lessons on the ice we have lifts, ballet, dance, pilates and workout. We occasionally also have acting/expression lessons.

Theres quite a few teams here, but I think the atmosphere is really good. We all get along and cheer for each other (especially during doubles week) During off season we have quite a few skaters visiting for training and choreography which is nice for motivation and to see how other teams are training.

MS: We’ve got a big group of amazing training mates here. I am often inspired by the more experienced teams we skate with and am constantly pushed to improve by my peers. We are all a close-knit community in Novi and support each other on and off the ice. 

Who are your coaches?  Did either or both have to relocate? If so, tell us about the move(s).
DI: Our main coaching team includes Igor Shpilband, Pasquale Camerlengo, Adrienne Lenda, Natalia Deller and Renee Petkovski.

I relocated from Helsinki to Novi about three and a half years ago. As I mentioned earlier, I came to Novi for our first tryout. Due to travel restrictions setting up our tryout took some time, during which Matthew relocated to Novi. I got an email from Natalia Deller (shoutout bestie Natalia!) asking if I was still interested to try, but at a new training facility. I didn’t recognize the sender and forwarded the message to Maurizio Margaglio to ask for advice. His answer was: Are you crazy? Do you know what coaching team that is, of course you have to go. and that’s how I ended up here.

MS: When I moved from Virginia to Michigan over three years ago, I chose to relocate to Michigan for both school and skating. When I was looking for colleges, I applied to University of Michigan because it was near a top-notch ice dance coaching group and had a very strong mechanical engineering department. When I got accepted, I chose to move to Michigan since it had the best combination of skating opportunities and academics. 

Who is choreographing your programs. Is someone else arranging your music? If so, please share those experiences.
DI: Our rhythm dance is choreographed by Igor Shpilband and our free dance is choreographed by Pasquale Camerlengo. For RD Igor cut the music, but we sent it out for finalization. As for FD Pasquale had the music already pre-cut as it was created years ago for one of his teams by Maxim Rodriguez.

MS: Our choreographers are Igor Shpilband and Pasquale Camerlengo. Our rhythm dance music was cut by Igor and finalized by Hugo. Our free dance was a piece Pasquale had from many years ago. 

If you could have a lesson with any ice dancer past/present, who would it be? Why?
DI: There are too many choices, but I think it would be a lesson from Guillaume Cizeron. He has such a beautiful way of moving and flowing on the ice, and that effortlessness is really something I would love to incorporate into my own skating.

MS: I would like to have a lesson with Jean-Luc Baker. His ability to create such a powerful presence on the ice and develop a unique character and stylization to his skating is phenomenal. I really admire the grace and strength with which he skates. 

What is each of you looking forward to most this skating season? What will be your biggest challenge(s)?
DI: I’m looking forward to getting back to competing, as I didn’t compete last season. It’s also our first senior season so I’m excited for that. Our goal is to make a good impression, and I think our biggest challenge will be to make ourselves memorable and to establish ourselves.

MS: I’m most looking forward to being able to show who we are as senior skaters on the international stage. Also I am really looking forward to continuing to gel further as a new team and improving our connection on the ice. I think the biggest challenges will be the struggles most new teams face like integrating skating styles and establishing unison. 

What is your debut competition this season?
DI: Our first event of the season was Denis Ten Memorial in Astana, Kazakhstan.

MS: Our next competition will be the Egna Ice Dance Trophy in February. 

Please share anything you would like our readers to know about you as a team?
DI: We are excited to get out there and start making a name for ourselves. We also love shows and hopefully getting onto the international scene will give us more opportunities to participate in them.

MS: We are really looking forward to growing together as a team and sharing our love of skating with our audiences through performances that make them want to dance too!